Pick Flowers Not Fights

Hi dear Friends!
Before I'll leave you to enjoy Gayle's latest breathtaking art journal creation, I'd like to announce the winner of my new Mechanicals giveaway!

And the prize goes to... drumroll...

...Jezebel...

Congratulations! :) Please, send your mailing address to: missmoth1@gmail.com to claim your prize!

And now it's time for our talented Gayle who created beautiful art using my very favorite combo of interesting layers + Ephemera + tea stains. :) Enjoy the creation and the step by step tutorial!

*   *   *

Hello lovely Finnabair friends. For this months project I have worked in my art journal.

Creating layers with mixed media for projects is a lot of fun. Layers create depth, texture, dimension and interest.

Art journals however are not the best base to create heavily embellished, dimensional projects.

I personally do not enjoy working on a new page that is very bumpy and uneven from a heavily textured page underneath it.

That doesn’t mean you can not still have lots of layers on your journal pages though, especially if the paper in the journal is heavy grade. My page is simple, as is the message (if only).

No.1 The page is firstly gessoed with Art Basics Heavy White Gesso.

The first textural layer is white tissue paper scrunched up and stuck down with Soft Matte Gel and then gessoed over again.

No.2 Then I chose my ephemera to collage: patterned paper, patterned tissue, paper napkins, book pages, a photocopied flower and two images from the Finnabair Ephemera Vintage Collectibles pack. I chose 2 different images of the same young woman to express “time passing but nothing changing”. Anger, born out of differences seems to be a constant in our world and the fighting never seems to stop… If only it were that simple to pick flowers instead of fights...

No.3 The second layer is another textural one. White Crackle Texture Paste applied through a Grungy Grid stencil.

No.4 The third layer is tissue again, this time patterned.

No.5 The fourth layer is colour and nothing beats the stains from tea bags. :)

No.6 I throw the tea bags down onto the page so they “splat”, and then I leave them there to dry or hurry the drying along with a heat gun while they are still on the page.

No.7 The fifth layer is some stamping using Finnabair 'Messy' clear stamp and some sepia coloured ink.

No.8 Layer number six is collaged patterned paper, paper napkins and the ephemera images; all stuck down using Soft Matte Gel.

No.9 With layer number 7 I attempted to do some embossing with a beautiful Finnabair stamp from the 'Dirty Walls' set and Aged Silver Embossing Enamel.

The pattern got a bit lost as the enamel melted, but the effect it gave was that slightly tarnished look that appears on very old mirrors.

No.10 I felt the silver enamel was too cold looking, so warmed it up by rubbing some beautiful Vintage Gold Metallique Wax over it.

No.11 The next collaged layer is a photocopied flower, coloured using beautiful Art Alchemy Metallique Acrylic Paints.

No.12 Some more collaged elements in gold, more texture using fine Art Stones and some highlight colour using Gold and Black Cherry Mica Powders.

Subtle layering without too much dimensional embellishment is a good way to work in art journals if you want to avoid uneven surfaces to work on and to keep your journal less thick, heavy and bulky.

You can still achieve texture by using layers of different thicknesses of paper and card as well as art stones, texture paste and embossing enamels.

Fibres, like cotton and embroidery thread and textiles like tulle and muslin can also be used to add texture without bulk.

Art journals don’t have to be restrictive in the media you use in them.

You can add many, many layers that create depth and texture.

Use your journal to experiment  with mediums as well as telling a story.

Hugs to you all.

Gayle xx

Materials used: