Inner Child Journal Inspiration

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This article is written by Melanie Statnick

Summer time. Every child in the world loves summer break from school.  Knowing that this is quickly coming up or is already in session for the at home mom/working artists trying to find something to keep the kids happy and busy can be a job in itself.   It can also suck the creative life out of you.  Face it, kids have high energy and they siphon it from you like little gas tanks.

Summer Vacation can be a challenge and seep away your creativity; Melanie Statnick has a few suggestions for keeping your Inner Child well nourished.

Summer Vacation can be a challenge and seep away your creativity; Melanie Statnick has a few suggestions for keeping your Inner Child well nourished.

Its late the kids are in bed, and you are out of mojo. Where do you get inspiration over the summer? From your inner child of course. We have all read articles on how to let your inner child guide you through art, talking to it, playing etc… But does it really influence your art? Can you really let go and just do some art play? For no reason but to just create?

Summer Vacation can be a challenge and seep away your creativity; Melanie Statnick has a few suggestions for keeping your Inner Child well nourished.

Summer Vacation can be a challenge and seep away your creativity; Melanie Statnick has a few suggestions for keeping your Inner Child well nourished.

I live in a different country then where I grew up and spent many summers enjoying the great outdoors.  Thanks to the internet I was recently able to take a virtual tour of the streets where I grew up. The nostalgia was overwhelming.  Remembering that little girl, playing in the yard, climbing the wall across the street and discovering new things, watching all my favorite TV shows, I was even reminded of the grape purple overalls I wore out running and biking around. I wore them everywhere.

Summer Vacation can be a challenge and seep away your creativity; Melanie Statnick has a few suggestions for keeping your Inner Child well nourished.

Summer Vacation can be a challenge and seep away your creativity; Melanie Statnick has a few suggestions for keeping your Inner Child well nourished.

This reminder of how much fun and new summer felt inspired me to get into the groove again.  I took out my watercolors and just played. Doodling and painting all the wonderful things that made my inner child feel good.  This is a great prompt to help you get started if you are stuck for journaling or painting.

Summer Vacation can be a challenge and seep away your creativity; Melanie Statnick has a few suggestions for keeping your Inner Child well nourished.

Look through old photos of you growing up, where you liked to play, were you liked to play the most, the imagination you had to play house and make forts in trees, the fun friends you made over the summer. Summer vacation can look a lot brighter when you remember how to play like a kid.

Summer Vacation can be a challenge and seep away your creativity; Melanie Statnick has a few suggestions for keeping your Inner Child well nourished.

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Melanie Statnickis a Published Artist out of North Carolina USA. Melanie creates art daily from her private studio. Her style is fun, whimsy and eclectic. Melanie is also an Art Instructor for local venues and community colleges for students of all ages.
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New Years’ Reflections

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I love spending a few days either side of the New Year contemplating the year that was and the year ahead. The triumphs of the last year can easily be forgotten amongst the sad times so we need to spend time documenting the good and the bad, and use that to help set our course. An art journal is a perfect place to reflect and document these contemplations.

mixed media art journalling technique

To help with your New Years’ reflections, I have put together an ephemera sheet with prompts to help you get started. It can be downloaded over on the Mixed Media Ephemera page [Sheet #9].

Materials and Tools:

  • Pre-painted Art Journal layout
  • New Years’ Reflections Ephemera sheet
  • Lined paper or scrapbooking paper suitable for writing on
  • Ruler, craft knife and cutting mat
  • Glue stick
  • Inks to match your color scheme
  • Journalling pens

1. Gather up your materials and tools. Clear your workspace.

New Years reflections mixed media art journal tutorial

2. Using the ruler, tear up the ephemera sheet to quickly separate each prompt, giving each one a nice torn edge.

New Years reflections mixed media art journal

use a ruler to tear out the art journal promtps

New Years reflections mixed media art journal

3. Sort through the prompts and decide which ones you want to use; for me it was a combination of which ones appealed to me and how many would fit in the layout space.

