I am so excited to be a guest presenter on, Vintage Page Designs, Handmade Book Club on January 31, 2021! I will be demonstrating a technique using CitraSolv and showcasing how I have used the deconstructed pages in handmade books, journals and on cards. Here is a sneak peek of a finished journal pages.
Technique directions and a list of supplies are in the blog post, Getting Creative with CitraSolv, December 11, 2019.
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One of the things that bugs me is the need to change the dirty water when rinsing water color or acrylic paints from a paint brush. I use two mason jars when I paint, one for dirty and one for clean, but my clean water is soon just as murky as the dirty water.
I found that Silicoil Brush Tank cleans the brush and all but eliminates the need for a second dunk in clean water before going on to the next color. Silicoil Brush Tank holds 12 0z of water. Simply fill the jar with water, run the dirty brush over the top of the aluminum coil to release the paint from the bristles of the brush. I do have a second jar of clear water to swish the brush in again, but have found little need for this second step. A Silicoil Brush Tank cost about $7.00.
TIPS:
PRODUCT:
Confused on which glue to use and when? Which mediums are best for the project you are working on? No clue on fountain pens? Having a tip sheet on basic information can help! Check back often as I continue to add more tip sheets.
COLOR WHEEL
Deco Arts has some great information on their site on color wheel and basic color theory – Color Wheel and Theory Charts
GLUE
Do It and How has a great chart on what types of glue to use on different surfaces – Craft Glue Usage Chart
FOUNTAIN PENS
Goulet Pens has over 200 fantastic videos on fountain pens – how to clean, inks, nibs, different pen features, paper, you name it and they have a great video on it! Goulet Pen Videos.
MEDIUM
Ever struggle with which type of gesso, gel medium, retarders… to use? Lindsay Weirich, The Frugal Crafter has a fabulous tip sheet. Make sure to follow her blog and YouTube channel. Medium Tip Sheet.
NEEDLES
Struggling with what type of needle to work with your sewing project? John James has a wonderful resource guide – Getting to the Point – finding the right needle for your sewing projects
PAINT BRUSHES
ARTJOURNALIST.com has a wonderful article by Chelle on, Acrylic Brushes 101 – Acrylic Brush
WATERCOLOR PAPER
Not sure of the different types of watercolor paper? Check out, How to Choose the Right Watercolor Paper, by Ken Bromley Art Supplies.
Do you have some suggestions on tip sheets? Please share and make sure to comment, like and follow my blog! Cheers!
I recently took a class on block printing and I am totally hooked! I remember taking a class eons ago and practically losing a finger trying to cut the linoleum. Well things have changed and while wood and linoleum blocks are certainly an option, rubber blocks make cutting very easy.
Supplies
Steps
Tips
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Ever been to the store and picked-up an art supply only to come home to find that you already had the color? I have done this too many times to count. It’s time to take inventory of what you have! Here are color charts of many of the products that I use (don’t judge!). Once you take inventory, snap a photo with your phone and the next time you shop, your inventory will be at your fingertips! Note – wherever possible, I went directly to the supplier for the chart. In some cases I linked to charts on Pinterest.
ACYRLICS PAINTS
DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Color Chart
Golden Fluid Acrylic Color Chart
Golden Open Acrylics Color Chart
PaperArtsy Acrylic Paint Chart
PaperArtsy Acrylic Paint Chart Fill In
ALCOHOL INKS
Jacquard Pinata Alcohol Ink Color Chart
Tim Holtz/Ranger Alcohol Ink Color Chart
BLOCK PRINTING INK
Speedball Block Printing Ink Color Chart
Dr. Ph. MARTIN’S PRODUCT COLOR CHARTS
DREAMWEAVERS EMBOSSING PASTES
Dreamweaver Pastes Color Chart
DRIED PAINT PIGMENT
EMBROIDERY THREAD
Coats and Clark Thread Color Chart
FOUNTAIN PEN INKS
Swatch the ink and keep the colors on the ring or file in a three ring binder using baseball trading card plastic sleeves.
GELATOS
Faber Castell Gelatos Color Chart
GLITTER
The Art Institute Art Glitter Color Chart
Elizabeth Craft Silk Microfine Glitter Color Chart
Ritz Micro Fine Glitter Color Chart
MARKERS
Copic Marker Color Chart 2019 Fill In
Copic Marker Color Chart with 358 Colors
Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens Brush Color Chart
Tombow 108 Color Markers Color Chart
Info on this Copic Marker storage unit is in the my most recent organizing article.
MICA POWDERS
Perfect Pearls Color Chart Color chart that prints out is not true to color, but it will help.
