Bonnie joins us again this week, this time with a page from her art journal named Take The Leap.

Included as the focal image are sweet birds from our Bird Feathers Fluff Collage Sheet, each perched on a stack of eggs.  Whether you’re thinking Easter or simply longing for Spring, the subject matter is perfect for the end of February.

As always, thanks to Bonnie for so generously sharing her art, the techniques to create the page, and the time spent photographing and writing the tutorial.

Take the Leap Art Journal Page

Supplies Used:
Joggles Collage Sheets – Bird Feathers Fluff
Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Pastels – Set of 10
Canson Watercolor Paper – 9″ x 12″ 90# Cold Pressed
Dina Wakley Media White Gesso – 2oz Tube
Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad – Picked Raspberry
Archival Ink Pads – Pale Ochre and Magenta Hue
Joggles Cling Mounted Rubber Stamp – Nonsense Latin Text
Diecuts With A View 6″ x 6″ Template – Hip Patterns
Dina Wakley Media Stencil – Plastic Canvas
Dina Wakley Media Palette Knife
Ranger Texture Paste
Aleene’s Super Thick Tacky Glue – 4 Ounce JAR
Scor-Tape – 0.25″
Faber Castell PITT Artist Pen – [B] Brush Tip – Black
Faber Castell PITT Artist Pen – [S] Super Fine Tip – Black
Inkssentials Glossy Accents 2 fl. oz.
Joggles Fineline Applicator 20/410 – 18 Gauge
Stickles Glitter Glue – Grape Crush and Tickled Pink
Inkssentials NonStick Craft Sheet

Sometimes I work directly in one of my art journals, and other times I like to cut watercolour sheets into a 6 x 8 inch size, mat them, and bind them into a journal when I have several completed. That’s what I decided to do with this page. As soon as I saw those adorable birds from the Joggles Collage Sheet called Bird Feathers Fluff I knew they would star in this one.

This is my process:

Apply Purple and Yellow Caran D’Ache Neocolor II Pastels directly to your 6 x 8 inch sheet of Canson Watercolor Paper – 90 lb. Cold Pressed. I often start with one colour on the two right corners and the opposite side and the other colour on the opposite corners and side to get a nice balance but you can mix it up however you like. With a brush, apply Dina Wakley Media White Gesso instead of the usual straight water over the pastel, adding a little water to your brush if needed to move and blend the colours. I did all one colour first and then, without cleaning my brush, did the second colour blending where they met.

Once dry, add more Neocolor II over the page, intensifying the colour and adding some pink to yellow spots and vice versa. Repeat the gesso step. Add extra colour near the edges to provide a frame for the background. You can spread this on the edge with a water dampened finger to get stronger colour. Allow to dry.

Lay Diecuts With A View 6″ x 6″ Template – Hip Patterns over the background. Using a Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool, apply Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Picked Raspberry through the template. Move and repeat several times to add texture to the background.

Using both Pale Ochre and Magenta Hue Archival Inks, apply Joggles Cling Mounted Rubber Stamp –   Nonsense Latin Text, without using a stamp block and in a rolling fashion, randomly onto the background. I alternated colours without cleaning the stamp in between. The variation in colour and the imperfect print you get from rolling the stamp make for a more interesting background.

Place Dina Wakley Media Stencil – Plastic Canvas over the background and with a Dina Wakley Media Palette Knife, scrape Ranger Texture Paste through the openings in several places to create both dimension and texture. Allow to dry naturally.

Fussy cut the two birds, two plants, and 5 of the eggs from the Joggles Collage Sheets – Bird Feathers Fluff leaving a narrow white border around each item. Adhere each of the eggs and birds to a scrap of black cardstock and fussy cut again so there is a black mat around each item. These two borders are optional but it’s something I like to do both for the added strength to thin parts like the legs and also to provide contrast against a busy background. I did not add the black mat to the plants because I wanted them to blend into the background as they weren’t the focal point.

Adhere the fussy cut pieces to the background using either Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive with the Joggles Fineline Applicator 20/410 – 18 Gauge or Aleene’s Super Thick Tacky Glue and a toothpick. Either are able to apply adhesive to the tiny areas without making a mess.

Print the computer generated sentiment onto white cardstock and trim close to each word. Mat them with black cardstock scraps using .25 Scor Tape both to attach the words to the black cardstock and to attach the matted words to the background.

To finish the piece, add shading under the birds, eggs, and words by applying Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Picked Raspberry to your craft sheet and using a water brush or a damp brush to pick up some colour. Lay the colour next to the element you are shading and fade the intensity as you move it further away… dark close to the item faded to nothing.

Apply Inkssentials Glossy Accents to the birds’ eyes to add shine and dimension. Add Stickles Glitter Glue – Grape Crush to the head circles and cheeks of the lighter (right) bird and Stickles Glitter Glue – Tickled Pink to the circles on the head and cheeks of the darker one (left). Go around the edges of the background with a Faber Castell PITT Artist Pen – [B] Brush Tip – Black to remove the white edge and frame the page. Using a Faber Castell PITT Artist Pen – [S] Super Fine Tip – Black, doodle a simple border close to each edge. As an extra frame, I like to add a black cardstock mat using 1 inch Scor Tape to attach it to the background.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Be sure to pop by the Joggles store to see the huge variety of collage sheets Joggles carries. They are sure to inspire you.