Passport journal with gloss sprays

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This project was created by Joanne Hughes with products supplied by Mixed Media Art, as part of the Mixed Media Art Design Team 2021.

This project is my latest in a series of “designer” journals, honouring designers and artists whose work I love.

Joanne Hughes

Materials List

To create your passport journal

Begin by randomly spraying gloss sprays direct to the gel plate.  The paint pools and runs and makes great prints. 

Press one side of the watercolour paper onto the plate for a print.  Drying time is really quick so it doesn’t take long to do these steps. 

Grab some string, arrange on the  gel plate and spray again over the top. As a bonus your string matches your cardstock, perfect for bookmarking. 

Turn watercolour paper over to print the reverse size pushing into the gaps in and around the string. 

If you have any white space you don’t like you can spray direct to the paper to fill in. 

Don’t forget to use a tag or card to mop up excess paint before cleaning and putting the gel plate away.

Using the Passport book die with your cutting machine, cut two covers and a spine.  The hard part is deciding which side of the print is your favourite.

I have always wanted to use the white print from Dina’s collage paper, instead of my usual choice of black.  Choose an image and glue with gel medium to the front cover.  I was disappointed with the result, silly me, it’s collage paper NOT tissue!  It  dulled the bright colours so out came the Scribble Sticks. 

I left the face and coloured the hair and around the head, adding colour until I was happy.  Then I added a bit of colour to the eyes and lips.  I still wasn’t happy.  It just didn’t “pop” for me so I grabbed a fine black marker to outline the printed image.  I was trying not to alter the image too much but kept going until I was happy with a dark outline.  And even happier when I used Black Archival Ink to stamp Scribble Hearts around the image.  “You are enough “ was very appropriate to finish the cover!

I used black print collage paper for the spine!

Make up the journal following Eileen Hull’s instructions.  You can choose to feature the spine or cover it with your front and back covers.  I made my signatures, using the passport die, to cut a variety of pages.  In the style of Dina Wakley’s Media Journals, I included Kraft paper, vellum, lined paper, water colour paper and canvas.

The cut pages line up perfectly and the string that was coloured on the gel plate easily threads though the holes in the papers and spine to tie the signatures in.

Joanne Hughes loves to share her knowledge and ideas with anyone who will listen,  and has worked with Michelle and Mixed Media Art at the Picture to Page shows for many years, demonstrating and behind the make’N’take table.  She is thrilled and honoured to kick start the Mixed Media Art Design Team 2021.  There is a story behind each of her pieces and she is only too happy to share with you.

Joanne is mum to three adult children and lives in the same house she and her husband bought in 1982 and has been craft making in various forms for as long as she can remember – from macrame in the 70’s to considering herself a Mixed Media Artist, Joanne is a “Jill” of all trades, focussing on her love of stationery and everything that goes with it – paper, pens, inks, paints and stickers, along with the tools and techniques of the creative process.  When she is not making a book, she is thinking of the next one, be it a journal, letter journal, hand made or altered book.  She is a hands on crafter, loving messy play with glues, inks and paints.

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Mixed media tag holder

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This project was created by Lisa Toffoletti with products supplied by Mixed Media Art, as part of the Mixed Media Art Design Team 2021.

Materials list & craft supplies:

Creating your tag holder:

Using the Heavy weight watercolour paper, die cut the folio journal, only one with no spine

Using a small piece of mount board, die cut 2 of the folio journal base pieces and the tag
Using digital paper Die cut a mandala
Select chipboards to use; “make”, “do”, love heart and fern
Spray all the pieces with gloss sprays until happy with the colours and spray chipboards as stencils onto the watercolour paper as desired.


Use gel medium to adhere bookpaper to the back of the “make & do” chipboards and the piece of the tag.
Allow to dry, the watercolour paper will absorb a lot of paint
Assemble the folio as a tag holder, the longer edge is now the back / top, using the “base pieces” tape them into the sides to create pocket. Use gel medium over the joins to strengthen.

Using gel medium adhere die cut mandala, cut off excess and use elsewhere, adhere the coloured chipboards and spray with a splatter of gloss Night and tie some string around to finish off.

The holder sits on a flat surface but can also be hung, hole punch top corners, fasten eyelets, thread string. With Fude ball pen outline where desired.

