Art journaling inspired by Marlene

Michelle joined the From Picture to Page Spring into Sandown online show line up with this fun and quick art journaling layout, as she shares her 5 step art journaling process with the new Art by Marlene paints, stencils, stamps, die cuts, collage papers and more!

Materials List

Passport journal with gloss sprays

This project was created by Joanne Hughes with products supplied by Mixed Media Art, as part of the Mixed Media Art Design Team 2021.

This project is my latest in a series of “designer” journals, honouring designers and artists whose work I love.

Joanne Hughes

Materials List

To create your passport journal

Begin by randomly spraying gloss sprays direct to the gel plate.  The paint pools and runs and makes great prints. 

Press one side of the watercolour paper onto the plate for a print.  Drying time is really quick so it doesn’t take long to do these steps. 

Grab some string, arrange on the  gel plate and spray again over the top. As a bonus your string matches your cardstock, perfect for bookmarking. 

Turn watercolour paper over to print the reverse size pushing into the gaps in and around the string. 

If you have any white space you don’t like you can spray direct to the paper to fill in. 

Don’t forget to use a tag or card to mop up excess paint before cleaning and putting the gel plate away.

Using the Passport book die with your cutting machine, cut two covers and a spine.  The hard part is deciding which side of the print is your favourite.

I have always wanted to use the white print from Dina’s collage paper, instead of my usual choice of black.  Choose an image and glue with gel medium to the front cover.  I was disappointed with the result, silly me, it’s collage paper NOT tissue!  It  dulled the bright colours so out came the Scribble Sticks. 

I left the face and coloured the hair and around the head, adding colour until I was happy.  Then I added a bit of colour to the eyes and lips.  I still wasn’t happy.  It just didn’t “pop” for me so I grabbed a fine black marker to outline the printed image.  I was trying not to alter the image too much but kept going until I was happy with a dark outline.  And even happier when I used Black Archival Ink to stamp Scribble Hearts around the image.  “You are enough “ was very appropriate to finish the cover!

I used black print collage paper for the spine!

Make up the journal following Eileen Hull’s instructions.  You can choose to feature the spine or cover it with your front and back covers.  I made my signatures, using the passport die, to cut a variety of pages.  In the style of Dina Wakley’s Media Journals, I included Kraft paper, vellum, lined paper, water colour paper and canvas.

The cut pages line up perfectly and the string that was coloured on the gel plate easily threads though the holes in the papers and spine to tie the signatures in.


Joanne Hughes loves to share her knowledge and ideas with anyone who will listen,  and has worked with Michelle and Mixed Media Art at the Picture to Page shows for many years, demonstrating and behind the make’N’take table.  She is thrilled and honoured to kick start the Mixed Media Art Design Team 2021.  There is a story behind each of her pieces and she is only too happy to share with you.

Joanne is mum to three adult children and lives in the same house she and her husband bought in 1982 and has been craft making in various forms for as long as she can remember – from macrame in the 70’s to considering herself a Mixed Media Artist, Joanne is a “Jill” of all trades, focussing on her love of stationery and everything that goes with it – paper, pens, inks, paints and stickers, along with the tools and techniques of the creative process.  When she is not making a book, she is thinking of the next one, be it a journal, letter journal, hand made or altered book.  She is a hands on crafter, loving messy play with glues, inks and paints.

Using rice papers in your art journal

Michelle was delighted to join the P2PCrafts Winter Online show, where she ran through the keys to using rice papers in your art journal or mixed media canvas collage. We touch on using water to get a nice tear; using our favourite gel medium – The Crafters Workshop Matte Gel Medium – to get the perfect adhesion, and then how to embed and embellish your rice paper images to fit smoothly into your art journal.

Here MIchelle has used two different art journals; the Dylusions 9″x11″ journal and the Art by Marlene Rainbow journal. The rice papers are from ScrapFX, Art by Marlene and Ciao Bella ranges, all available from the Mixed Media Art Studio online store.


Watch the full video here;

Materials list:

Thanks for joining us!

How to get started with Art Journaling

Michelle was delighted to join Wendy over at Picture to Page craft show Plan C – conversations about craft, creativity and connections.

In this episode, we chat about ART JOURNALING – what is art journaling, what craft supplies you need to get started, and Michelle’s 5 step art journaling process to get you started!

Materials List:

NOTE: special offer open to Australian residents only and valid until Friday 26 February 2021.

Getting started with art journaling can be a little overwhelming when first starting out – here Michelle will run through what craft supplies you need to get started. You need an art journal – which can be bought or you can make your own – paper ephemera, gel medium, acrylic paints, stencils, a focal image and pens or markers to add the finishing touches.

There are many approaches to art journaling – as Michelle often reminds us, there are no rules – only guidelines when it comes to art journaling. Here Michelle shows us her suggested 5 steps to get started with art journaling. Use these as a starting point. As you get more confident with your art journaling, you can add your own style.

If you are looking for an art journal class to be guided through getting started with art journaling, check out our Melbourne Studio class list.