Trust Your Wings (eP)

There is currently a Get Altered challenge going on at eclectic Paperie. The theme is altered books and the other day I posted the front cover of my altered child's board book which I called Flight Risk. I intend to art journal each two page spread following the theme of wings/flight in some way. My eP post today features the first double page journal spread inside that board book. The pages were already gessoed so I added a layer of Golden Absorbent Ground because I knew that I was going to use Dylusions Ink Sprays and they don't like gesso as well as they like absorbent ground. It allows the sprays to sink in instead of sitting on top of the gesso. I sprayed a healthy layer of water with my Mini Mister and then sprayed on  Vibrant Turquoise, London Blue, and Cut Grass Dylusions inks allowing them to blend and drip . I closed the book and then reopened it using tags and then paper towel to blot off the excess.

 

Often when I art journal I am influenced by whatever is sitting on my desk left over from other projects. The pieces of tissue wrap which were gel mediumed to the pages is a good example of that. Once they were adhered, light molding paste was scraped through a Crafter's Workshop stencil using a gift card. This gives an even thin coat and because the Dylusions sprays react with water, the molding paste will absorb the colour from the background darkening it slightly...very cool!

 

 The background layers were continued using rub ons and partial stamping with MementoTeal Zeal and a Lost Coast stamp. Circles were made with watery black or white gesso and my collection of  lids (hairspray top, ink spray top, pill bottle, etc.). Watery white gesso was spread over the very intense colour spots to knock back the colour a bit, keeping it random.

The wonky corner arrows were stamped using a Dylusions Doodle Parts stamp and then coloured in with a black Pitt pen. The dots were made using a White Big Brush pen from Faber Castell (love it). A charcoal pencil was used to line the molding paste triangles and was softened using a paper stump. Finally the tree was cut with a die from Tim Holtz's Kraft Resist paper, inked with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress inks, and lined with a Sepia Micron pen. It was adhered to the background with gel medium.

The bird was a Maya Road chipboard piece covered with Authentique Peaceful paper and trimmed with a craft knife. Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress inks were applied to the edges and further darkened with a Neocolor II watercolour crayon and a water brush. The eye was layered using an Idea-ology mini gear and a watch part. The wing was cut from book text paper using a Spellbinder's die (Fallen Angel). Tattered Leather Glimmer Mist was sprayed over the die cut while the die was still over it. Tumbled Glass and broken China were applied to the plain text using a water brush. Doodling was applied to the bird with a Micron pen and the rounded ends of the wing were popped up on foam adhesive.

To add more texture and dimension, cheescloth "clouds were adhered to to the top of the page and washi tape pieces were added to the bottom. Two legths of the top of a watercolour page where it was torn from the pad were Distress inked with Broken China and Vintage Photo before being adhered to the two pages. Again, they were sitting on my desk and they had cool texture. A little Crafty Secrets bird track stamp was randomly applied mainly because it made me smile.

The sentiment was computer generated on kraft cardstock, trimmed out, crumpled and distressed around the edges before Vintage Photo was applied. I wanted the saying to read " Trust that your wings are there" but I also wanted the eye to first see Trust your wings so I used a larger font for these three words  and kept the font the same style. A date stamp, a little shading under the branch with Derwent Inktense pencils and a water brush, some inking around the page edges with Black Soot Distress ink, more doodling and I called it done.

 I'm happy with the first two pages of this little altered board book mainly because I enjoyed the process. It's always fun to get inky and messy and if I end up with something I like, that's a bonus. I can hardly wait until the next time.  Thanks so much for joining me today. Kudos if you made it all the way through the post. I really like to break the process down because I know there are people out there really wanting to try art journalling but not sure how to start. The best part is that however you do it is the right way! just trust that your wings are there and take the leap.

I am entering this journal spread in the Something Messy challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show.

Life is good; so is art
Bonnie

Looking for some of the products I used? Just click on the thumbnails to go to the eclectic Paperie shop's listings. Kim will be happy to help you out.

Dylusions Ink Spray - Vibrant Turquoise	Dylusions Ink Spray - London Blue	Dylusions Ink Spray - Cut Grass	Inksessentials - Mini Mister 3-Pack	Idea-ology - Tim Holtz - Tissue Wrap - Melange
Dylusions Cling Stamps - Doodle Parts	Tsukineko - Memento Teal Zeal	Distress Ink Pad - Tumbled Glass	Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain
Distress Ink Pad - Broken China	Authentique - Peaceful Paper Kit