Hi everyone. It’s Bonnie here today stepping in for Barb for Week 13 of the Art Journal Adventure. Barb is up to her eyebrows in things to do so I jumped at the chance to step in. The prompt this week is Home whether it’s a human one, an animal or insect home, or just a feeling of being at home and comfortable. Homes can take so many different forms…sometimes it’s who you are with that makes you feel and think of home.
My page started with a 7 x 10 inch rectangle of watercolour paper because I knew I would be using ink sprays on my background and I wanted the effect that watercolour paper gives. I grabbed a piece of torn card stock. layered it over the watercolour paper about 1 to 1.5 inches from the bottom, torn side toward the bottom and covering the sky area. I then spritzed the grass area with Lindy’s Drop Dead Gorgeous Green and Cathedral Pine Green Two Toned Starburst Sprays.
I repeated the process at the top of the page angling the torn edge once I got to the second layer from the top and alternated Lindy’s Sassy Sapphire and Delphinium Turquoise Starburst Sprays with each layer. The white piece of card stock was used to protect the rest of the page so that I was only spraying between the two papers.
When I began each layer, I tried to get close to the one above but white spaces were evident between each layer because of the curves of the torn edge. That was OK because I had a plan.
A black Fine Pitt Pen was used to outline the sections and emphasize the openings.
I switched to a Super Fine Pitt Pen to doodle designs inside those openings and make them part of the design. Love it!
I always have scraps of decorated papers from mopping up ink overspray, from gel printing, and from using up extra paints or ink on stamps. I decided to stamp Stampotique Originals Home Sweet Home house using Jet Black Archival Ink onto some of those papers. I used one for the main part of the house, another for the roof and door, and a third for the windows. All were fussy cut and the house and roof were matted with black. Foam tape was used to pop them up.
The windows were covered in Glossy Accents to create a shine like glass and the roof dots were covered in Glam Pink Stickles. A little black rhinestone was used for the doorknob.
The sun was punched from paper with a resist pattern on it and again from black card stock. The sun was inked with Scattered Straw and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks and then offset with the black circle to create a shadow.
A tree was stamped with Jet Black Archival Ink onto some mop-up paper I used to clean up the extra ink from the background spraying. I always keep pre-cut ATCs on my desk for that purpose. The tree was fussy cut and then adhered slightly behind the house. Clouds were die cut from old book text and then white gesso was used to knock back the print a little. Once dry, the edges were inked with black ink and a border was doodled on each.
I found the sprayed background a little plain for my taste so I added some tone on tone stamping using Joggles Nonsense Latin Text and Fern Green Archival Ink on the green section and Joggles Background Noise Sparks and Forget-Me-Not Archival Ink on the sky. I also added a little path to the front door with a scrap of corrugated cardboard.
The sentiment, printed on white card stock and matted with black, makes me laugh. I am an introvert and can just imagine me going through this process, all rah rah at uniting with other introverts and then realizing that it would only happen if we could all stay at home by ourselves…where we are most comfortable. Home is where I am most comfortable with my husband, my cats, and my stuff 🙂
Anyway, that’s my response to this week’s Home prompt. I am excited to see the many varied directions this prompt takes everyone in the AJA Facebook group. Remember that there is no wrong way to respond…wherever you go with it is where you are meant to go. Enjoy the process!
9 Comments
Oh Bonnie – this is so cool! Every step along the way was inspiring and lovely.
If I wasn’t also an introvert, I’d want to see inside your little house…….
Terry, you made me laugh out loud with your comment:) Thanks for the kind words and for bringing a big old grin to my face 🙂
Bonnie – I loved reading about how you created this work of art! Love the torn paper and spray and what you did with the white space – so creative! The sentiment called to me right away!! Hugs, Cathy
Thanks so much, Cathy. It’s amazing how many people seem to be able to relate to that sentiment. We are in good company! It was a fun page to create.
This is fabulous! I just love all the details you added as you went along. Thank you for sharing all your ideas on using your left over papers. Mine seem to just collect in a drawer! And I would never have imagined that you are an introvert!
Thanks so much, Faye. I always keep my clean-up scraps on my desk. They seem to find their way into almost every page I create. I also really like that they have my personal touch and even if I don’t like the bigger pieces, when I use only bits, it’s easy to find parts I like. A lot of people are surprised that I am an introvert, especially when they find out I taught school for all those years. I definitely am, though 🙂
I commented on this on facebook and now I see how you created it. The 2 things I love best about this piece is how you used to empty spaces so perfectly and how you used the stamp on an inked piece of paper and cut it out to collage on. Both techniques that I will definitely be adding to my repertoire.
Oh yes
I am very very much a introvert
Although no one believes me that I am most comfortable
In my little cave.no husband just my dog
Love your page Lillian
I love the doodled areas you created in the sky – it adds so much depth to the page and also breaks up what would have otherwise been a large expanse of ‘blue’. A evry cunning plan indeed (and not a turnip in sight!)