Digital Scrapbooking Blog and Scrapbook Inspiration
from DesignerDigitals

Have you ever tried to define art?  Webster definition is ” the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects”. I define art as a form of communication. Art jounaling is a form of communication. It is a vessel which can give that inner voice a form, a color, a design. On days when you have a lot in your heart, but you are having a hard time making sense out of all the emotions - that’s when you sit down with an empty new page in your Photoshop - and you start to pour those emotions out on the page.
Art journaling - is a way for you to communicate your feelings. Uncencored, without restrictions, without fear. Don’t be afraid to be judged, because in the end - you decide whether you show this page to the world, or if it stays on your computer. The lesson here is - learn how to use this free space for yourself. Not to scrap, not to document, but to communicate.
Welcome to a new round of art journaling! 

A while back I visited the Musem of Art and Science in Milan Italy, where there is a very interesting exhibition about Leonardo di Vinci. I was struck with this prolific, intelligent man’s work, and I was fascinated with his journals. Yes, I believe they were art journals. So this is where I want to go today. To get inspiration from the master. Let his works inspire you to start your own art journal. We do it the digital way and we do it with all the wonderful utensils we have available for us right here at Designer Digitals .  If you would like to share your piece of art with us, please post in our wonderful Art Journal gallery.
I am always thankful for all you trusty followers of the art journal challenge and I welcome contributions from those of you who are new to this!

I was astonished to see how you all were inspired by the last challenge. So many fun layouts in our very own AJ gallery!!
Before I continue with this week’s message - I want to point out two of the many wonderful pages inspired by Adryane. I had a hard time choosing.
I think h_ryfa took this challenge into her two hands and created a spectacular page. I am in awe.

And Jana Morton‘s page blew me away too. How fun is THIS??  She did a fantastic job on this. I love the humor in it.

This week I have an important message for you all:  The Art Journal Challenge will take a few months break. I am studying for an upcoming important exam and rather unwillingly, I have to admit - that my professional life needs to take precedence over my hobbies. Trust me, it is NOT easy to let go of my private computer and art-time. I do hope to be back with new challenges later this fall, once my stress levels concerning the exam have subsided.

So for this week, I am leaving you with an open challenge. An open challenge to continue finding your inner artful voice in using digital products. Some days you might want to layer stuff on your page, tape, “glue”, stamp, journal and paint. Other days, perhaps the right thing is a small photo and a simple embellishment. Whatever it takes to let your creative juices flow and release those emotions ready to burst inside. The fun thing about this - it is limitless. There are no rules. Do you have lots of products you never seem to find the right scrapping page for?  Well, use it on an art journal page! Seek out those products you *love*, but have never used - and art journal with them. And here is my page for this week:

I have these wonderful Mixed Bag brushes by Katie Pertiet that I love but seldom find the right page for, but this week I had a perfect use for one of them. I love how the color and worn look of the Crumpled Cardstock Overlay make me think of a an old, squeaky, used wicker chair. I used Jesse Edwards’ Deco Borders no.4 to make a space for the chair and used two lovely papers from her Eclair paper pack (coming soon!). I chose these because they have a bright and busy pattern, to symbolize… well, a bright and busy life. Then a break, with a chair to relax in, and then the continuation afterwards of more bright and patterned “life”.  The title is perhaps superfluous, but I think it declares what the intention of the page is.
There you have it.  So now, go forward and create artful pages!!  Don’t forget to post them in our gallery. Until next time - don’t forget to have fun while art journaling. Take care.      ~ Aino.

Hi there!  I am really excited about this week’s Art Journal Challenge!! So I will jump right at it. I believe we have all seen and fallen in love with Adryane‘s gallery and her wonderfully artistic, inspired pages and painting techniques. When I read her description of how she does it at Anna’s blog, I was inspired to try it out.
So this week I want to draw our inspiration from Adryane and her simple, yet very effective technique. 

Her pages are so good, that I was a little ashamed to even try this out - feeling that lingering insecurity inside, that fear of not doing it well enough. But then, after I got Adryane’s blessing to use her for this week’s challenge, I decided that I certainly did not want to COPY her. No, I wanted to use her technique and make it mine, make it me. Make a page that represents MY emotions today, in a style that is true to me.
And so THIS is actually what I want you to do.

