Hi everyone, my name is Mou Saha. I help

women connect with their inner artists to

find joy and healing through daily mindful

creative practice. I’m a mixed media artist,

coloring book author and an educator. I have

been featured widely in leading publications,

appeared on TV shows and taught workshops

around the States, abroad and online for

Creativebug, Wanderlust, Big Picture Classes,

Online Card Classes, Donna Downey Studios,

Lifebook and more. I am a brand ambassador

for Faber-Castell for almost a decade. I live in

Chester, New Jersey with my family. I invite

you to visit me at https://mousaha.com/ and

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My lesson for Life Book 2019 is called Brave Whispers. What could you do if you didn’t

know you could fail! But we falter when we start to overthink things and see only the

downside and sometimes completely forget that there is a fair chance we could succeed.

Wherever you stand in your journey, in your art and in life, here is a collection of really

beautiful affirmations and encouragements especially when you are afraid or uncertain to take

the next step. If you take a few moments to reflect on the messages, it could open up deeper

meanings. Then we are going to create a mixed media tag book to write these affirmations.

I’ll show you how to choose a color scheme for your project. We are going to create

backgrounds with simple collage and coloring techniques, hand-letter our quotes, freehand

doodle, make marks and add texture at the end. So, let’s begin our lesson with a walk-through

of the materials I’m using.

And last but not the least… remember, this is YOUR project to make it any way YOU want.

Take what you like and make it your own. Don’t be afraid. For at the end of the day, it’s just

some paper and paints that are meant to bring you joy and help you flex your courage

muscles. We are all cheering you on in this journey! So, go ahead and have fun!

Brave Whispers: A Mixed Media Tag Book

Materials

Watch part two of my video lesson to choose a color scheme for your project. Deciding on a

color scheme first helps us choose and gather our supplies from what we already have. I used

a piece of scrapbook paper for my inspiration. Choose your inspiration and work from there.

Here are the supplies I used -

Watercolors – Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors – Phthalo Turquoise,

Quinacridone Coral, Cobalt Blue Violet & Mars Yellow.

Feel free to pick any watercolor, acrylic paints, inks, color pencils, water-soluble

pigment sticks or a combination of all of them if you like. Stay away from waxy

mediums like crayons, oil pastels, etc. because they are hard to write on.

140 lb or 300 gram Cold Press Watercolor paper for making the tags. You can also use

Mixed Media paper or heavier cardstock if you like.

a palette or any surface for diluting and mixing colors.

a watercup with water

a rag or napkin to wipe wet brushes or blot if you add too much water accidentally

a ruler to draw straight edges.

pencil

eraser

ball point pen & scrap paper

scissors

hole punch

a loose-leaf ring, which you can open, slide through your tags and close to hold your

tag book together.

paint brushes – I use a #4 round brush and a flat brush about ¾ inches. Any brand

works.

found papers (old book page, tissue, dress pattern, scrapbook paper)

Washi/decorative tape – optional

soft matte gel medium for gluing and sealing

palette knife/spatula/foam brush for applying the gel medium

attractive clothing tags - optional

any other supplies you like to use – totally your choice!

For lettering - Faber-Castell PITT Pens in Black - with ‘S’ tip which stands for

Superfine and is 0.3 mm in diameter and ‘SB’ or Soft Brush. When you choose a pen,

just make sure that the ink is permanent, other than that, you can choose any brand and

any color.

For Adding Texture - small stencil of your choice – I used s stencil that came with a

Faber-Castell Pen set. Choose a stencil you love.

Faber-Castell Whipped Spackle or another kind of texture paste

heat tool or a hair dryer - optional.

And I’d also like to add that these are just the products I am using. Feel free to use what

you have. They all work slightly differently, but this lesson is not about the products you

use, so no matter what you choose, it will be fine.

NOTE: I suggest you watch all parts of the lesson once before you begin working on your

own tag book, so you can have a clear vision of where we are heading. And now, let’s get

started.

Instructions

1. Write the affirmations:

Please read the following quotes, reflect on them and then write them down with your

own hands, not type them but actually write them. You don’t need anything fancy for this,

just a piece of paper and a pencil will do.

Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake. – Henry David Thoreau

Self-trust is the first secret of success. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Learn to value yourself, which means: to fight for your happiness. – Ayn Rand

Remember that wherever our heart is, there you will find your treasure. – Paulo

Coelho

The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me. – Ayn

Rand

Life isn’t about finding yourself; it’s about creating yourself. So live the life you

imagined. – Henry David Thoreau

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what

lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live

the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in

common hours. – Henry David Thoreau

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps

of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul

perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to

reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s

yours. – Ayn Rand.

