Worked on this last night. This is my grandmother and her two sisters. It is a sweet time when they were young and the world had not made its imprint on them yet. My grandmother is Elizabeth. I used stencils , flowres, crystals and sprays to make this layout.
Monthly Archives: April 2014
three dried clay covers that I made with my tutorial below
Here are the four unpainted covers I made in one batch;
Here are the 3 covers painted and applied to their journals;
free tutorial on how to make a clay cover mixed media collage for an art journal or smash book DIY art project
This is a free tutorial on how I make air dried clay covers for some of my art or travel journals. I will post the pictures with the explanations below. Start with some air dry clay that you can get at Michael’s or Joann’s in the children’s art sections.
Measure the cover of your journal and roll out the clay on wax paper and cut it just a little smaller than the cover measurements. 
Here I have cut the clay and added 2 rolls in a swirling pattern and stamped some impressions on the clay.
Here are four different clay shapes that I made at this time. It is easier to make several different shapes and clean up afterwards. The one I am going to use in this project is the one on the far left.
The painting is down after I have let the clay dry for one day. I use metallic paints; teal and sapphire blue to make the base of the collage.
Here are some of the supplies that I use to make the collage vary in color and textures. The glass beads paste is spread around and then the micro beads are sprinkled on top so they will dry embedded in the paste. The Golden gold paint is used sparingly to highlight the different levels on the clay.
Here I have glued on Tim Holtz’s metal gears, and clock face and hand to the top of the swirls. I then glued on Swarovski crystals to make the collage sparkle. Here I am trying it on the top of the journal that I will be covering to see how it fits.
This is the finished journal. I have covered the journal with matching card stock and glued the clay collage on top. I have added a ribbon loop and a brad to make the closure. The cover is done. Inside the journal I continued the theme of Steampunk purple with designer papers and envelops and tags that I made to hold journal ling and photographs inside for future use. Here are some photos of the inside of this art journal.
this journal and other journals that I have made in a similiar manner are available in my etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/LDphotography?section_id=6805677&ref=shopsection_leftnav_5
Hope you enjoyed learning about this fun way to use air dried clay for mixed media collages and journal covers.
Photo fold outs for a journal, smash book, or scrapbook page
Easy and quick Photo fold outs for a journal, smash book, or scrapbook page tutorial
Still working on ways to quickly and easily make photo fold outs for art journals or smash books or scrapbooks. Sometimes I have just a little time to work in my art journal and I just want to add a photo in a way that is a little different than just sticking it in with tape. Here are two simple ideas to use that just require folding and tape.
Fairy fold out; Just fold a piece of decorator card stock and stamp a fairy or anything on top.
this is a piece of Graphic 45 paper stock that I cut out and made a window fold out for my journal.
Both of these ideas take less than 10 minutes to do but add an extra dimension to your work. Happy creating ! Linda
Just finished a hand made Steampunk Spirit journal smashbook with a paper clay cover
I have been playing with air dried paper clay as part of my art process for a while now. I made this steampunk art card from that clay plus metallic paints . The other theme in my work recently is making practical art. Art that can be enjoyed and used everyday in a person’s life. This journal’s cover started out as a steampunk paper clay art card with gears, metallic paints , handmade spirit face , clock and Swarovski crystals. When it was finished, it called out to me to be a cover of an art journal. I love the blues and browns that make this cover so unique.
The inside of this journal/ smash book has added envelops, tags, collages, metallic painted pages, stamped images, fold outs and many more features to surprise you. Some of the lined pages have been left alone for you to journal and some have been pasted together to support your photos and drawings.
This journal ties together with a baby blue ribbon and it has a matching blue ribbon with a metal key on the end for a bookmark. It is an exquisite piece of practical art that you can use everyday or to record the memories of a special trip.
It is on sale in my etsy store; https://www.etsy.com/listing/184752996/steampunk-spirit-journal-smashbook
creative vintage studio 