Open Me Carefully - Art Journaling for Finnabair

 

Hello darlings,

 

My Quiet Moments journal has got a new page that I want to share with you!

 

My Quiet Moments journal is my very special journal where let my heart tell what it has to say. I pick some inspiring elements like a dried flower from our garden, a bit of lace, or a quote that feels perfect there and then, and try to capture those little moments in life that makes it so precious. Which means, I want the journal to reflect the fragile beauty and light of life, without forgetting there wouldn’t be light without darkness. 

 

 

 

The journal is a Finnabair Art Daily Square Journal, 5.5 inches, 14cm in size, so it is perfect size for this kind of purpose, where the main element is a dried flower, or a quote typed with a vintage typewriter.

 

My way of journaling is very intuitive, so I had no clear vision what I was going to do, except for using some vintage dyed lace and soft, creamy colours. You can follow the entire creative journey in my long, tranquil video, where I tell you how, why, what, and a lot more along the way.

 

 

 

I roughly planned the general elements for the page and their composition, glued a 7 Dots Studio paper on the background, and started to layer vintage paper bits and used tea bags on the pages, attaching them with Soft Matte Gel. Next, I primed the pages very lightly with Heavy Gesso, and after the pages were dry, I sewed and glued laces where I wanted them to go.

 

I ended up choosing Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) as the dried flower for my journal spread. It’s one of my favourite flowers with its soft, gentle look and we have had it in our garden for years, but I fell head over heels in love with it last summer, when I learnt that it is actually a very powerful medicinal plant and most of all, that it symbolizes hope and strength. It instantly got a firm top 3 position in my favourite plants list! 

 

 

Of course, I wanted a matching quote, something reflecting the fragile, yet hopeful message of the journal spread, and ended up using one of Emily Dickinson’s poems. I had written the quote with my vintage typewriter on Japanese rice paper, which suits the task perfectly and kind of blends into the page. I attached both the Pearly Everlasting and the quote to the page using Soft Matte Gel.

 

 

Next, I needed to decide the colour theme, which wasn’t that hard, as Pearly Everlasting and the laces kind of demanded soft beiges and cream. I mixed a light paint mix using Impastos Snow White and Linen with just a merest hint of Pitch Black and Dark Chocolate for depth and added only a very light coat of paint onto the page, blending and wiping most off with a baby wipe.

 

Next, I added a bit shadowing into the page edges and around the dried flower with Liquid Acrylics Burnt Sienna, Umber, and Ink Black.

 

 

For highlighting, I used the new Winter Release Gold Metallic Flakes and using Gilding Glue I attached just a tiny amount of gold flake traces here and there, applying some new Sage Leaves Matte Wax on top of the gilding, to make it look more aged and worn.

 

And the journal spread was finished. It truly whispers the message of hope and strength with the soft colouring, with the light, gentle gilding, and with the soft Pearly Everlasting.

 

 

 

Link to the video: https://youtu.be/dkkvbEduoRs

 

 

Wishing you gentle moments, 

Emilia

 

 

 

NEW FINNABAIR WINTER RELEASE MATERIALS USED:

MATTE WAX SAGE LEAVES

GILDING GLUE

METALLIC FLAKES GOLD

 

 

OTHER MATERIALS USED:

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-daily-chipboard-journal-5-5-x-5-5

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-soft-matte-gel

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-heavy-gesso-white

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-ink-black

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-burnt-sienna

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-umber

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-dark-chocolate

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-linen

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-pitch-black

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-snow-white

 

7 DOTS STUDIO PAPER:

Air Mail: Hand Written

 

 

 

A Light to You - A Journal Page for Finnabair

 

Hello darlings,

 

I want to share with you a journal page I made for my Quiet Moments journal. It’s a journal for which I use inspiring elements and let my heart guide my creative process. I want to capture quiet little moments in life that makes it so precious, and I want every page to reflect that, using fragile dried flowers from our own garden, lace that I have botanically dyed, but I also want it to show how there is balance between everything; joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, hope and fear, light and darkness, all parts of life.

 

The journal is a Finnabair Art Daily Square Journal, 5.5 inches, 14cm in size, so it is rather small – which makes it perfect for a project like this.

 

I had no clear vision what I was going to do, I just collected some elements I found inspiring, and waited for my intuition to tell me what to do next. 

 

 

I started with layering some vintage papers and used tea bags on the page, attaching them with Soft Matte Gel, then primed the page lightly with Heavy Gesso, wiping most off with a baby wipe so that gesso did not cover everything, just gave the page a blended look.