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve

it. – Paulo Coelho

Creating the tags:

When I’m working on a tag book, instead of working on each tag from start to finish, I find it

easier to do all my collages at a time and then do all my coloring, and so on. This batching of

tasks helps me focus better because I’m not going back and forth. It also makes clean up

easier which saves time and also makes for a more organized work flow as I can remove the

supplies I’m done with for the time being – very helpful if you have a small space. But of

course, if you prefer to finish one tag at a time, you can do it that way too… do whatever

works best for you.

2. Cutting the tags:

The first step to making our tag book is to cut our tags. You can die-cut or punch out your

tags. You can also buy readymade tags. I, however, really like making my own because it

gives me the freedom to choose size, materials, etc.

Here are the dimensions of the tags I cut out:

Height Width Quantity 3.25 inches or 8.255 centimeters 1.75 inches or 4.445 centimeters 2

4.75 inches or 12.065 centimeters 2.25 inches or 5.715 centimeters 4

6.25 inches or 15.875 centimeters 3.25 inches or 8.255 centimeters 3

8.00 inches or 20.32 centimeters 2.00 inches or 10.16 centimeters 2

Again, feel free to choose your own tag sizes.

Use a ruler to draw straight lines

– two vertical and two

horizontal parallel lines.

Cut out the rectangle with

scissors. Paper trimmers or craft

knives work as well.

Then we snip a top corner at an

angle. Use that piece as a

template to snip the other top

corner.

Find the center near the top of

the tag, make a mark and punch

a hole.

Now, let’s dress up the tag bases

3. Collage

Tear up bits and pieces of

found papers and attach them

to the tags with soft matte gel

medium. Let the tags dry. Cap

your jar back to keep the

medium from drying out.

NOTE: Now, when you use thinner, more delicate papers like tissue, you might get some

wrinkles. I just embrace them as texture. But you could try to smooth them out if you like but

be careful not to tear the paper.

TIP: When I attach the elements of collage, I make sure to leave some space for my words to

go on later.

4. Coloring

Once all the tags are dry, we move

to adding colors. I usually pick the

lightest color from my color

scheme for the background. I find a

flat brush to be very helpful in

creating color washes with paint

diluted with water. You could use a

palette knife to spread colors

especially with acrylic paints. I

also like to add my color washes in

layers.

These are what my tags look like at this point in the process.

5. Handlettering

Draw light pencil lines on the tags

to write the words on.

Use the ‘S’ tip PITT pen to write

parts of the affirmative quote.

Use the round brush and a

contrasting color from your color

scheme to brush letter important

words and phrases as a way to

highlight those words/phrases.

Use the SB tip PITT pen to add

some brush lettering where you see

fit to vary the overall look of the

hand-lettered tags.

6. Adding Texture:

Add some texture to your tags with a small simple stencil and texture paste. Lay and hold the

stencil where you want the textured design to go, apply paste with a spatula or palette knife.

You can also your fingers to apply the paste. Let the paste dry completely.

TIP: Remember this: It does NOT have to be perfect.

7. Finishing touches:

Accentuate the texture from Step 6,

by adding a little diluted paint on

top.

Doodle with the S tip PITT pen

some organic botanicals or your

favorite pattern to add interest.

8. Assembling the tag book & some mark making:

Arrange the tags you created along

with interesting clothing tags you

have chosen and hold them

together with a loose leaf ring.

Make some marks with the round

brush with one of the colors from

your color scheme.

Here are all my finished tags.

Congratulations! You just completed your lesson.

As I created this lesson, I thought of all the times when I figured out all the ways I could fail

EVEN BEFORE I had begun as if success was not even an option. And in hindsight, I felt

silly and made a decision – that going forward I’d give myself a chance just to see what could

happen if I truly believed that I couldn’t fail. That does not mean I’ll make no mistakes, that

I’ll always feel brave or sure, it only means that I’ll take the next very step even when I am

quaking in my boots.

I do hope that you embrace this philosophy yourself and choose your own heart over any

impositions and conditions. Know that you are not alone and what you choose to do could

become a beacon for others on a similar journey. And with that, I say thank you. I’m grateful

to be here, to be speaking to you… it’s a privilege to be able to share my views with you. I’ll

see you later this year with an art journaling lesson and bye for now.

With love and gratitude,