Thursday, December 13, 2018

Second Thursday Tutorial: a review


This post is going to be a bit different from most Second Thursday Tutorials.  It will be a review of 2018's second Thursday tutorials.  I then hope to put a few of these together into one cohesive journal page or altered book spread.

In January of this year, I focused on four resist techniques.  For the most part, these involve using acrylic craft paints.  From left in the back clockwise:

Salt (use various salts if you have them, because they each produce different effects)
Petroleum Jelly (either Vaseline or a store brand)
91% Isopropyl Alcohol (best to use stronger than 50% if you can find it)
Bleach pen (I have two, one a store brand and one by Clorox, and I decided to use the Clorox because it has two tips)

This background used acrylic paint and rock salt I ran through a grinder.  When dry, the salt was easily removed from the page.

For February, I created shaving cream paper.

I got a little carried away, but these are so addicting, they are like eating potato chips.

In March, I compared water soluble crayons to water coloring pencils.  My favorite is still the water soluble crayon, but the water color pencils had more color choices.

In April, for my tutorial, I recycled everything on this spread.  Of course, I recycled everything for 22 days, leading up to Earth Day, or as I call it bEARTHday.  There are always lots of tutorials every year in April.

In May, I created a couple of backgrounds using foil, gesso, and paper (kitchen) towels.

These were the final backgrounds.  As I explained, these should flatten out nicely once they are attached to a substrate.

For June, I showed how to use napkins as backgrounds.

Many of you have seen some of these napkins in my art challenges.

Some months things don't work out as planned.  That was the case for July.

August's tutorial was far more successful.

This turned out even better than expected.

September was another of those disasters.

Huge disaster.

Not quite as bad,

but nothing to be proud of, either.

October was marginally better when I used one stamp and one color dye ink to create a masterboard.

I made a second one, too.  You can never have too many butterflies.

Because my November tutorial involved making herbal vinegar, that won't enter into my project today.

This page is also for Bleubeard's and my themes, My Favorite Season, or 'Tis the Season that we are hosting at Art Journal Journey. 

I began by cutting the 12 X 12 inch (30,48 X 30,48 centimeters) heavy weight scrapbook page down to a mere 8 X 10 inches (20,32 X 25,4 centimeters).  When I did, I realized I didn't have room for the butterfly napkins I intended to use.  Plan A had to be rethought.

I was very happy with the way the butterflies showed beneath the napkin.  That's the beauty of napkins, especially if they have been backed with Wonder Under.   It reminds me of digital art where layers can be stacked and some can show through.  

Plan B wasn't working out as well as I had hoped.

I was sure when the paper or kitchen towel was saturated with PVA glue, all the wrinkles would smooth out.  Sadly, the gesso was incredibly thick and the paper towel was thicker than most I've used in the past.  Trying to smooth the paper towel out once it was on the page, caused it to rip and create holes in the towel.

Even worse, trying to write on this mess was even more of a disaster.

I can barely read it, and I wrote it!   It reads: Season of HOPE, DREAMS, and Butterflies.

When I realized I wasn't going to be able to use the butterfly napkins, I grabbed some stickers from my stash, along with these beautiful butterflies made from handmade paper die cuts that Susi sent me for my birthday this year.


I liked how the color of the butterfly nearly matched the words on the napkin. I wasn't sure what the first word was, but I made out 30 Sept.

For this page, I used pieces I created during various Second Thursday tutorials, stickers, and lovely butterflies punched or die cut from handmade paper.

Bleubeard, my fearless and welcoming co-host and I are delighted you stopped by to check out my second Thursday tutorial which can be found on my Tutorials page as soon as this post goes live.   We also invite you to join us at Art Journal Journey where our themes are My Favorite Season, or 'Tis the Season.

15 thoughtful remarks:

Valerie-Jael said...

What a wealth of wonderful ideas! Thanks for sharing! Have a lovely day, Valerie

My name is Erika. said...

nice look back on a years worth of arty fun! It was fun to have a refresher this morning. In fact, I wish I could stay home and try some fun techniques today-I am having some art withdrawals. But it is almost the weekend. And I love seeing your combination page. In the big photo all your additions look fantastic, but I see what you mean about the blue crinkled paper when you get up close. have a fantastic day. Hope its warmer than mine is. Hugs-Erika

Meggymay said...

It was good to revisit your great tutorials and there are a few I wanted to try and never got time to do so or else my mind wandered off to creating other crafting projects.
The page you created with your tutorial pieces looks fantastic and I love how you have a collage of them altogether. Paris season of the year would be a lovely destination.
Yvonne xx

Rike said...

How interesting to see all your Thursday tutorials today at one place!
Very clever that you used some pieces of them in your artjournal page about Paris, the page became beautiful! The paper towel had its own will, but the textur and the blue are incredible!
Wish you a happy day! Rike xx

CJ Kennedy said...

A nice retrospective of the tutorials for the year.

RO said...

How wonderful to see you use everyday things to create such masterpieces! It's truly incredible, and butterfly peace is so lovely! Hugs...RO

froebelsternchen said...

Oh wow.. I would love to visit Paris in springtime and your wonderful page makes me dream I am there! A fabulous idea to reshow so many techniques in this post - you never cease to amaze me with your tutorials as you know!
I would be happy to have time enough to try out techniques- old and new ones - but the household and the family need nearly all time just now. And commenting ...lol. I seem to get old and need way too much time for everthing I do?! But I am sure next spring there will be more time to go through the tutorials and maybe learning new to me things as well.
A wonderful posting for the December topic Elizabeth!
Big hugs, Susi
Loved to see you used the butterflies...♥♥♥

Sandra Cox said...

You take so many different materials, that I would never have thought of, and make art out of them, dear Elizabeth.

sheila 77 said...

Oh that was fascinating, Elizabeth, seeing so many techniques you tried. I always have a little friendly smile with you when you talk about your disasters and mistakes because I don't think they are. They're experiments, aren't they, and I don't do nearly enough of them and should do.

Divers and Sundry said...

The backgrounds are fabulous! I love how varied they are, how many different techniques and materials you've used. They are striking, each and every one!

da tabbies o trout towne said...

bleu squiggles N elizabeth; we willz bee offline fora while sew we wood like ta wish everee one a most merree Christmas anda happee healthee total lee awesum 2019 ♥♥♥

craftytrog said...

I really love that rock salt background, and your final page is a wonderful collage Elizabeth! xx

aussie aNNie said...

Love this post and the use of all of these home goodies, the rock salt does give a fabulous and most interesting result. I read on Yvonne's blog you wish you were 'clever' enough to do digital work, well, you may not be able to do that but BOY YOU ARE SURE CLEVER in many other ways...and thanks for your inspirations.xx

Jeanie said...

I never cease to be amazed at your impressive body of work and your willingness to experiment and then share so clearly the results of those experiments (most of which seem to me to be quite impressive!). There are so many lovely things here it's hard to pick a fave -- not that I have to but... -- but I especially loved the one with the salt at the top and those deep blues and metallics. I can't tell you how much I admire what you do.

pearshapedcrafting said...

I still need to revisit and try some of these techniques!!! I absolutely adore your journal page! It won't be long till Spring, as looking back through these reminds me just how quickly this year has flown! Hugs, Chrisx