Giveaway!

To celebrate the coming holiday season I am giving away 3 surprise packages of my cards, some glossy postcards, some folded greeting cards.

To participate the giveaway:

Tell me what you would like to read or see in Peony And Parakeet blog in 2011.

Pictures of folk bags? Instructions for craft projects? Articles on art journaling? More sock knitting? What inspires you?

Leave your comment on 3rd December at the latest.

I will randomly pick the winners before 7th December.

The Last Page

Here's the last page of my first ever art journal. I am little worried about the lack of text in the last journal pages. Also, should I use more realistic illustrations? I guess there are no rules in art journaling but I still want to question and seek my way in it!

How To Make Your Own Patterned Paper

This is the old blog from Peony and Parakeet. 
Welcome to follow the new blog at www.peonyandparakeet.com/blog
This post is also found in the new blog, go to: 
http://www.peonyandparakeet.com/how-to-make-your-own-patterned-paper/ 

While preparing moving to a new house I have tried to avoid big projects. So I have done quite a lot of paper crafting recently. One of the easiest and quickest things to do is to make patterned papers. I use Canson sketch paper (90 g in thickness) and whatever paints and pens I possibly have.

I think that sometimes more really is more, so I call these "More Is More" papers! I am going to use these for my art journal pages. Before cutting them I scan them so that I can use the same paper digitally or print a copy of it. That way I have always some papers available.

Now I am going to show you one of the easiest way I know to make really rich and colorful paper. Besides the paper, you will need watercolors, marker pens, gel pens and colored pencils, correction pen and relaxed mind. Don't worry about the mess you make, it will look lovely in the end!

1) Paint the background with watercolors.

Use circular strokes. Don't think.

Dry the excess water with tissue paper here and there to create some lighter areas.

2) Make doodles with markers.

I love to use PITT artist pens here. Any medium marker will do.

I like circles and swirls but you can doodle what ever comes to your mind. Relax your hand and keep the pressure light.

3) Continue doodling with gel pens.

Now change to gel pens and make detailed doodles. I use Sakura gel pens.

Some might think that this is the last step but no way! More is more, remember!

4) Color areas with colored pencils.

If you look closely there might be areas where colors are grayish or not so prefect. Take your colored pencils and work the problem areas. Do not worry overlapping the doodling. The layered look is just what we aim here.

It looks like this now. Finished? Oh no!

5) Doodle with correction pen.

One of the best pens you can buy is a fine point correction pen. After you have colored all the white areas, you can make the white to come back with the correction pen! Now doodle over the paper, here and there...

6) Add contrast and shine.

Take your black marker and make pretty dots near the white areas.

Optional: If you have a gold metallic pen you can doodle mindlessly over everything to add some extra shine.

Isn't more really more? You can stop in any step, of course, I couldn't!

New Elements in Life

My art journal has only one page left. These two pages repeat the idea that I have been trying to catch for a long time: have something light and flowing on the heavy background. I am intrigued by the fact that even if something can be easily understood conceptually, it can still be very hard to express it.

I am probably in urge to paint light, evaporating elements because my life is about to change. Me and my husband have bought a house with a big garden and we are moving to the new home within few months. I will get more room for all the creative activities and so does my husband. But our first creative project will be renovating the house and, when the summer comes, planning the garden. It will be hard work, but we are very excited!

What Scrapbooking Has Taught To Me

This is how I spent most Friday evenings: have a coke, listen to Paperclipping Roundtable podcast and make a scrapbook layout. It is so relaxing and so much fun.

This week's Paperclipping Roundtable was one of the bests ever. The discussion about scrapbooking museum and what it would consist, is both deep and entertaining. I am pretty sure that scrapbooking is one of the noblest hobbies one can have. It really shows how valuable time is and how unnecessary it is to own and want everything. Through scrapbooking I have learnt that everyday life is huge and valuable. And I have only scrapped from the beginning of this year!

Here's one of the 50 layouts that I have made so far. It's about my first dog Anja and a stuffed toy dog that I bought because it looked so similar to her. Even if Anja has died many years ago, I often think about her and how she got excited about small things in life. For me scrapbooking has taught that, really cherish the small events. I believe strongly that all the big things are collections of small ones. If you can understand the value of small steps someday you will be able to take a big leap too.

Doodling Over Photo

I love scrapbooking so I wanted to add some to my art journal too. I combined illustration with a photograph. It looks so summery, the lily from the garden and all the pastel colors!

The page was also very easy to do: just some doodling with pens on the background paper, then attaching the photo and then doodling over it. I love to doodle circles, it is the shape I am most fond of!

From Three Bags To Three Idols

Here are my newest folk bags, all custom orders. The fabrics I have used in these bags are my own designs and create an illusion of continuous knitted fabric. I think of my bags as collage, combining different elements in uniform way.

I would love to add more artistic elements to my bags, like wild paintings. I often think my work is too controlled, too designed. I admire the look of relaxed illustrations, especially lively drawings. It is like I have walked a long way to be able to create something detailed and then, I just wish I could go back to the child's world where anything is possible and everything is relaxed and playful.

That's why I admire Miina Äkkijyrkkä so much. She is not only brilliant sculptor, but also outstanding illustrator who has designed fabrics for Marimekko. She, Anni Rapinoja and Sirkka Könönen are my three idols!