Litlle Birdie Mixed Media Journal Review + 2 Journal pages

Hi all,

During Creativation 2018 in January, the one and only product that caught my fancy was Little Birdie Art and Mixed Media Journal. If you have been following my work, you already know how crazy I am about Art Journals, however no good hard bound journals were available until now in India. Hence, when I saw the upcoming release during Creativation, I immediately inboxed Rashmi Harish, owner of Itsy Bitsy & Little Birdie to congratulate her for coming up with the journals. To my absolute delight, Rashmi promised to send me one of the journals when the actual production starts and as soon as the journals were released in June, I had the Mixed Media Journal come my way (another surprise that Rashmi actually remembered to send me a journal after 5 months & I am touched by the gesture). Thanks Rashmi.

Now lets come to these journals. There are 3 journals - Art Journal in 220 & 440 gsm & Mixed Media Journal and they come in 2 sizes: 5.5 by 7.5" and 7.6 by 10.2". You can read all about Art Journal here. I am going to review the Mixed Media Journal which Rashmi very sweetly sent me.

Features of the journal:

• Made in India 
• Contains 92 pages that you could work on
• Has 16 Canvas, corrugated, white burlap, natural burlap and handmade paper each
• Has 12 Kraft cardstock
• Its hardbound & 100% cold pressed 
• Its handmade and archival 
• Very very cost effective (Rs. 999/- or about 15$ when purchasing in India. For price in US and other countries, please hop on to the Little Birdie Website)

I got the journal on Saturday and I already have made 2 journal pages. 

Page 1: 

The 1st page in the journal is a canvas. Being a fan of embroidery, I decided to embroider a rose in the journal & stamp my name. I decided to keep it simple as I wanted to focus on the rose. 

Embroidery on canvas page in Mixed Media Journal By Little Birdie

Steps to create: 

• I stamped the image from Stampendous Fran's Cling Stamp & Stencil Set - Build A Bouquet Set on canvas using Catherine Pooler Die Ink. 
• Once the ink was dry, I embroidered the flowers using Anchor floss (3 strings). 
• For the flower I used normal filling stitch and did leaves using chain stitch. 
• While I was embroidering, the edges started fraying a little and hence, I sealed the stitches using blanket stitch. 
• As it was impossible to use an embroidery hop in the journal, the canvas wrapped a little in the process, however, I absolutely the wrapped look. 
• To finish the page, I stamped my name using the Concord & 9th Script Stamp and Dye inks. 

Close up of rose

Page 2:

For the backside of the canvas, as you can imagine, all the knots and embroidery backing was visible & being the crazy me, I wanted to hide it all so that when I flip the page, I see a beautiful layout & not all the crazy knots. Hence, I created a page separately on a vellum  and adhered it to the backside of the canvas. I like how the blanket stitch is peeping from sides of the vellum.. Gives a very rustic look. 

Steps to create:

• I stamped as image from Clearly Besotted Thanks a Bunch set using Ranger Archival black ink on Brustro Watercolor paper. 
• I coloured the image using Peerless watercolors & fussy cut it. 
• I coloured a 5 by 7" vellum sheet using Ranger Alcohol inks: Lettuce, Butterscotch and silver. 
• Then I adhered the vellum at the back of the canvas using Range Glossy Accent. 
• To finish the page, I adhered the coloured image & printed quote using glue. 

I hope you love these simple, yet fun mixed media art journal pages. If you love Art Journalling and if you want t o challenge yourself to create art journal spreads on various textured backgrounds, Little Birdie Mixed Media Journal is a must buy. I shall be back soon with more pages in this amazing Mixed Media journal. 

I would once again like to thank Rashmi for sending this amazing journal. 

Love, 

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta 

Scars Make You Strong - Art Journal Page

Hi,

Being a paramedic (dietitian), everything related  to health is intensified for me, however, at the same time I am always very calm about any major health related issue as I am aware about medical procedures and modes of treatment. So, when a few months back I underwent a surgery, I was very calm as I was supposed to be back and running within a week's time. However, I developed a post surgical complication and the complication didnt cure even after 2 months of surgery. For the 1st time in life, I completely broke down after 2 months, as this was a surgical complication that I was not ready for at all. I was home for 2 strait months and moved out only to see the doctor. At this moment, Tejal & Saumya's favorite quote uplifted me a lot. These quotes essential tell you that no matter how injured you are, you are only going to emerge a winner at the end.

"My Scars Are A Proof That I Survived" & "The Wound Is Where The Light Enters You" had such deep impact on me and helped me get positive in the testing times that when I decided to incorporate them in the art journal I made for Tejal, I decided to not add any other motifs on this page and keep complete focus on the quotes.

Also, as quotes were the focal point of the page, I wanted to add some more drama to the page and hence I decided to use a font with cracked look. I looked up online & found a font (free for personal use) that suited my purpose and used it for printing both the quotes. Even for the background I used Distress Crackle Paint & Alcohol Inks to give the intense cracked (scared) look. I added some patches of Nuvo Copper mousse with stencil to mimic healing wounds.

Supplies Used:

• 6 by 7" card stock or chipboard
• Tim Holtz Distress Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint
• Tim Holtz Stencil 
• Ranger Alcohol Ink: Gold, Silver. Cranberry, Lettuce, Butterscotch 
• Ranger Distress Ink: Candied Apple 
• Nuvo Embellishment Mousse - Fresh Copper
• Little Birdie (Itsy Bitsy) 2 in 1 texture paste (Used as gesso)
• Paint brush, blending tool & foam, felt applicator, Sakura Microns, glue 
• Printed quotes 

Steps to create:

• Apply gesso on the card stock/ chipboard base and let it dry. Once dry, apply a thick coat of clear rock candy crackle and set aside to dry.
• Dab various colours of alcohol ink (with felt applicator) on the dried page t o intensify the cracks. 
• Apply Nuvo mousse through stencil.
• Print and cut the quotes in small words. Colour the quotes using Candied Apple ink. 
• Adhere the quotes on the page outline and outline the quotes on 2 sides using Sakura Microns to finish the page. 

