Hello Wonderful, Creative You!
I hope you enjoyed today’s Artful Friday Workshop as much as I did! I wanted to share some resources, including a picture tutorial, printable PDF, art journaling prompts, and a materials list, to help you with your solo envelope making at home.
Check out this grid for the instructions for folding the “bubble gum” or two-sided envelope:
As we talked about in the workshop, you can adapt this technique to papers of different sizes and shapes. Experiment with using scrap paper, old art work, fine papers, parchment paper, or even post-it notes! You can incorporate envelopes into journal pages to hold precious bits of art, letters, postcards, or secrets. You may glue the sides shut or allow it to fold and unfold as the page is opened.
Of course you may also want to rebel and send some good old hand written snail mail. Imagine what a beautiful surprise getting one of these gorgeous envelopes in the mail addressed to your name. In my experience, as long as the address is clear and legible, USPS will deliver!
Printable Envelope Template – Print out this page and fold on the solid lines and cut along the dotted lines to create a basic envelope from an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, or any other rectangle.
What About Cutting Your Own Stamps?
I know you noticed that I used some of my stamped pages today. Hand cut stamps are an obsession of mine because they are so economic, beautiful, and fun! People are often interested to learn more about them. You can find my tutorial on cutting your own stamps using a carving block and lino cut knives here, and my webinar on cutting your own stamps out of craft foam here.
Prompts for Art Journaling with Envelopes
Writing Prompts:
- Letter you’ll never send – give those words a special, but protected place in your journal.
- Griffin & Sabine style correspondence between two characters or between yourself and someone with whom you wish you could communicate.
- Affirmations: I feel a deep well of peace. I feed my creative soul. I am enough.
- Quote: Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. -Andy Warhol; Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. – Edgar Degas; Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life. – Anne Lamott.
- Poems
- Questions: Why can’t I let go? Do you love me? Is there anything more beautiful? Why must I grow old? What would my best self say about it? Which road do I take?
- Meaningful words: Write many of them on miniature bits of paper and put in the envelope.
Art Prompts:
- Cut small bits out of larger projects that don’t please you. I often cut or hole punch circles out of “failed” watercolor pages or drawings.
- Make miniature art on very small pieces of paper – confetti style – and put in the envelope
- Show off patterned or colorful art through parchment paper.
- Sew patterns by hand or with a machine into your envelopes.
- Include beads or buttons on your envelope and a string.
- Cut a slit in the base of your envelope to hold the top flap down.
- Attach an unpasted envelope onto your page so that when the page is opened, art on the inside of the envelope is also revealed.
- Cut a photo of a person jumping so that when the viewer extracts them from the envelope it’s like they are jumping out. You might also connect them to a string so that they can bungee jump out and hang on the outside of the envelope, but still on the page. You can adapt this to any image.
Materials List:
- Paper: old art works, scrap papers, parchment papers, fine papers
- Adhesive: Gel medium, I’m using Liquitex, but whatever you use is fine. You’ll need a brush to apply it. Be sure to put your brush in a cup of water after applying gel medium so that you don’t lose the brush.
- Scissors
- Black and white pens: Micron or Faber Castel Pitt pen in black, and/or Sakura Gelly Roll pen in white.
- Needle and thread
Materials for Stamp Cutting
If you are looking to cut stamps from a high quality block, I recommend a Moo Carve block, and a Speedball linoleum cutter assortment. You’ll want to use water based printing inks for beginning to print on fabric, but for prints you’ll make on paper, you can also just use a stamp pad, or as I frequently do, a thin coat of paint.
Art Journaling Classes
If you’d like to learn more about how to use an art journal to clear your mind, express your feelings, and just get lost in your own creative world, click here to learn more.
What a pleasure to have the time together with you at the workshop today. Please drop in on the blog, check out my other art tutorials, and drop me a line and let me know how I can support your creative journey.
Creatively Yours,
Amy
Also, be sure to get your free Guide to Creative Self-Care: This is a six day guided course with a self-assessment, self-care myths, information on creating an art studio even in the smallest spaces, inspirational art journaling video, and artsy self-care tutorials. Grab your spot now!
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