4. Edge the prompts with ink by running the ink pad along the edge of the paper. This helps to frame each statement.

use direct to paper method

5. Using the lined paper, write out your reflections for each prompt and cut them out. I used angled lines for interest.

reflect on new year for your art journal

you can use any shapes for your art journal

6. When you have finished your writing, do a rough layout to check all of your pieces fits and you are happy with the arrangement. Here I wanted lots of space between the panels so the painted background would show through.

rough layout for your mixed media art journal

mixed media art journals

7. Using the glue stick, stick the pieces into your art journal. Add embellishments if you wish.

8. Don’t forget to sign and date your work.

mixed media art journal signed and dated

9. The finished layout

using prompts to reflect on your new years thoughts

We would LOVE you to share your New Years’ Reflections – just leave a comment below or even a link to your blog, showing off your artwork and reflections.

Happy creating!

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Have you got your copy of Cloth Paper Scissors yet?!?

Stop putting off your mixed-media wish list! Today is the day to check off essential to-do’s from your bucket list and Cloth Paper Scissors magazine is here to help!

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Mixed Media Artist ~ Laura Thykeson

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Our Mixed Media Art community is a diverse bunch; from all around the world, with different interests, reasons why we create and a wide range of skills.  Over the next few weeks we will be featuring a range of mixed media artists to tell their stories and share their artwork.

Laura Thykeson is our featured artist this week.

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Mixed media art journal

Hello!

I am Laura Thykeson, and I have been totally immersed in mixed media art for many years. If it will “take paint”, I have probably painted on it! I discovered altered books and art journals about a year ago and have been hooked ever since!

I am 50, married to a wonderful man named Kris, and live in Granbury, Texas USA with our two rescued dogs and two rescued cats.

I have always loved mixed media art because of the variety and the “no rules” aspect! I get bored easily, and although I started out a fine art oil artist, I soon transitioned into my own line of wearable art, purses and jewelry, along with decorative items for the home. I have both owned my own art shop, as well as working from home and selling my items to wholesalers in Texas and Colorado in the past.  I have done many of the art shows when I was younger, but my health keeps me close to home these days.

I am attaching photos of my altered book that combines my own unique style with my own original poetry. My style is a bit different from many that you see, as I live rich color and a lot of contrast. I did all of the pages with a coat of gesso, some collage, and then acrylic paints, finished up with Sharpie markers for some vibrant color (love ’em, especially for the price…!) and added in a computer graphic of the latest poem I have written. This has been an ongoing project for the last year, along with the 8 other altered books with altered text I am working on, as well as various other ongoing artistic projects! I always stay busy, that’s for sure!

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Mixed media art journal

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Mixed media art journal

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mixed media altered journal art

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Thanks for sharing your art with us Laura.
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Use your crafting time effectively – Pages ready to go

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Trying to fit mixed media art into our everyday activities can be challenging – there will always be other things vying for our attention… but when we do finally get that scrap of time together – or even find ourselves with a few unexpected hours ahead of us – how do we use that time effectively? This series of articles will look at tips to help you hit the ground running when you have that crafting time.

Part 4 – Journal Page Ready to Go

Needing to start from scratch with a journalling page or altered book when you have time can also be daunting or frustrating. If you need a background and then need to wait for the paint to dry, time can quickly slipped by and inspiration with it. Having two (or more) altered books or journals on the go can help.

Mixed Media Art

By having two books, you can be working in one while the other is drying. Get into the habit of guessing a page at the end of your crafting session. Then the layout is ready to go when you are.

Mixed Media Art Journal

While the gesso is out, also add a layer to a few pieces of cereal box cardboard.

Mixed Media Art

Once the backgrounds are ready, you can jump head first into the fun part as soon as your crafting time starts. Now you can create  your layout with adding colour and papers and images and journalling.

Happy creating!

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