 

I wanted the first page to include common yarrow, my favourite nature flower along with lily of the valley. I love the delicately simple look that contains so much power; common yarrow is one of the oldest medicinal plants on Planet Earth. Every flower has kind of symbolism and as I love all things vintage, this thought made me check what was the symbolism of common yarrow. It is healing and protection, joy and light, so I picked a favourite quote of mine I thought rather fitting for this purpose, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

 

I attached both to the page using Soft Matte Gel, and after letting everything dry properly, I added some paint. I mixed a light paint mix using Impastos Snow White and Linen with a hint of Pitch Black and Dark Chocolate and added only a very light coat of paint onto the page, again blending and wiping most off with a baby wipe.

 

 

Next, I added some shadowing in form of Liquid Acrylics Burnt Sienna and Ink Black, adding some Umber and Ochre to make slightly deeper shadows at some parts of the page.

 

I wanted to test how the new Winter Release Gold Metallic Flakes fit into this kind of journaling page, so using Gilding Glue, I attached just a hint of gold flakes here and there. In such a soft, neutral coloured journal page the gold stood out a bit, so I gently added some new Sage Leaves Matte Wax on top of the gilding, to make it look more aged and worn.

 

I already had used dried flowers and a quote, so I wanted to add my third signature element that makes my journaling look like me: lace. I took some lace and silk ribbon I had dyed using the flowers from our own garden, just some leftover pieces perfect for this kind of projects, and sewed a vintage button to held them together, and glued them onto the page.

 

As a finishing touch, I sprinkled some white acrylic paint to the page, to give the composition some more softness to reflect the message of the quote.

 

Wishing you light and joy,

 

Emilia

 

 

 

NEW WINTER RELEASE MATERIALS:

MATTE WAX SAGE LEAVES

GILDING GLUE

METALLIC FLAKES GOLD

 

OTHER MATERIALS USED:

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-daily-chipboard-journal-5-5-x-5-5

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-soft-matte-gel

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-heavy-gesso-white

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-ink-black

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-burnt-sienna

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-umber

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-ochre

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-dark-chocolate

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-linen

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-pitch-black

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-snow-white

 

 

Queen of Tides - Finnabair Creative Team Art

 

 

I decorated the cover of my precious and much-consulted Finnabair swatch book with the new release chipboards, moulds, and mechanicals. I had waited for a perfect moment, materials, and inspiration to decorate the cover, but with these new release embellishments, it kind of created itself for me. 

 

The journal is Finnabair Art Daily Mixed Media Journal, A5 sized, just a perfect size for a swatch journal. My original idea was to paint the cover purple, my favourite colour but somehow, I was drawn to blues and browns.

 

I started the process with taking some left-over scraps of Finnabair tissue paper and attached the pieces with Soft Matte Gel to the cover, crumbling and folding while doing it, so it made a bit uneven base, and then primed it with two coats of white Heavy Gesso

Then I decided which embellishments I’d use and how, arranged them on the cover, and attached with heavy Body Gel.

Next, I wanted some more dimensional effect, and mixed Texture Paste White Sand with Mini Art Stones and using a palette knife, smeared some here and there. I did the same with Old Walls Rust Effect Paste, to create more layering. Then, I primed everything with a thin layer of Heavy Gesso. 

For the painting process, I wanted to use my favourite medium, Liquid Acrylics. And as said, my original plan was to use purple shades, but somehow found myself using blues and browns! I started with Prussian Blue, mixing some with Ink Black to create more contrast and depth, and then started to add Umber and Burnt Sienna. I used very diluted paints, and sprayed water to make it spread watercolour-ish way, to create natural blending and lines. Then, I did the same with Titanium White, to blend blues and browns together.

For the painting process, I wanted to use my favourite medium, Liquid Acrylics. And as said, my original plan was to use purple shades, but somehow found myself using blues and browns! I started with Prussian Blue, mixing some with Ink Black to create more contrast and depth, and then started to add Umber and Burnt Sienna. I used very diluted paints, and sprayed water to make it spread watercolour-ish way, to create natural blending and lines. Then, I did the same with Titanium White, to blend blues and browns together.

As the composition started to look more and more like tidal beach colours, I accentuated it and added some Golden Dragon Effect Paste, as the either last or first sunrays reflecting in the sand. I also added some new release Gold Metallic Flakes using Gilding Glue, only a lightest touch of gold in only a couple of places to highlight the composition. After gilding, I added new release Sage Leaves Matte Wax to give the gilding antique look.

As the final touch to highlight the Queen of Tides (the mould) and some art pebbles, I added a light coat of White Pearl Metallic Wax, and my Finnabair swatch book cover was finished! 

See (the very unlike-me speeded-up) tutorial video here: https://youtu.be/c0LYbl0vIUA

 

Wishing you beautiful moments in your favourite colours,

Emilia

 

NEW FINNABAIR WINTER RELEASE MATERIALS USED:

DESERT FLOWER MECHANICAL SET

SCRAPYARD DRAGONFLIES MECHANICAL SET

DECORATIVE CHIPBOARD MACHINE FLORAL DECORS

MECHANICALS GRUNGY GEARS

MOULD VINTAGE PORTRAIT

MATTE WAXC SAGE LEAVES

METALLIC FLAKES GOLD

GILDING GLUE

MATTE WAX SAGE LEAVES

 

 

OTHER MATERIALS USED:

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-heavy-gesso-white

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-heavy-body-gel

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-ink-black

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-prussian-blue

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-burnt-sienna

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-titanium-white

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-umber

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-metallique-wax-white-pearl

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-extravagance-texture-paste-white-sand-tube

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-extravagance-texture-fantasy-old-walls

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-ingredients-art-stones-mini

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-finnabair-tissue-paper-wilderness

                            

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-finnabair-mechanicals-antique-labels

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-finnabair-mechanicals-woodland-ferns

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-ingredients-melange-art-pebbles

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-daily-chipboard-journal-5-5-x-8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paper Waxing Tutorial

Paper waxing is fun, easy, and a really quick way to do something different with your papers. I tried it a while ago and took photos of the process, so now I'm able to make my first tutorial ever. 

I tried to wax vintage tickets, Classiky papers, tissue papers, silk papers, book sheets, Lamp x Paperi stickers, coffee dyed papers, even a collage I made using washis, stickers, and glued papers. I also tried how stamp ink and laser printed paper react with wax. Quite fine, I think. Even the glue, washi, and stickers hold. Different papers have different textures and I found some absorb more wax, others less, and they react with heat differently.

This is how I did it, and please feel free to have different methods, and, please note that this is a very unofficial way of doing it. I just figured out it could work like this.

YOU'LL NEED:

- papers you want to wax

- old candles, crumbled to small morsel

- baking sheets (at least 3 sheets)

- kitchen paper roll

- iron and iron board

HOW IT WORKS:

1. Pick the papers you want to wax. Spread a baking sheet to the iron board, and put your papers on the sheet. Spread candle crumbs on the papers, and add another sheet on top. Spread another sheet on the table near you for the waxed papers.

2. Heat the iron, and iron over the sheets. You'll see how the wax melts and spreads on the papers. You might need to adjust them a bit and add some candle crumbs if the result is uneven. (Or, do it like me, and let it be just as it turns out. Different textures, different out comes are all welcome.)

3. Pick the waxed papers and put them to cool on to a baking sheet or paper or whatever you want to use, but please note they are a bit creasy, so you might want to cover your table. 

4. After cooling, check if there is too much wax and put the papers between two kitchen papers and iron once more, this will absorb the extra wax.

 WAXING STAMPED AND LASER PRINTED PAPERS:

I noticed the result is betters if you put the stamped or printed side of the paper towards the iron board. This might prevent the inks to spread with the wax. I tested this several times and noticed that with our printer inks, the black ink has a bit larger tendency to crackle than other colours. So, test your inks with a bit less valuable pictures. I found it rather charming how an uneven and crackling outcome of the waxing process makes the pictures look like vintage photos.

I hope you like the waxing as much as I do! Experiment with different textures, colours, prints... I'd love to see how your waxing turn out! Tag me in Instagram @harvinaisenkauniselama or leave a comment, thank you dear!

Light in the Heart

...that's what I have been thinking lately. Light in the heart. It makes life so much easier. It might not make the steps nor pain any lighter. But somehow it's easier to breathe when you have a light in your heart. And a light in your heart means a light in the eyes too, and suddenly life seems so much worth living for.

Maybe it's spring, and the light that made me think all this. Although for me spring means more pain, more days in bed, more fatique, more this side of life not so bright, not light, not beautiful. I think, however, I have been built in a way that more the pain, there is more beauty to be seen. And oh, how much there is beauty around me. Of course there are those dark days, we all have them, but...

