Wednesday, April 13, 2016

WHAT HAPPENED TODAY WANDERLUST WORD PROMPT PAGES

It's hump day and I'm playing "catch up" on some projects.

Our latest Wanderlust 2016 Word Prompt Pages had the theme "What happened today..."
I took that quite literally to mean what I actually had been doing the day I started my pages. 



I had started Spring cleaning my entire house and that became my inspiration for my art journal pages.  


I began pulling some tissue papers and napkins with various colors and images to use in my background.  I had absolutely no idea where the pages were going but it's always fun to get a background going.


Here is the beginning of the background; tissue papers and 2 ply napkins (with the excess backing papers removed) torn and laid randomly in place.  They are glued and sealed using DecoArt Media Matte Medium. 


I kept adding layers of napkins and Matte Medium.


Once I had all of the papers in place and they were dry, I started wiping some DecoArt Fluid Acrylics Titan Buff over the surface using a baby wipe to soften the colors and meld everything together a little better.


Then I followed that up with some starker DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Titanium White to give more contrast.  Finally, I added some DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide.  I am in LOVE with this stuff!  It adds such a richness, warmth and aged feeling to the pages with just a few swipes of a baby wipe.  I love how the little bird in the nest is peeking out of the right side and soon I would come to love it even more as I began working with my focal point ...



While my background was drying, I decided to start working on my focal point.  The first thing I thought of was Dina Wakley's Scribbly Birds stamps.  I think they are so cute and I wanted to use one for my pages.  The stamp was a bit too small so I scanned it and enlarged it to fit on my page.  Then I added a head kerchief and broom to fit my "Spring Cleaning" theme on a separate bird.


I traced it onto a piece of heavy cardstock and brushed over it with DecoArt Media Matte Medium to seal it.  Then I could add paints, watercolor crayons, colored pencils; whatever I wanted to use.


I decided to use a combination of Neocolor II Watercolor Crayons and a Detailer Waterbrush, Prima Colored Pencils and a Black Permanent Micro Ink Pen to outline.  I also added polka dots to the kerchief using a stylus and DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Titan Buff paint.


I cut out the housecleaning little bird and glued her in place on my art journal page.  Then I penciled in the nest underneath her, the tree branches and the leaves.


Here are the pages before I painted in the details of the branches and leaves.


The first things I painted were the brown things: the nest, the branches.  These were done with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Raw Umber, Titan Buff and Burnt Sienna.  The leaves were basically painted in with the colors in the photo above.  I combined all of the green DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics to colorize the leaves.


I added highlights on the leaves with the combination of the DecoArt paints shown in the photograph above.  Here you can see the progress of the art journal pages.


Next I penciled in "Spring Cleaning" and colored it in using a Permanent Black Micron Pen.


To add a light black mist to my pages, I used Tim Holtz' tool and a Black Soot Distress Marker.


Next I randomly added a crackle effect from Andy Skinner's faux crackle paint stamp from his Steampunk stamp set.  I love this stamp!!!  It's perfect for backgrounds!  


Then I added Seth Apter's text stamp from his ConText stamp set to add a little more interest to the background. Perfect for filling in the empty spaces without cluttering the pages too much.


I finally added a few musical notes that I drew in using a Black Permanent Micron Marker and it's all finished!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you'll make some time to play and let your creativity take over!







21 comments:

  1. Another winner journal art spread! You are so creative and clever, Candy! Love every detail!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a delightful spread! We are all singing the same song this spring. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aaah ... love your cleaning bird ! Background is amazing ... seeing the process ... WOW !!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love your journaling pages the background is beautiful as well as the scribbly bird --so cute with the handkerchief ! Thanks for the tutorial on how you created this .
    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wonderful spread. And so cool to see how it progressed from start to finish.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ooohhh i love this cleaning nest bird! Wonderful collage, so so sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is so "tweet!" Your background is magical as you captured the look of dust motes floating in rays of sunshine.the kerchief and broom are so perfectly executed, one would think them part of the original stamp. The color palette is gorgeous! You should get prints made of this, and then let me buy one to hang in TH laundry room of our new home. You are one talented artist, Candy Colwell!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Candy, first of all I must say, I am inspired by your spring cleaning :) which I really should do :( and that you turned it into your journal page for Wanderlust! You make cleaning look like a delight! Love how you changed your scribble bird with the scarf and broom, and your background is awesome with the nest and all. Happy Spring!! Maura

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a fantastic spread! I like what you've done with the birdie...
    great!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your page is an absolute delight, I just adore the bird with her head kerchief, she really looks like she is enjoying the cleaning! I really enjoyed seeing how you built up those layers with the tissues and mediums. You are always so generous in sharing your ideas and techniques! Anne xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. What an adorable art journal page, Candy! I love the idea of birds doing all the dirty work, and I had a real good chuckle when I saw that little kerchief on Dina's birdie! How clever the way you enlarged the stamp, too! Thank you for sharing all of your creative genius with us! Your pages are beautiful! Good that you took a little break from all your spring cleaning to make art! Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  12. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..... just makes me almost giddy with happy feelings! No idea why... except I just adore the background and then you add all the other luscious aspects of this creation and I am in LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE with this creation Candy. XXj.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love to anthropomorphize little animals and birds. I particularly like mice!!! thank you for a fabulous journal page with an excellent tutorial!
    Sandy xx

    ReplyDelete
  14. That is so much fun Candy, love your little house cleaning Scribbly Bird, adorable! Deb xo

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ahhh...Spring is approaching. You are so clever and you provide such variety in your pieces. Love what you've done with the birdie, Candy. Your little cleaner is enchanting :)

    Have a lovely week!
    Gaby xo

    ReplyDelete
  16. I've dipped across to smile at this a few times Candy - it's super duper cute and yet genius in terms of technique and artistry! Thanks for sharing fab how-to.

    ReplyDelete
  17. What an alteration on the background pages...wow!!!! LOVE the birdy...she's perfect! Gorgeous spread Candy!!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh wow Candy! This may be my favourite journal page ever!! Not only is it full to the brim with techniques, skill and texture, but the overall feel is so light-hearted and whimsical. I couldn't help but smile at the story your creation tells!! Sending hugs :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'm also doing Wanderlust. I love your pages.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Candy, brilliant page and love your little bird. Angela x

    ReplyDelete
  21. Love this! I love the shimmer from the paint. And that bird is awesome! Thanks for stopping by my blog. My mom did like my card. :)

    ReplyDelete

I am so happy that you stopped by my blog! I truly appreciate your time and thank you for leaving a comment! Have a wonderfully blessed day!