This art journal page was created with Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions Stamps - the gorgeous Funny Bunny, Stevie Baby, Thoughts in my Head and Purrfect (kittens and cats). The frogs from Stevie Baby hopped on to the page to help too.
The following are some photos of how this page evolved, from stamping the scene to adding extra layers. Dyan's stamps are so much fun. I hope this inspires you to have a go and make you smile!
The scene began with Funny Bunny being stamped directly onto the page in my Dylusions 8x8 inch Ledger Journal using Ranger's Archival Ink (Tim's Distress Black Soot), and then again on the opposite side using a gel plate to flip the image over.
To create a mirror image this way, simply stamp onto the gel plate (instead of the paper), then use the gel plate to print onto your page. It's a good idea not to press too hard when stamping onto the soft gel plate as it may create a blurry image. Practice on scraps to guage how firmly you press. Some of us are heavy handed (like me) while others press lightly.
I stamped out almost everything from these same stamp sets on watercolour paper and cut out a few while I decided how I wanted the page to look. Art has a mind of its own, even with stamping, lol :)
Half way through creating my page, I realised my The Longer the Leaf set had been neglected... it was going to grow up the right hand side of the page, but the chicken poked her head in to see what was going on instead. The cheeky chook was printed using the gel plate technique as well.
The fish mobile is hanging from the hat from the Thoughts in my Head set. At this point of colouring, I was thinking of adding some froggy flowers, somewhere, which turned into adding the sitting frogs instead.
I took about 4 nights to complete colouring the page, spending a couple of hours after dinner each night.
I stamped out extra frogs onto watercolour paper, one using the gel printing technique. They were both cut out with scissors, coloured with watercolour pencils then enhanced with Distress Spritz (Twisted Citron and Fossilised Amber) and Dylusions Shimmer Cherrie Pie for the crowns. Once dry, they were glued onto the page using Dylusions Glue Stick.
The background is covered in schools of handdrawn fish inbetween wallpaper made by tracing inside Dina Wakley MEdia Triangle Fence and Dyan Reaveley Dylusions On Point Stencils.
My 50 year old much loved cat named Purple Cat (so original, lol) inspired the colours I used for Dyan's Purrfect kitten. She, Purple Cat, has had the same ribbon all her life but never had a tail. Her whiskers were once something like fishing line and have fallen out (moulted, lol). I've never wondered why she didn't have a tail until now... she's always seemed happy without it anyway :) lol
Colouring is one of my favourite ways to relax. Hope you've found time to rejuvenate and create too!
Happy Arty Days!
:)
Jenny