I hope you liked this simple, yet intense page of quotes & get inspired to face tough times with strength & grit. You can view previous pages by clicking on links below:

View Page 2

View Page 1

View Page 3

I shall soon be back with Page 5.

Love,
Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta
Crafty Flirtations 

Nickname. Day 3 of 30 Day Art Journal Class

Hi friends,

The day 3 prompt of 30 Day Art Journal Class was "Nicknames or love names used by friends/ parents/ spouse"

Story Behind my page: Neha is itself a short name & I hate when people bend it weird ways to form nickname for me. However, there is one nickname that I love and its short form of my name "NE". While I was in Pune for my higher studies, 2 of my roommates "Soumya" & "Vagisha" gave me this name affectionately & it stayed on with me completely

• There are loads of layers in this page. Using round ink blending tools, I applied dots or you can say blotches of "Vintage Photo" & "Black Soot" distress ink on the background. 
• Then I applied a very light coat of gesso over the entire page
• Once the gesso was dry, I covered the whole page with "Pumice Stone" Distress stain
• I then doodled "NE" with "Sakura Microns" and added shading using pencil colours
• I somehow felt the page looked dull so I went on the apply Ranger "Vintage Photo" crackle paint all around the doodle
• Once the crackle paint had dried, using a felt applicator, I dabbed "Cranberry" & "Eggplant" alcohol Ink over the crackle paint to highlight the cracks. 

I like how I am learning new techniques while making these journal pages. I had almost decided that I need to destash my alcohol inks but loved the results of dabbing of alcohol Inks on crackle paint, so I am going to explore this even further 

Links of previous pages:

Page 1  

Page 2

Hope you all liked my Day 3 page. 

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka

Crafty Flirtations

All About ATCs

Hi everyone,

I would like to share some information about Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). 

Artist Trading Cards or more commonly known as ATCs are miniature pieces of arts that are created and traded by artists around the world. Artists create, trade and collect art at organised "swap" events, either in person or online. ATCs are never sold but are always traded. 

ATC trade/swaps have been around for about 20 years now. The 1st ATC swap took place in 1997. In the year 1996 - 97, Swiss artist M Vanci Stirnemann, created 1200 miniature cards and exhibited them at his second-hand bookshop and gallery INK art & text in Zurich, Switzerland from 23rd April - 31st May 1997. On the last day of exhibition, he invited others to create their own cards and trade/ swap with him with the intention to allow people from different backgrounds to participate in an ongoing art project, which was not part of the art market. 

A few weeks after the first ATC exhibition and trading session in Zurich, the Canadian artist Don Mabie adopted the idea and showed artist trading cards at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In September 1997, a trading session was organised at the New Gallery in Calgary.

(More About  about history of Original ATC Trading) 

Today ATCs are exchanged world over by artists either randomly or through organised swaps in person or online. ATCs are created in various medium including dry medium (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.), or even metals, fiber, wax and other materials. Mixed-Media ATCs are a rage all over the world currently. When making ATCs, you dont have to follow any rule as to what medium you use except 1, i.e. for size. All ATCs have to be of the same standard miniature size of 2 1/2" and 3 1/2".

Here are some of the mixed-media ATCs I have made over last few months using various techniques such as stamping, distress inks, alcohol inks, die cuts, quilling, stickers, stencilling, mixed media etc.

Hope you all liked these ATCs. Do leave some love if you like them.

Love,
Dr. Neha Sanwalka
Crafty Flirtations

One Stamp ATC

Hi friends,

I am sharing a mixed-media ATC with you all today. This ATC was made as a part of an Indian ATC exchange group and we were allowed to use only 1 stamp or 1 stamp set to make the ATC. Being the newbie stamper I am, who loves using stamps for everything possible, this was  a great opportunity to look at other supplies I have to complete the ATC. 

Materials Used:

• Iris Paper
• Acetate Sheet
• Distress Ink: Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Dried Marigold & Aged Mahogany
• Adirondack Ink: Cranberry & Lettuce
• Alcohol Blending Solution 
• Penny Black Clear Stamps - Blooming Garden
• Blending Foam & Felt 
• Koi Water Brush
• Sakura 24 colour water color pen 
• Helix Alphabet Stencil 
• Sakura micro 05
• Butterfly sequins
• Red tacky tape 
• Foam tape
• Paper Twine

Method: 

• Using distress ink squeezed lemonade, wild honey & dried marigold, I created the background
• Then I distressed the edges of the background using aged mahogany distress ink
• For the sentiment, I created the tag using dried marigold & age mahogany 
• Thereafter, I cut the actate of desired size & using Adirondack Ink Cranberry & Lettuce and alcohol blending solution, I created a random and bright background on the acetate
• Then I stamped the desired flower design on another cardstock and coloured using sakura 24 water colour pen & fussy cut it
• Using the alphabet stencil, I wrote the sentiment on the sentiment tag with help of Sakura Micron 
• Once all the elements were ready, with help of red tacky tape, I adhered the acetate background on the big background at the lower bottom , leaving it open from top (notice the acetate is adhered off centre to create balance)
• Then I took a piece of orange twine and tied it around the base
• With the help of foam tape, I attached the stamped flower on top of the twine
• I punched a hole on the sentiment tag and adhered a piece twine through it & placed it in between the acetate sheet & the background
• Finally to finish the ATC, I added some butterly sequins around the acetate 

Hope you liked the tutorial & were inspired 

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka

Crafty Flirtations