eP Follow Your Dreams

I am having such a great time altering the pages of the children's board book that I started in February for the Get Altered challenge on the eclectic Paperie blog. You can see what the book looked like before I started in this post. At any rate, I am now on the fourth double page spread and still following the flight theme. This spread also qualifies for the current eTeam  Picks challenge at eP since it uses corrugated cardstock. (Yay)

I started this background by applying Neocolor II crayons to the gessoed page and spreading them with water and a large brush. I used 4 different shades of blue progressing from lightest at the bottom to darkest at the top. As you can see, I left the colour very streaky.

 I sprayed fixative on the page so the streaks wouldn't blend and then used Decou-Page (like Mod Podge) to adhere crumpled white tissue over the sky area. This gave it amazing texture and knocked back the colour to where I wanted it. The bottom area had a torn piece of Amy Tangerine paper adhered to it with Decou-Page.

The background was patterned with white gesso and TCW's mini chevron stencil as well as TCW's mini punchinella stencil. Unity's Cooped Up Notes stamp was applied using Faded Jeans Distress ink. Peacock Feathers Distress ink was used with the messy dot stamp from Tim Holtz's Bitty Grunge set. Mowed Lawn Distress ink was used on the Stampendous Marble Texture Cube to achieve more interest in the grass area.

Wendy Vecchi's white embossing paste was applied with a palette knife to create the fluffy clouds. I love the texture you can achieve with this stuff. I can't wait to get the black embossing paste which is in the mail as we speak. To create the path for the houses to rest upon, a curvy strip of corrugated cardstock was cut, inked with Vintage Photo Distress Stain, and adhered to the grass area.

While those layers were drying, I sprayed 6 of the little (1 1/4" tall) wooden Prima Icon houses with Dylusions ink sprays (Squeezed Orange, London Blue, Bubblegum Pink, Crushed Grape, Pure Sunshine, Vibrant Turquoise). These houses are adorable with all of their laser cut windows, doors, and detail.  They really absorb the colour of these sprays so to knock it back a little I immediately sprayed them with White Linen before they were completely dry. Once dry, I added roof and fence detail with Fired Brick, Worn Lipstick, Faded Jeans, Vintage Photo, and Spiced Marmalade Distress markers. The fence was highlighted with a white paint pen which lightened the purple even more. The houses were adhered to the page with foam dots behind the top halves and glue where they overlapped the corrugated path.

The sun was created with a Quickutz die using yellow paper from Authentique's Renew pad. The rays were lined with Wild Honey Distress marker. A 2" circle was punched from the same paper, inked around the edge with Wild Honey DI and faux stitched with a black Micron. The face is a Paula Best stamp on the same yellow paper. The features were coloured and the face shaded with Prismacolor pencils before it was fussy cut, matted in black, and layered over the rest of the sun with foam tape.

The bird on the opposite page is a canvas sticker from Little Yellow Bicycle. It was colourized with Peacock Feathers and Faded Jeans Distress inks applied with a water brush. The eye is a half pearl. The computer generated message, Follow Your dreams. They know the way, was printed on kraft cardstock, cut out and distressed with scissors. Vintage Photo Distress ink was applied to the edges to frame them .

Once all of the bits were adhered, I was able to survey the entire neighbourhood to see what else was needed to complete the scene. Doodling was done with a black Micron pen. Two lengths of double scallop border cut with an MFT die were adhered to the edges. The harlequin stamp from TH's
Boundless Flight set was applied using black Stazon. The Stampotique swirl stalks stamp was layered over the grass at the bottom edge and watered down gesso rings were created using a bottle lid. Black Soot Distress ink was applied to the page edges with a foam applicator.

I love how bright and cheerful this page is. It seems to suit the hopefulness of the sentiment as the bird follows her dreams, taking in all the beauty and delights of her journey. I have one more double page spread and then the back cover to alter and this book will be full to bursting. Thanks so much for visiting today and if you managed to read this lengthy post, kudos! I appreciate your visits, your comments, and the time you have spent with me.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie

If you are interested in some of the products I have used today, click on the thumbnails below to magically be transported to the correct page of the eclectic Paperie's shop catalogue.

Distress Ink Pad - Wild Honey	Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Distress Ink Pad - Peacock Feathers	Distress Ink Pad - Salty Ocean	Distress Ink Pad - Mowed Lawn
Distress Ink Pad - Black Soot	Distress Ink Pad - Faded Jeans	Prima - Wood Icons in a Box - Houses and Buildings	Wendy Vecchi - Studio 490 - Embossing Paste - White	Unity Stamp Co. - Cooped Up Notes
Dylusions Ink Spray - White Linen	Dylusions Ink Spray - Vibrant Turquoise	Dylusions Ink Spray - Squeezed Orange	Dylusions Ink Spray - Pure Sunshine	Dylusions Ink Spray - London Blue
Dylusions Ink Spray - Crushed Grape	Dylusions Ink Spray - Bubblegum Pink	Distress Stain - Vintage Photo	Tim Holtz� Distress� Markers - Worn Lipstick	Tim Holtz� Distress� Markers - Wild Honey
Tim Holtz� Distress� Markers - Vintage Photo	Tim Holtz� Distress� Markers - Spice Marmalade	Tim Holtz� Distress� Markers - Faded Jeans