Well. I heard a lovely song yesterday by Johanna Kurkela I want to share with you. It's Finnish, but I found a translation. Original one you can find here, and it is so worth listening to, even if it's Finnish, because you just cannot help smiling after that.

A Light Person

You know a route to the horizon

You laugh light to the world

You draw wind's curls

To your room's window

You collect fragments of joy

Drops of sun

You have the sky of January in a panther case

I think that you have angel eyes

And better than the others

You see June's ultramarine winds

Brighter than the others

Colours especially

I think that those are the eyes of an angel

They see the sky more precisely

You know what the birds sing about

And where the clouds will descent

You can be really quietly

Without talking like a tree

And if your heart breaks

It will break completely

But only for a while

Maybe for an hour at most

I think that you have angel eyes

And better than the others

You see June's ultramarine winds

Brighter than the others

Colours especially

I think that those are the eyes of an angel

They see the sky more precisely

You have the ability to grab my had

Let the sad one just mourn their sorrows

On rainy days especially

It's good that you are

Just like that

A light person

I think that you have angel eyes

And better than the others

You see June's ultramarine winds

Brighter than the others

Colours especially

I think that those are the eyes of an angel

They see the sky more precisely

I don't mean to say I am a light person; that song just made me smile. And find words to the thoughts I've been thinking. We cannot always choose, we cannot always pursue ourselves to be happy or see light everywere, or anything beautiful for that matter. Life might sometimes seem pointless, but I hope that, in your eyes, it will never seems to be not worth living for. There is always light, somewhere. 

Yesterday was, as Fridays usual, a day in bed, in several tubes, having an infusion. Somehow I have learned to wait those days. It means a bit of uncomfortable feelings too, but oh, how they make me be grateful for all the other days being able to live my not-so-ordinary-normal life. I think all those brave souls and strong persons forced to live in hospital beds and with tubes and other stuff in them all days long, every day, and just swallow all my complaints and try to be a good girl.

Having to stay in bed so much, my husband has helped me to arrange our bedroom to be my happy place. I know. I have the most wonderful husband in the whole wild world. He knows before me when it's going to be a worse moment, leads me to rest a bit, helps me to breathe when my lungs forgot how to do their job,  somehow knows when I have a low day and bring me flowers or a new pink handbag just like the other day (I know!!!),  or just be there, for me, a shoulder, a supporting word here and there. We have been married 19 years soon and well, I just don't know how much more one can love another than we each others, and I am sure that is the reason I can so easily smile everyday. But actually, I was talking about a happy place...

I know there are lots and lots of you brave souls there, staying in bed just now, like me now writing this. You might have done this already, but I recommend it, if it have not occured to you earlier. Make the bedroom your happy place too. We arranged some space for my table next to my bed (yes, a big old house, big old rooms, our priviledge) and this way I can just pop in and out of bed and write a line to a letter or decorate a tiny bit of a journal page at a time, or put my coffee cup on the table next to me. There are flowers, paintings, beautiful items, and so much light there could be in our bedroom.

And this is important: bed linen! I learned this from my hero friend, who stays in bed all days long. Use only the sweetest, cutest, most comfortable, and loveliest bed linen you could think of. Because think of how many hours you spend between them! And ours, we never use any kind of covers, because our bed is always unmade: hey, I live there. So we have searched for colors we like (soft grey and maybe some soft faded pink pillows) and made sure they are neutral and pale enough for the feeling of lightness in the room.

Now I can promise no more decorating hints, not my style actually, but it just popped in to my head that with a little changes you could maybe better feel good even if in bed. Maybe. A bit. I hope.

I planned to write about snailmal and journaling, but I have a feeling it might once again left a bit out of hand. But next time! I try to, at least. I'm not a person of long term plans and even though I tried to make some how-to-do lessons about decorating envelopes or journal pages my style, I couldn't. When the flow hits, there is nothing else in my mind than just doing, and forget everything else, including resting... So at the moment, only photos of finished things. With my energy, diy-videos are out of question too, so ven if there are lots and lots of lovely people there asking me nicely to give lessons about "harvinaisenkauniselama style", I apologize. I can't. Not now anyway.

By the way, if you didn't already know,  harvinaisen kaunis elämä means unique/rare/unusually/expectionally beautiful life. Harvinainen is a Finnish word that has a douple meaning as both rare and unique.

But now, till the next time. I hope you have many reasons for smile, and can find that light in your heart, it does exist there already, you just have to find it. Unless, of course, you already have.