Making a Gratitude Journal with Watercolor Florals

We're having a wonderful time in Watercolor Leaves and Florals for Beginners class at the Community College of Beaver County.  

We've been creating loose watercolor florals on a variety of papers.

I put together a sample gratitude journal to show my students the possibilities for using their artwork.

Here's a flip-through!

I used gesso to partially cover the type of an old book page to make it easier for the journaler to write on the page.

I found a variety of old papers, like this accounting ledger, at the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.  Check them out here:

https://pccr.org/

You may recognize some of the materials I used for this project from this haul:

https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/2026/03/upcycling-finds-from-pittsburgh-center.html

This blank music sheeting gives the perfect space for a short entry.

The cover is made from a wallpaper sample that I folded over and glued to make it extra sturdy before sewing the binding.

I used a simple pamphlet stitch on a single signature.   

I love that you can invent your own flowers and leaves using this watercolor floral technique.

I learned the technique from Wendy Solganik of Willa Wanders in her Loose Watercolor Florals class on Teachable.  You can find her course here:

https://www.willawanders.com/watercolor-leaves-and-florals?_gl=1*1uj0ask*_gcl_au*MTIzMjgzMTQ2MC4xNzc1NTg0NDc3 

Happy Creating!

Nature Journal: Signs of Spring!

Spring is beginning to dawn. 

Birds are singing abundantly, spring peeper frogs are chirping in wild ponds, and the very first blooms are opening. What a relief!

I have a little pond off our front porch that I made years ago out of a mortar pan. Every summer, I put a goldfish in the pond to eat algae and mosquito larvae.

Last fall, as the first cold snap approached, I was catching the goldfish to put into deeper water for the winter, and was surprised when a frog kicked against my hand in the bitterly cold water. 

 I figured the frog knew what it was doing, and I left it there, but thought about him all winter long, especially when the temperatures bottomed out at -10 degrees F.  I read that frogs can survive being frozen for a short time. Was he still alive?

From the little sketch above, you may guess the answer to that question!

I was scooping dead leaves out of the mortar pan pond the other day, and that frog surprised me again!  

It inspired me to make art.

A friend gave us some very old photo printer paper designed to go to an outdated system.  It's shiny and smooth like old photographs.  I used a fountain pen to make some sketches, but it kept getting clogged by the shiny finish material on the paper.  Colored pencil worked well, and watercolor worked surprisingly well!

Sometimes when you have upcycled materials, it frees up your creativity.  Often the materials were headed for the trash can, and you are saving them.  They may have properties you're unaware of, so it's natural that you'd experiment with them.  You can take on an attitude of "I'm just testing this stuff out."  No pressure. 

That's a magical attitude to have, and you'll find it releases you to make free art.

Keep an eye out for materials that could be used for art in a thrift shop, yard sale or other second-hand source.  Look for "trash" that could become art. 

Happy Creating!

Weekly Planner in Spring Colors

A recent visit to the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse turned up some pages from a vintage book of children's fables. I love the black & white images, and have felt a hunger for spring.  I tore out a few images and laid them out on the weekly planner spread.

After gluing the images down, I added splashes of watercolor in spring colors.

Finally, I added the days, dates and events of the week.

Limiting my collage & paint project to a smaller size made it easy to jump into and begin.  

Do you have any printed material destined for the trash can that you could turn into collage art? I hope you give this technique a try!

Happy Creating!

Organizing Your Art Supplies

I like to think of my art studio as organized chaos.  

Art supplies are gathered with similar materials, stuffed in baskets, drawers & boxes. Sometimes, the papers and brushes spill over their containers, but mostly, I have space to store items and space to work, and I can lay my hands on what I need.

I love this way of working -- letting things spill over a bit, but mostly having room to create.  My trick is to gather collage papers in one basket, watercolor brushes in a mug or two.  I gather similar things together, and find inexpensive storage supplies to hold them.

David built me this wooden bookshelf from lumber we picked up at the side of the road.  I love the old, funky nature of the wood and the memory of scoring it on a morning walk.

I bought an Ikea drawer set and decorated it with some old scrap wood I had.  You can read the post about that transformation here: https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/2024/06/an-upcycled-drawer-refresh.html

I like to keep certain often-used supplies near at hand. All sorts of useful things --from inspiring quotes to treats for the kitties -- live in these drawers.

I found this small metal drawer unit at a thrift store and labeled each drawer with white chalk.

Pens, erasers and pencil sharpeners are tucked into the drawers.

You may have seen the pegboard paint tube storage idea online. I got the idea of hanging up my acrylic paints from The Unexpected Gypsy.  It makes finding the right color easy!  And I love seeing my paints ready to help me create.

This old, wooden chest was $20 at Goodwill Industries.  I filled it with my watercolor tube paints and pastels (some of which were bought secondhand at the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse (PCCR), a wonderful thrift store for art supplies.

I made the drawer organizer from cardboard boxes and hot glue.

Sketchbooks, class files and a wealth of papers end up in this Ikea cabinet:

Labels remind me what's stuffed in each basket and box.

We used to grow produce and haul it to farmer's markets to sell.  When we retired from farming, I turned our wooden bushel boxes, like the one below, into storage.

I bought the various boxes inside this bushel at PCCR secondhand.

A dear friend found this old wooden tool box at an auction and bought it for me.  It stores my colored pencils, ink dip pens and a variety of brushes, organized by medium.  Displaying your brushes & pencils  alongside nature's feathers, crystals & twigs turns your art supplies into a funky still life.