Make a page. Load up a bunch of brushes. Think of a suitable image in your head and start looking for brushes that fit. Then start “painting”. Place each brushstroke on a separate layer. You should name your layers, because you will end up with a lot of layers. I named my with the color I wanted for each stroke. Then when each item (flower in my case) was complete, I locked them all together. The important thing here - use the WARP tool to twist and turn the brush strokes, to make them fit your design. Copy them, twist them some more, add one of top of each other, flip them.
The next step is to find the right papers that fit the colors you need. And then clip your papers to the correct layers and voila - your painting comes alive. So much fun!!  Don’t forget to add a slight shadow and outer glow to your brush stroke layers.

In honor of this week’s challenge, Adryane was so kind as to make a BRAND new, NEVER before seen page for us to be inspired by. Isn’t it absolutely fantastic !?  I think we all would be more than willing to keep a bunch of these on our livingroom walls.   Thank you Adryane for being such an inspiration to us!

Here are some of the products Adryane used: Artplay Palette Magic,  Different Stroke brushes, Spring Candy Mini Kit.

And here is my page for this challenge - it was so much fun to do this - you really should try it out!  Some of the products I used…. Artplay Obsession, Different Strokes brushes,  Monoblendz Royale Paperie, Monoblendz Herbs de Provence Paperie, Monoblendz Bananas and Custard Papiere, Monoblendz Cayenne Paperie, Potpourri Paperie No.3, Potpourri Paperie No.2 and Messy Slab Alpha brushes. 

Now go and make some art!!  Be inspired by Adryane and find your own art with some warped brushstrokes. Then go ahead and load them up to our Art Journal Gallery. Until next time - take care.      ~ Aino.

Hello - and yes, I am back again. Not on vacation from Art Journaling yet. Almost, but not yet.  
First off, let us have a look at two pages from our AJ gallery. Don’t miss out - have a look at all the gorgeous art
our members create! It is always an inspiration to peruse this gallery.
I enjoyed Serenoa’s page Minna by the Sea ....

And MzRebecca’s page was fascinating to me too….

Now, this week, I want to inspire you to do two things. First of all to be inspired by music - go listen to music while making your page, perhaps journal about your favorite music style/song/artist, close your eyes while listening to the music and recreate the colors/movement/feelings the music evoke in you. The second thing is to use a mask on your page. Draw with your Polygonal Lasso Tool, Ellipse Tool, Rectangle Tool, Custom Shape Tool or any other of the tool. Fill it with any colors you please. Then pick a paper you like, drag it onto your page so that the layer is above the shape you just drew, and then click Ctrl+G (Command+G for Mac) in Photoshop CS.
Here is my page:

Music always picks me up and makes me happy, but there is one song that has that SPECIAL effect on me. It was a hit a few years ago, at least in Europe, a song by Phat and Small called “Hey what’s wrong with you”. So I used this song on the background paper, lowered the opacity and fill. I cut up the paper doll and drew a skirt with the polygonal lasso tool and filled it with a paper and added the feet from an old photo. I “stamped” a title, added some paint on the background paper, doodles and stitches. Right before I flattened and saved, I added the orange paper strips to make it a little more interesting and eye-catching.

Go create some art and make it loud!! Until next time - have fun.  ~ Aino.

We all love to travel. See new places, beautiful landscapes and architecture, try local food. But have you been to a place where you certainly do not want to go back to? Well, this week’s AJ challenge is to make a journal page about this. I call it an Anti-travel art journal page. Here is what earlofoxford/Linda created:

Amongst a bunch of new goodies, Linda made use of ArtPlay Palette Mermaids Minikit and Painted Edge Overlays No.2.
And here is my page…..

I decided to venture into a different direction and journal about a mental place where I don’t want to go back to. It’s a dark place - hence the dark background. I used the cage to represent my feelings of being trapped in a place where nasty things lived (the snakes and reptiles). The knife on the edge represents thoughts of selfmutilation. But to represent the way out, the optimistic, the colorful - I added the colorful edges, the butterflies and some magic flares.
To add that little bit of dimension, I added a tiny bit of Inner Bevel (Depth 32 and Size 5) to the colorful edges on the side and to the butterfly with the paint.

Amongst a bunch of other goodies, I made use of Schmeared Blocks No.01 (used with the Clone tool),  SandScratched Toolset no.01, Postcard Journalers No.2, Border Basics No.01, Collageables No.01 and Mask the Mask Labelset no.01.

So, go forth and create some art - discover something new by journaling about a place where you don’t want to back to and why. And then share with us in our very own fantastic Art Journal Gallery.  Until next time - happy creating!    ~ Aino.