My 5th video tutorial is now up on Youtube and can be linked here. I tried to show the many ways to use dustless blending chalks in your visual journals. I have been a little frustrated with the Inkadinkadoo brand chalks, and the lovely little travel size chalks called Chalklettes which have become increasingly hard to find. My friend, Felicia, at Guiry's presented a new chalk product made by Pebbles for me to try out and I am sold! At first I thought they only came in an over-sized kit with tools I really didn't need (like a special eraser and many templates that were just too cutesy) but then I found a smaller, travel size kit that I love. The smaller kit will be carried (in the Denver area) by Kozo and Guiry's, othewise it can be found on a few web sites. I found mine on scrapbook.com, the total with shipping came to approx. $13.00. Have some fun!

Wohoo! I have been loving the new workshop space that Kozo has generously opened to various intructors. My "intro to mixed media journal" classes were both filled and we all seemed to enjoy the light-filled space. Thank you Patricia for creating such a great spot for the art community!
"Travel Journals" wlll be the next class scheduled for this week; I have posted the images from the Travel Journal kit; all pages were completed with just the materials included in the kit. Thanks to the brilliant and generous Carol Waugh (see the favorites link page) I will be tweeking the packaging and creating a consistent product. I will also be posting another video tutorial in the next day or two. It is her gorgeous work seen in the tutorials (hanging on the wall).

This is the entrance to the Mabel Dodge Luhan home in Taos. 7 ladies made it our magnificent home for just 2 nights but we seemed to squeeze some magic out of each minute! We set up a studio in the log cabin classroom and painted, journaled, explored, collaged and laughed thru the day and a half workshop. The air was fragrant, the sky endlessly changing and we went from wet chilly days to blazing sun. Bear poo, spray inks, breakfast burritos, altered photos, quick draw...it was so much fun to be together in this interestiing  and visually stimulating space. The people watching was also entertaining! I had a totally inspiring time and loved absolutely every second.  Thanks ladies!! (below is a slide show of our time together, put mouse over the picture and you can choose

Sure looks easy....yikes! A summer of changes; changing roles (no work this semester at either Metro or DU) and changing directions. I have certainly heard from  many sources that these times of great change offer great opportunities. So here it is! I finally completed the prototype and first five journal kits I have been thinking of for what seems likes years. I brought the kit to my dear friend Carol for her opinion today and, based on her feedback, am ready for the roll out this weekend at the opening of the Visual Journal show. The roller coaster has just gotten to the top of the lift, now

I was honored to work with 12 new students in a journal workshop yesterday (at the Art Student League of Denver). I introduced a new material that I am just loving; walnut spray inks. I originally found them at Meiningers (in Denver) then found various other spray, water-based inks on line and at one of our suburban Archiver stores. Woohoo! What fun to play with the pump sprays and stencils. All of these "misting" inks are gentle, easy to use and easy to clean up. They offer a wonderful alternative to spray paint which presents too  many health and environmental risks. I have used them on coffee filters as the basis for hand-made books and in my journal pages. Here are a few examples:

Another new technique I am playing with is using aluminum tape (purchased in a hardware store) attached to a page, then incised, then painted over with black gesso which is wiped off after a few minutes. Fun! I'll plan my next video tutorial on these two techniques. Check back in a few weeks, or let me know if  you have used either of these and how your pages turned out.

In this tutorial I am trying to show ways to prep the blank pages so it is easier to get going in a new journal book. I am guessing many folks have loads of beautiful journals, often still blank just because the thought of actually starting those first pages is terrifying. The materials I am using in this video are simple as possible: a glue stick, some text from a discarded book (or newspapers, or paper bags, dictionaries, etc), an old tooth brush, some watercolors, some odd things to use as stamps (old erasers, corks) and stamp ink that is washable (dye ink). That is it! Just start playiing and you will find the pages are much easier to work with if you try the layered approach. I look forward to hearing about your progress.

Here is the third tutorial; thanks again to Carol Ann Waugh - that is her gorgeous fiiber work on the walls. To see more of her work or her workshop schedule go to the link on my "favorites" page.
If you are going to try the technique on this video, here are a few more things to keep in mind: After you sand the photo (wet or dry) the exposed paper will accept watercolors easily.
Try sanding on texture plates or cement for a rough, spotty effect. (I have tried this on coins, bricks, and other rough surfaces.)
Be sure the photo is completely dry before you attach to your journal.
Check back here to see the journal page examples up close - I hope to have those included in my gallery soon!
If you want to be notified of the videos that are uploaded by email, just subscribe; you will get email notification thru Youtube.
Enjoy~ I welcome your feedback!!

Helpful hints for this crayon resist technique:
* if you are working with watercolor (or any other wet media) directly in your journal you might want to put some waxed paper under the page to keep the moisture from seeping thru.
* if the crayon is not resisting the watercolor to your satisfaction check a few things: press down hard with the crayon, be sure the paper is thick enough (it does work best on watercolor paper)
*another trick to try - after the crayon has been applied dampen the paper first with clean water before applying the actual watercolor sometimes this will help the "resist"
*try contrasting colors! try a colored crayon that is basically light in shade, then apply a dark, contrasting watercolor
* this technique also works with walnut ink which will respond the same way as the watercolor when applied over crayon
*this technique also works with oil pastels instead of crayon
I have gotten such nice feedback from freinds and former students who are using the videos as a reminder of what we have played with in classes. Allison G. and Katie L. suggested I add the writing prompt to the video, so it is included in this crayon resist tutorial. Any other suggestions are appreciated! 

I can't believe it...I actually created my first video tutorial for a mixed media journal technique using transparent tapes. Thanks to my dear friend, Carol Ann Waugh, we actually got this done on a cold Monday last week. Carol bought the Flip camera and tripod; I just showed up at her really cool studio space and we started to lead each other down the film direction/production highway.  It was really fun and not too painful! The editing was not too bad although the uploading to YouTube was the most challenging.
Helpful Hints to go along with the tutorial on the video:
1. try to use images from magazines that are not too old. Ancient Ntl. Geographic magazine pages don't seem to transfer as well as a newer magazine
2. always be aware that if you use an image you are lifting someone else's work..so don't pass it off as your own (especially with a price tag) and do try to change (alter, distress) it as much as possible so it becomes authentic to your style.
3. try to capture the fibers that come off when rubbing the soaked paper- if they go down your plumbing you might have a bit of a problem
4. embrace the distressed look~ this technique is  not a perfect transfer and the distressed appearance will help it look less like "cut and paste" and much more interesting
5. If you don't like the gloss finish on the tape you can always sand it a little then paint the entire page with a matt medium, or use a matte transparent tape
6. try this technique with some of the new, fun decorative packing tapes. I like the ones from Tapeswell.com     Many of them are transparent behind a decorative image which adds yet another layer to the page.
Have fun! I look forward to shariing another video tutorial in a few weeks. Any suggestions for techniques? Let me know and I will try to do a short video!