12 "Journal" Pages of 2013 - January

Yes, you read that correctly. Rather than 12 Tags of 2013, I've challenged myself to create journal pages instead. Now keep in mind that this is sort of my first attempt at any type of art journal and it will not be exactly the type you commonly see with all sorts of color and whimsy (at least for now). I'm just not that comfortable with that style (yet). Plus, I love the Tim Holtz style so I don't want to veer too much off course.

You can view Tim's January 2013 Tag on his blog here. Be sure to hop over there and check it out. Tim gives you all the steps and techniques in wonderful detail, and he's got a little more going on in his tag than I do on my journal page (as in ribbon and more Idea-ology). I'll have to keep the heavy stuff in check since this will be a book by the end of the year, and I would really like for it to be able to open and close without too much hassle.

So let's get to it. Here's my journal page for January...

The page measures 6 x 8 inches and has four holes punched along the left edge for binding at the end of the year with book rings (or something).

Let me take you through my steps on how this came together...

I should mention that my base page is Bristol (vellum surface, 100lb by Strathmore). I purchased a 14 x 17 inch pad of it, since I will be teaching my All Things Tim Club this project throughout the year. I can get four pages from each sheet. I began by running the Pocket Watches Texture Fade in the upper left corner. (6 x 8 still fits nicely in the Vagabond, that's why I chose that size). Then I inked areas with Rusty Hinge, like Tim.

Then Broken China. (Wow! a little too bright.)

Then I went over everything with Stormy Sky to tone it down a bit. I like how the blues and oranges mix and make a slight green color where they overlap.

I finally inking with Walnut Stain on the edges and across the surface makes it aged looking and really makes everything pop.

Spritz and flick with water. Love this!

I stamped TIME using one of Tim's newest stamp sets called Worn Text and Coffee Archival Ink. 

Using a black fine point Pigment Pen (Itoya .4), I loosely traced the letters.

I decided to put something behind my filmstrip, so I grabbed some Commute Tissue Tape which has gears on it and adhered the filmstrip to the tissue tape using 1/8-inch Scor-Tape, then trimmed off the excess. 

I adhered the tissue tape/filmstrip across the page. This helps hide where the embossing ends.

With Black Archival ink, I stamped "it's all perspective" vertically along the edge of the embossing. This helps take your eye away from the embossing stopping abruptly as well. (plus, I like the phrase and how it ties into the theme of this page.)

From Grungepaper, I cut this clock shape from the Weathered Clock Alterations die, colored it with Tarnished Brass Distress Stain, sanded it and inked it with Walnut Stain. Then I cut it in half and placed  it in the corner like this. The space looked a little blank there so I stamped some numbers randomly, curling up the rubber stamp (School Desk CMS057 by Stampers Anonymous) so I could control a portion of the stamping rather than the whole thing.

I try not to be wasteful, so I used the center part of the Weathered Clock that didn't get used before to cut out the mini alarm clock (Vintage Alarm Clock and Camera Alterations Movers and Shapers die). I colored this with Brushed Pewter Distress Stain and followed the same steps as the Weathered Clock (above) to distress it.

From the Lost & Found paper pack in the 6 x 6 section, I found that they clock faces fit perfectly inside the mini alarm clock. (I'm sure that was no accident on Tim's part). I love it!

This little alarm clock nestles into place down here in the right corner.

I cut a Grungepaper gear from the Gadget Gears Alterations Die, colored it with Antiqued Bronze Distress Stain, distressed it as above, then added some Idea-ology gears and a stamped hand which I colored with Distress Markers. (Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Broken China and Stormy Sky.)

Although I have the stamp that Tim used for his tag, mine was a bit small and out of proportion for my page, so I opted to hand write the saying with the same fine point pen as before. I'm rather anal (I can admit it) so I drew some faint pencil lines so my writing was nice and straight. Plus, this helped me keep track of the number of lines and how it would fit in the space.

After I wrote it (and exhaled deeply), I let it dry for a few minutes and then erased the pencil lines with a white artist's eraser. I like this better than those red rubber ones because it erases nice and clean and doesn't leave any color behind.

Whew, that's it. Here's another look at the finished page. Thanks so much for popping in today and checking me out. Have a wonderful day!