Come What May

Hello all!  So, as promised when I shared some of the pages from the France Papillon workshop, I'm back with the newest bit of playing done in that same art journal, and this one's all me.  This page spread was created here in Columbus, Ohio, with my travelling stash, and it really was just playtime for me.

I think I may have started with a thin coat of gesso.  Then I stuck down some book page strips and added some stencilled texture using a semi-gloss heavy gel.







Over that I added some blobs of DecoArt Deep Midnight Blue and used a water brush to spread the paint out in interesting directions.













You can't really see much of the gel texture at this point, but I do like how much texture there is from the paint where it is thickest...















... as well as the watery effect as it spreads out towards the edges of the pages.













That's pretty much it on the process photos, as I got into the swing of things and was enjoying myself too much to stop and keep walking over to the windowsill where the decent light is.











(I'm still missing my outdoor photo backgrounds.  There's nowhere to do it round the hotel where I'm staying.  Well, there is some greenery, but there are also busy roads all around and far too many people who will look at me strangely if I hover over a bush or a patch of grass trying to get a tag to sit at the right angle!)











As you can see, I've added plenty of stamping.

These lovely leafy branches are a Memory Box stamp called Windswept.














And the swirling threads are by Gabrielle Pollacco for 49 Market.















The leaves are stamped in Sepia and the threads in Potting Soil Archival Inks.












I used the water brush again, this time to add some Vintage Photo Distress Ink in light washes.

There's also just a touch of Rusty Hinge in places.

I just swirled the brush on the ink pads and then applied it to the page, sometimes with an extra squeeze of water.

This helps to pick out some of the leafy gel texture in relief.













And you can also spot it when it catches the light, of course.















Some Idea-ology Small Talk stickers provide the words...















... important ones I try to live by.















And finally, as an alternative to my usual spatter, I put some DecoArt Whitewash paint onto my craft mat and used a toothpick to add marks and squiggles.














I love the way the random markings add highlighting accents and draw the eye into all that lovely texture.







So, I had a lovely time with these pages... blue and brown again, you'll notice.  A crafting obsession in a year with not that much time for crafting!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  It's always a pleasure to hear from you, and I'm starting to do better with catching up with what all of you are getting up to.  I hope you're all enjoying a great weekend, and I'll see you again soon - maybe in Shanghai (if I get round to writing that post), or maybe just with some more blue and brown stuff!

Every great dream begins with a dreamer.  Always remember you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
Harriet Tubman

At the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge they are celebrating STAMPtember with a Stamp It theme this week, so I'd like to play along with that.
I don't usually play along at PaperArtsy - always felt a bit strange, given I'm one of the people who bobs up to provide inspiration now and then - but I haven't been able to do that for ages so I thought I might come at it from this direction for a change.  So with those toothpick squiggles, as well as all the brush work with the paints, I'd like to share this in the Making Marks challenge this fortnight.
And I'd like to make this my second entry in the Anything Creative/Mixed Media Goes at the Love To Create Challenge