PANPASTEL
PENCILS
Blackwing Color Pencil Color Chart
Derwent Inktense Pencil to Ink 72 Pencils Color Chart
Derwent Watercolor Pencils Color Chart
Faber Castell 166 Pencils – Polychromos Color Chart
Faber Castell 120 Color Polychromos Fill In Color Chart
General’s Pastel Chalk Pencils Color Chart
Koh-I-Noor Progresso Pencils Color Chart
Prismacolor Pencil 150 Color Chart Filled In
Prismacolor Pencil 150 blank Color Chart
Stabilo Carblthello Pastel Color Pencils Color Chart
Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 Pencil Color Chart
Tombow Irojiten Colored Pencils 90 Count Color Chart
RANGER PRODUCT COLOR CHARTS –
TIM HOLTZ, DINA WAKLEY, WENDY VECCHI, PERFECT PEARLS, SIMON HURLEY, STICKLES, ICE RESINS, DYLUSIONS
SPRAYS
Tim Holtz Oxide Spray Color Chart Fill In
STAMPING INKS
Ranger Archival Ink Color Chart Fill In
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Color Chart Fill In
Tim Holtz Oxide Ink Color Chart Fill In
WATERCOLORS
Coliro Pearlcolors Color Chart
Daniel Smith Watercolor Color Chart
Daniel Smith Primatek Color Chart
Derwent Inktense Blocks Color Chart
Schmincke Horadam Aquarell Watercolor Color Chart
TIPS
What charts would you like to see added? Send me the link and I will add it. Stay tuned for an article on resource guides – which glue to use and when, what colors work together, difference in types of gel mediums, what paint brush should be used…
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I am not going to lie, I love art supplies. I like walking around a store and checking out what’s new, drooling over websites that carry my favorites, and have a wish list in my notebook of things I’d like to try. What about you?
Here are some more supplies that spark joy!
FOUNTAIN PENS
My love of fountain pens continues to grow. I have been having fun “penabling” my family and friends that haven’t tried fountain pens or used them “back in the day”. Aside from the Platinum Carbon, which is an excellent starter pen, I would highly recommend the Pilot Varsity. The disposable Varsity comes in seven color and can be bought as a set for about $10. Enough pens to hoard or share!
PENCILS AND ERASERS
As promised in my earlier article on art supplies, I have tried Blackwing pencils and they are well worth the $2 a piece price. They come in a variety of hardness and float and skim across the page. I am not a fan of the attached erasers (which can be replaced) on the Blackwing. My favorite eraser is still the Moo Eraser. A follower recommended that I try the Matomarukum, black eraser and I will say that it works well too.
If you want a big chunky pencils perfect for journalling and water soluble, try the Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 pencils. These colored pencils are watercolor and wax crayons all in one and come in a variety of colors including metallics. They are so much fun. Note – the Woody will not fit a standard size pencil sharpener.
SHARPENERS
If you have an investment in any type of carbon, charcoal or colored pencils then I would suggest getting a good sharpener. Two are my favorite are the Blackwing sharpener by Kum and the second is made by Stabilo. The Blackwing has two sharpening chambers, one to cut the wood and the second to shape the point. The Stabilo swan sharpener has both form and function; I adore the swan shape and it it works very well for standard size pencils.
LEARNING
Online Classes – It is possible to go online and find information on just about any art topic; unfortunately, all are not created equally. If you want to learn bookbinding, my absolute favorite site is, Vintage Page Designs – www.vintagepagedesigns.com. The site has wonderful free tutorials as well as a budget friendly monthly program.
Books – Sometimes in order to dig into a subject in more depth, nothing beats a great book. Here are a couple of my favorites. I found all on Amazon – www.amazon.com and was able to pick them up used at great prices.
Luna – My cat Luna, my constant companion in the studio. She brings me joy each day!
Check out my previous articles on art supplies that spark joy, by using the search bar on the main page. Have a favorite art supply? Be sure to comment!
Please make sure to comment, like, share and follow me. Cheers!
Store Similar Items Together
The key to organizing is to store items that are similar together or that are used for a specific project. For instance, I store all my dies together, but dies with matching stamps are stored together as sets. One of the project items that I store together are my block printing supplies – block printing paint, lino cutters, cutting blocks and baren all go in the same container. This system makes it easy to start a project.
Label Supplies
No matter how you store your supplies, in totes, shoe or decorative boxes, bins or plastic carton labeling the contents on the outside of the container will help tremendously. Labels can be as simple as marking the container with a Sharpie, printing labels out on the computer or using a label maker. I highly recommend the Dymo LetraTag available at Staples – www.staples.com or at Blick’s www.dickblick.com
Store Creatively
The mantra today is repurpose and reuse items. I love the thrill of the hunt when I go thrifting and enjoy finding unusual items for my studio. My latest find is just one example. I have quite a few bottles of ink for fountain pens, as well as India ink for dip pens. While I would love to display the ink bottles, having a new kitten who likes knocking things down makes displaying the bottles problematic. I found a new storage solution when I repurposed an old beat up tool box. Adding new crystal knobs gave it a bit of glitz.
