Art Journal "Peace on Earth"

Another art journal page :)
If you art journal or if you just enjoy looking at other's work, then you have probably seen a page similar to this on the net,  Christy Tomlinson did the first one.
I did a bit of a photo process for this page I did.

I have a huge ginormous jar of black gesso, so I wanted to use some on this page in hopes that the papers I use for the tree stand out.
I started with adding texture to my page.
I started with a napkin, doesn't matter the pattern as I was going to cover it up.
I scrunched up the napkin to give it some wrinkles or texture.
I then added some drywall mesh and embossing paste with a stencil to add even more texture.
Lastly I added the black gesso to cover it all up.
Doing this I can add texture to an other wise flat page.

Look at that texture!!!
As much as I wanted the page to be black...I still wanted to add subtle colour without taking away from the black page.

I experimented with different mediums on top of the gesso to add some colour.
I also tried different types of embossing paste to see how the snowflakes would look on the background.
As you can see some of the texture or embossing pastes took on the blue colour of the mediums I tried.

I added blue Dylusions paint to the right hand page.
See how it is still dark, yet a bit of colour comes though.
I did notice that it isn't as noticeable on the finished page though.

As much as I like the dark background...I added the snowflakes for a bit of contrast and interest.
I also printed up the lettering on pattern paper from my printer.

After adding the snowflakes, I thought the contrast was a bit to much, so added some watered down Dylusions paint with an old toothbrush and flicked it on...see the splatter :)

Now for the focal point of the page....the Christmas Tree :)
I cut stripes of Christmas pattern papers and then cut them to size to form the tree shape.
I also heat embossed red sparkly embossing powder on a plain wood star.

Now in true Christy Tomlinson style, I doodled.
I doodled around the page as well as all over the tree.
I used to be intimidated to doodle on my pages, but once I got started, I didn't want to stop, lol.

Here is the completed page again.
I am really happy with how it turned out!!!
Like I had mentioned, this type of journal page has been recreated by many art journalers and artists.
But what I haven't seen is one with a dark background like I have created.

So this is my last art journal page from 2016.
Looking forward to making a lot more in 2017!!

I hope you all have a very creative day :)

Tracy :)

Art journal challenge page for December

I had mentioned in this post "I see a wish" that my new friend and journal buddy Stephanie and I have been challenging each other to do an art journal page a month.
December's challenge was to use a Christmas song/carol on our pages as well as a border.
I chose Winter Wonderland for my title...I love that song, and around here in the winter...it really does look like a winter wonderland.
The inspiration for this page came from my Christmas cards I sent out this past Christmas.

I have been playing around with adding more texture to my pages.
Usually my pages are pretty flat, but I am having fun and like the look of the texture.
First I added some music note tissue paper and then added colour with my Faber-Castels gelatos and my Tim Holtz distress crayons.
Lastly I added some texture paste (which is like dry wall compound) with a stencil.
Being that my texture paste is light based and not a heavy based, the colour from underneath came through.

For my journaling, I used some of my letter stickers.
I had coloured the smaller stickers with my Copics as I didn't have the colour I wanted.
Now don't you just love those silver glitter stickers!!!

I used my Stampin' Up build a bird punch to make the cardinals.
The tree was a stamp, that was to tiny, so I just extended the branches with acrylic paint.
I used Aleene's True Snow to make the snow...I have had this product for over 15 yrs and was surprising shocked that it wasn't dried up, it was just like it was the day I purchased it :)
Lastly I added some which speckles with a toothbrush and watered down paint.

And here is Stephanie's page :)
She joked with me that she was going to do "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer", lol.
I think "Let it Snow" was a better choice though ;)
I love the brightness of her page and that not only did Stephanie use music note tissue paper for her background, she also used a music note stencil and added her texture paste over it.
I also like that her snowman is made with text paper.
Beautifully done Stephanie :)

Here are both of our pages together :)

I love how different our pages are :)

Our challenge for January is to use a girl image on our pages.
I know it is short notice, but join in if you would like, we would love to see your pages.

I hope you all have a very Creative day :)

Tracy :)

Art Journal Page..Have yourself a Merry little Christmas

I think I have taken a long enough break and am excited to get back into crafting and blogging :)
So to start the year off right, I will share with you my Christmas Art Journal page.
This was another challenge that Caroline and I put on for each other :)
The theme for the month was Christmas and collage.
Both Caroline and I were a bit behind on this challenge…oops.

The first thing I did was glue this pretty napkin to the page.
The napkin was a bit longer than the book, so I cut it down to fit the page…I fussy cut the border where I sliced the napkin.
See how there is a darker part across the page, that is where part of the napkin overlapped…..but I will deal with that later.
I also stamped and then heat embossed (with black embossing powder) my Prima girl image on some white card stock.

I wanted to use my Copic markers to colour her hair and skin.
BUT….the alcohol from the Copic marker smeared the black embossing..grrrrr.
I didn't want to ruin my Copic markers, so I used some gelatos instead.

Because this challenge was to do some collage…I cut strips of pattern paper and collaged them to form her dress….pretty, right?!

Now for some creative changes ;)

I had to come up with a way to disguise the seam of my napkin…so what better way then to make more ;)
By doing this it takes your eye away from the main seam and gives more interest and texture to the background…especially since my background is pretty simple.

The next thing I changed up was the girl.
I thought this fun sparkly dress went better with the crisp colours of the background.
Don't worry, I used the other girl on another page :)
See the way the foiled snowflakes sparkle…..so pretty.






















Lastly comes my journaling.
I usually do my journaling on the computer and print it out…see how nice and neat this is, much neater than my handwriting.

Even though I love the crisp clean look of the pure white paper, I thought it was a bit too bright for this page.

So I inked up the paper with distress ink and then the edges to help it blend with the page. 

Isn't she festive :)

I hope you all have a very creative day :)

Tracy :)