Now add your tags – you can see how to create these stunning tags here

Lisa Toffoletti has always dedicated a space in her life for art and craft, from a child making greeting cards using pressed flowers to art in many forms including small papercraft projects, scrap booking and card making, to create things that have a purpose and are useful.

Lisa is married with three children, whilst raising the children as a stay-at home-mum she worked for the family upholstery business and lives in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne. She many other interests and hobbies including gardening, reading, photography, tracing her family tree and spending time with family.
To view Lisa’s creations, log onto Facebook at Handmade Greeting cards by Lisa T

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Mixed media tag – Wine

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This project was created by Lisa Toffoletti with products supplied by Mixed Media Art, as part of the Mixed Media Art Design Team 2021.

Materials list & craft supplies:

Creating your tag

Back of tag

Using double sided tape adhere book paper. Spray with Aloe gloss spray, stamp lines stamp with Manganese Archival ink and attach tracing paper with double sided tape.

Front of tag

Spray with gloss sprays, use chipboard words as stencil and Stars stencil. Stamp the glasses stamp on the front with versa mark ink pad, heat emboss with gold embossing powder.

Using a chipboard star shape, cover the star with Deco foil Transfer Gel Duo, allow to dry clear, cover in gold foil, run through the Big shot and peel off foil, star will be covered in gold foil.

Cut out book paper words attach to the foiled chipboard.

On Digital Paper stamp grapes with versa mark ink pad, heat emboss with blue embossing powder, colour and cut out. Spray a strip of book paper with Sky spray gloss and ink edges in Cobalt Archival ink. Adhere the grapes and star with gel medium to the front of the tag. Smudge some metallic lustre over the front. Attach ribbon. Highlight with Fude ball pen where desired.

Lisa Toffoletti has always dedicated a space in her life for art and craft, from a child making greeting cards using pressed flowers to art in many forms including small papercraft projects, scrap booking and card making, to create things that have a purpose and are useful.

Lisa is married with three children, whilst raising the children as a stay-at home-mum she worked for the family upholstery business and lives in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne. She many other interests and hobbies including gardening, reading, photography, tracing her family tree and spending time with family.
To view Lisa’s creations, log onto Facebook at Handmade Greeting cards by Lisa T

Filed Under: Mixed Media Project Tagged With: , , , ,

Halloween Tag

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This project was created by Joanne Hughes with products supplied by Mixed Media Art, as part of the Mixed Media Art Design Team 2021.

Materials List

To create your tag

Begin by spraying gloss sprays onto your craft mat and lightly spritz with water.  Swipe tag through until you are happy with coverage.  Use yours fingers to move colour around if necessary, especially around the hole.

Select a suitable person from the Paper Dolls pack and cut the head off to use as a seat!  Cover the white edges of the doll with black ink.  I use Ranger Archival Jet Black but a marker or paint will do.

Using the Jet Black Archival Ink, stamp the bird in a position to replace the head of your chosen doll.  Keep in mind the positioning of the head too!

Stamp the diamonds, 13 and birds around the tag using photo as a guide.  Ink the tag edges with black.

Choose, cut out and ink the edges of an appropriate Small Talk Sticker to match your doll and  position around the tag.  I found these stickers were sticky enough not to need glue, even after handling to ink edges.

Lastly spray the gloss spray direct to the crinkle ribbon and note the vibrancy of the colours!  The acrylic paint dries quickly and makes the ribbon stiff and easy to handle. 

Finish by tying the ribbon through the hole on the top of the tag. 
Use white and black pens to emphasise the eyes of the doll and bird.

Joanne Hughes loves to share her knowledge and ideas with anyone who will listen,  and has worked with Michelle and Mixed Media Art at the Picture to Page shows for many years, demonstrating and behind the make’N’take table.  She is thrilled and honoured to kick start the Mixed Media Art Design Team 2021.  There is a story behind each of her pieces and she is only too happy to share with you.

Joanne is mum to three adult children and lives in the same house she and her husband bought in 1982 and has been craft making in various forms for as long as she can remember – from macrame in the 70’s to considering herself a Mixed Media Artist, Joanne is a “Jill” of all trades, focussing on her love of stationery and everything that goes with it – paper, pens, inks, paints and stickers, along with the tools and techniques of the creative process.  When she is not making a book, she is thinking of the next one, be it a journal, letter journal, hand made or altered book.  She is a hands on crafter, loving messy play with glues, inks and paints.

Filed Under: Mixed Media Project Tagged With: , , ,