Though I have bought a few things from Ikea, most of my art studio organization comes from secondhand sources -- thrift shops, the side of the road, etc.  I go through my art supplies every few months to pull out items I no longer use so I can donate them at the PCCR.  

I consider cleaning up my space to be great self care.  I always feel more relaxed and inspired to create when I'm done cleaning up!

What can you find around your home to artfully hold your creative supplies?  Which of your art supplies would you like to put on display?

Setting up a beautiful, organized space to draw and paint in is a form of creativity.

Happy Creating! 

Collaged Journal Cover

I bought this small, lined journal at the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse for 50 cents, and am using it as a writing journal.  

The cover had a corporate logo on it I didn't want to see, so I personalized it with my own art.

 A rummage through my collage basket turned up the painted papers I used to create this simple design.

The blue piece of paper is from an old shorthand text, painted with acrylic paint.  I love the texture that out-of-date textbooks create with shorthand, type and music notes. Thin layers of acrylic paint allow the text to show through, and provide their own brightness.

The papers were glued to the journal cover with Yes! Paste.  When the glue dried, I painted on a layer of acrylic matte medium to protect the design.

Quick, simple art projects like this can buoy your spirits in the gray winter.  Here are some tips for creating collage designs:

• Don't wait for the collage to be 100% perfect.  Get it about 65% of the way there, and glue it down.  When you step back, you'll see the beauty that caught your eye when you first selected your papers.

• Gather papers with a shared color palette.  Here, the repeated scarlet swaths on the blue paper, and in the heart connect the papers and lead your eyes to dance happily around the composition.

• Pick a focal point, even something simple.  Here, it's the little, red heart.  You could write a word, select a small image, or pick some other bit of collage that's meaningful to you. Help it stand out by creating contrast around it -- light on a dark background, bright color against a white background, etc. Here, the white music sheeting and the blue background paper help the little red heart to stand out.  Your artist's eye is likely to do this naturally.

• Above all, be experimental, and allow yourself to play!

Happy Creating!

 

Upcycled Nature Journaling Kit

I found a vintage box that I suspect was used for mailing 35mm films to theaters. It's beautifully worn from years of use. 

I fell in love with this vintage veteran of the mail service, and bought it for 50 cents at the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.

The box was solid and in good shape except for the straps used to hold the box shut during shipping.  They were frayed and, though they had been repaired, they needed an upgrade. It took too much time and effort to open the box to make it useful in carrying nature journaling supplies.

I hand sewed Velcro strips to either side of the heavy woven straps.  

This way, I can peel the Velcro-ed straps apart and open the box.

Inside the reinforced box, I plan to tuck a nature journal, a mechanical pencil, and a small watercolor palette.  More on this in the next post!

Wishing you Happy Creating, whether you're drawing, painting, making music, or upcycling an old box into something fun.

An Upcycled Drawer Refresh

I use a wooden drawer organizer from Ikea to hold art supplies.  I love the functionality of it, but prefer the look of old wood to the spare, modern design.

I had several pieces of  gorgeous oak trim that I dumpster-dived, and a set of metal drawer pulls bought from eBay.

Once the drawer faces were cut and fitted with their drawer pulls, I glued them into place with wood glue, and held each drawer face on the drawer with rubber bands.

I love the finished drawers and the way they fit into my art studio's enchanted library style!

More Upcycled Trellises

This past spring, a cluster of dead Staghorn Sumac trees needed to be removed, and rather than haul them all away, I turned some of them into a useful trellis.

I  built the trellis using the same techniques as I used to make this pergola:

https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/2024/06/from-drawing-to-reality.html

Right away, the birds seemed comfortable perching on the "new" trellis, like this Mockingbird who took a quick bath in the nearby fountain before landing to dry his feathers in the sunshine.

Here's a short video of the finished garden area with the trellis and the fountain running.

What could you make with sticks?  

Upcycling takes more time than simply buying something new, but reusing cast-off supplies lets you use your imagination and creativity.  

And it saves you tons of money!  

And you end up with something unique and special.

Happy Creating!

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2024.  All rights reserved.

From Drawing to Reality

This pergola began as a sketch.  

A large cluster of Staghorn Sumac trees that grew around my home recently died, and we were left with a small forest of bare sticks. The wonky-looking limbs and trunks intrigued me to do something artful with my old tree friends.

I sketched and painted my idea, and tucked it into my nature journal along with a sketch of another project.

Having a sketch helps you to think about how you want to build your project.  

It helps you communicate your idea to anyone who will help you.

And it's fun!

My husband pounded 4 T-posts into the ground to support my wonky trellis, and I did the rest -- 

sawing the dead trees into lengths with my bow saw; 

zip-tying the uprights to the T-posts; and 

screwing limbs together with old drywall screws.

I wouldn't climb on this trellis, but it's strong enough to hold a solar lantern and a basket of flowers.

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2024. All rights reserved

 

Art Journaling with Word Art

Part of what makes art journaling so freeing is the fact that there is no wrong way to do it.  You simply follow the little sparks of ideas you get when you pick up art supplies -- from paints to butterfly wings, to old books.

Above is an Altoids tin I glued vintage book page bits, tea bag paper and other ephemera to. It stores snippets of text for art journaling.

Words snipped out of old books, magazines or wherever you like can be added to your art journal pages.

Clipping them out can be a relaxing way to slip into your creative mode, and you can assemble them into poems that don't have to mean anything to anyone but you.

I was thinking of a dream cruise to Alaska, and found these bits in an old travel book.

You can often find old books in thrift shops, rummage sales, and in free piles at libraries, etc.

The books I use were mostly saved from going into a dumpster.

Why not give some old text a new life in your art?

Happy Creating!