Summer Countryside at Art Journal Journey

Hello all!  I'm so happy to be back with you all, and very excited to share the reason for my return... I'm delighted to be the host this month at Art Journal Journey.  I'll be here throughout July to share some journalling pages on my chosen theme: Summer Countryside.

There are more details over at Art Journal Journey itself, and of course I have an inspiration page today to start you off.  I know I've been away for a long time, with only occasional appearances, but I'm looking forward to reconnecting with lots of you here in Craftyblogland this July, and I can't wait to see what you create in response to the theme.  Here's my first offering...

It will come as no surprise to any of you that my first visit to the Summer Countryside is focussing on the wildflowers and meadow grasses which I love so much.  And there's even a nod to last month's theme of butterflies, with all these beauties fluttering around the page!

When the AJJ team invited me to host (way back in late 2020), I was so honoured.  But with a house move in the offing at the time, I wanted to choose the latest of the suggested dates.  I thought that by choosing July 2021 I would be giving myself loads of time to move all my stuff to a new country, unpack and sort out my new craft space.

As it turns out, I've only just reached the operational stage in the craft room - still waiting on some shelving and the final unpacking but I'm 95% there.  I'll share that journey another time... I'd rather focus on the Summer Countryside for today.

This page is the first thing I've created in the newly unpacked and organised space.  (Full disclosure - I have made things in this room before when I've been here to stay, but with only a travelling stash at the time.). I'm still refining exact positioning of supplies, so I kept things simple on the page.  (Sorry - no process photos... I'm not quite back in the swing of that part of the game yet!)

The journal is a cheap one, bought in bulk, and the paper is not very sturdy, so I've glued pages together to create a stronger substrate.  Next step was to gesso the paper - it's not really intended for wet media, but I'm not letting that stop me!  A good coat of gesso will prepare the way...

I tore some strips of wide washi with delicate script and used them to create some vertical structure around which to "build" my meadow.  Some simple ink-splattering - Broken China, and my first little experiment with Salvaged Patina - creates a summery sky in the background.

I layered my stamping of Tim Holtz's Wildflowers (using some of the Mini Bouquet small versions too for perspective and depth) in various Archival and Distress colours.

The labels, numbers and postmarks are from the Field Notes stamp plate, which seemed appropriate, given we're wandering in a field, making art journalling notes!

The quote is from one of my latest collections for PaperArtsy - EAB22 Summer Edition - full of quotes about summer... my guess is you'll be seeing some more of the quotes included in action as the month progresses!

And those butterflies are from a Tim Holtz sticker book.  I'm pretty sure it's a Halloween-themed sticker book... not sure why the butterflies are in there, but I'm happy they are!

The little sequins are just there to capture some summer sunshine and reflect it back at you.

So, that'll probably do for today.  I do hope you'll be inspired to come and play along at Art Journal Journey this month.  I'll be back soon with another inspiration page, and in the meantime I'm looking forward to visiting you and seeing how you're exploring the Summer Countryside in your art journals.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and happy crafting all!

All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer... one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends, and delightful doing, come as near perfection as anything can come in this world.
L.M.Montgomery