I have tried many ways to store dies and nothing had worked for me. I had seen when some folks used magnetic sheets, placed them on the wall and then adhered the dies to the sheet. This isn’t my preference. Instead I found some very old and sturdy binders, bought magnetic vent covers, cut them to the size of heavy duty three ring page protectors and store the dies this way. Binders are set up by shapes, holidays, word, birds and flowers. The front of the page protector has the packaging from the die and the back magnetic side holds the dies.
I like to take notes when I go to a class, watch a YouTube video or try a new technique. What ended up happening was that I had scraps of paper or sticky notes scattered around. Now I keep one notebook for all my my jottings. I use washi tape at the top of each new idea page. I also add information on the when, where and whom taught the technique. If written instructions are given in the class, I place them in the book with washi tape.
Tips
Gather like items together before you start to organize. Purge any items that you no longer use. Donate to schools, nursing homes, homeless shelters or charity store.
Be creative and reimagine items for storage solutions.
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If you can sew with a needle and thread, you can make a book. The steps are very easy and simple to do. There are many resources online and my favorite site is, Vintage Page Designs – www.vintagepagedesigns.com. The owner of the site, Ali Manning is wonderful and has excellent tutorials. If you want to really learn book making, Ali has a subscription program with a new book tutorial every month. Another great resource is the book, Making Handmade Books 100 + Bindings and Structures & Forms, by Alisan Golden. I found this book second hand on Amazon – www.amazon.com.
Supplies
Optional Supplies
Steps
When I made my books I did not use chipboard or book board as the tin plates were thick enough to support the structure. Instead, I chose to use a heavy canvas fabric. I measured the cloth leaving enough room between the tin plates for the signatures (pages) to fit in. I also wanted the canvas to extend beyond the edges of the tin on all four sides, so I added that into the measurement calculations. Prior to assembly, I sprayed both sides of the the cloth with Tim Holtz’s Distress Sprays to age the cloth. I frayed the fabric by pulling loose threads.
Next I glued the canvas to the back of the tin making sure to leave a space between the front tin and back tin for the signatures to fit into the middle of the book.
Once dry, I flipped the book over to the front and glued a metal mesh screen to the spine.
To make the signatures, I used the collage paper (Part 2 of this series) I had made and measured to the length and height of the book (minus fringe). I folded the paper in half making a sharp crease with a bone folder. My pages were very thick, so I put them in a book press overnight. Make sure to leave your signatures under a heavy weight (a pile of books will work) overnight, or the book will not shut properly. I decided my book was a bit too thick with every page being collaged paper, so I inserted watercolor paper for some of the pages. I used four sheets of paper folded in half for each signature and made four signatures. I like the pages in my signatures uneven. If you don’t want uneven paper edges, trim with paper trimmer or kraft knife.
I used a template and made holes in the spine for the signatures. Using the hole template use an awl to make holes in the signatures. A book cradle is a wonderful tool and worth the investment if you plan on making books. I got my book cradle from, Vintage Page Designs – www.vintagepagedesigns.com.
I sewed the signatures into the spine. Beads and fibers were added to the finished spine.
If you haven’t read Part 1 and 2, check out the articles!
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When was the last time you created a collage of images? Grade school? High school art class? Well, it’s time to again try collage to add interest and dimension to your art projects. Collaging has been around for decades and the steps are very simple.
Supplies
Optional Supplies
Steps
Collage can now be used for art projects.
Additional Steps for Aged Look
Tip
To avoid clogging mica spray bottles, don’t shake the bottle, roll bottle between your hands to mix.
Book Making Part 3 – How to Assemble a Book will be posted next week.
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I tend to have a stash of art samples and incomplete projects, as well as lots of ideas spinning around in my head. I am just starting to learn book making and I thought I would dig through my stash and see what I might use to make a book. Inspiration struck when I found some photo images that I had transferred onto metal. I learned the technique when I attended a class at, Shake Rag Alley – www.shakeragalley.com, with Leighanna Light – www.leighannalight.com. I had the tin pieces and thought that they would make great book covers.
Book Making Part 2 – How to Create Layered, Aged Collage Paper for Book Making. Part 2 will be posted next week
Part 3 will be posted in two weeks, Book Making Part 3 – How to Assemble a Book
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Pat Schulz Paper Art 
