Merry Makings

I have been having such a messy, fun, glittery time with my projects this month that I've not nearly posted enough! So I will share this art journal page with you today.

ART JOURNAL

This one makes me happy. I used a Strathmore Visual Journal (Mixed Media) for a collage and art journal project. This is one of the page spreads.

Like any collage, there are always lots of layers and steps. I'll cover those quickly here:

BASE: I started by spraying the entire background with Glitter Mist in gold. Fling some droplets on as well. Nothing says mica-love more than a few spatters. A toothbrush works well too!
STAMP: Ink up a favorite stamp. I used a text stamp with flourish. Press it down unevenly, or pounce on the stamp with bubble wrap to remove ink in some places so you get a faded, partial image. Do this randomly on the layout, corners, off edges, etc. with a waterproof ink, such as Ranger's Archival Black. I took a round lid and used it as a stamp for some Copper Glitter Mist around the edges as well.
COLLAGE: Add some papers and images onto the background. I typically tear a couple of corner pieces and place them down first to frame it. Use soft gel medium to adhere to your project. Try not to allow the medium to KERSPLOOSH out from under the pieces – don't use too much in other words. You still want to be able to watercolor around them, and it will mess with the texture if you have to work over the acrylic gel medium.
- Add some focal point images. I chose these two beautiful ladies.
- Add some 'supporting' images. I chose a couple of vintage floral images.
MERGE: Take out your stamps again and apply overlapping stamping on top of your images. This makes them MERGE into the background instead of looking like you just plopped them on top. Don't stamp over the faces or important features of your images – but make sure you give the piece some depth with the overlapped stamping.
DETAIL: Add some personalization with your pens. A little detail pen-work to doodle around the frames makes it your own. I used my Pitt Artist Pens in black, sepia and metallic green to add loops, dots and swirls.
WORDS. Art journaling, just like regular diary journaling or even scrapbooking really comes to life when your words are on the page. What inspired you to make this? If you aren't comfortable with your own hand-written words, consider utilizing a quotation, and make part of the quote in your handwriting and part using stamps or letters. I used these vintage illuminated letters, colored with my Copic markers as part of the quotation from Marc Chagall.
SHADE. Add a soft graphite pencil or charcoal around one side of each item. Smudge it in. Look at the depth this creates!
TINT: Add some color with watercolor pencils or watercolor crayons. I scribbled around the items with Ochre and brushed in some water. Let it dry. Then I went back with Turquoise and brushed in some water. I love the layered feel of adding colors seperately like this. It prevents 'mud' and gives the depth we're looking to achieve.
ILLUMINATE. A little white gel pen here and there is always a good thing. Attack the sides you didn't hit with the charcoal/graphite perhaps. Add some glitter. I took that same round lid and used it as a stamp for some Duo Embellishing Adhesive, and applied sage green glitter over the top.

I used lots of ART-C elements for this journal spread. I will put together a list of items shortly.

And if you need inspiration to let yourself go and create with abandon – take a look at what these young artists have achieved with their gingerbread houses.