Hi everyone, Heidi here, today I would like to show you an art journal page: the idea behind this page is that there are butterflies sitting on branches and the branches are hanging over the water. This page was created in a 13 x 21 cm Art Plus Moleskine Sketchbook (I keep an empty page between two used pages, when the project is finished I glue them together, this way anything bleeding through won’t damage a previous project and when you want to poke a hole in the page you can).

——————————–

The Crafter’s Workshop provided me with some product to create this project. The opinions I share are solely my own.

——————————–

I took step by step pictures in case you would like to follow along:

Step 1: Apply a mixture of Dylusions paints “London Blue” and “White Linen” on both pages using a foam applicator tool, keeping the edges of the pages a little darker. I work on an old newspaper and I use two pages of scrap paper to protect the book and my previous creations (the scrap papers are not in the picture). Since you only need very little of both these paints the best way to go over this is to mix these two colours on a kraft sheet and then apply them to the project. Don’t gesso the pages before you apply the Dylusions paints!

Step 2: After the previous step has dried I applied the same colours through a The Crafter’s Workshop stencil called “Mini Tiny Circles”(TCW361s), using the paints unmixed. You only need the tiniest amount of paint: my advice, take a little, work it into the foam applicator tool and then dab of on some kitchen paper and then apply to your project through the stencil.

Step 3: I traced the stencil with a sharp pencil and then draw over the lines using a Copic Multiliner (0.3). For this step I used a The Crafter’s Workshop stencil called “Flutterby” (TCW206).

On the right hand journal page I also used a pencil to free hand draw in the title and afterwards trace the pencil lines with the same Copic Multiliner. I used a calligraphy style that I taught myself when I was a child.

Step 4: Use a small brush and paint in the butterflies and the branches. I used Dylusions paints in the colours “Pure Sunshine”, “Funky Fuchsia”, “Chopped Pesto” and “Slate Grey” (on the butterflies I used two layers).

Step 5: I splattered on some of the white paint mixed with a little water. Of course you can leave the page like it is now, but I felt that a bit more definition, highlights and shadows would make the branches and the butterflies pop more. So, I mixed the “Pure Sunshine” with the white and applied that (to create depth in the butterflies spots). I mixed the “Choppd Pesto” with the white and applied that over parts of the branches (like the sun was hitting the branch from one side). I used some random black acrylic paint and the white for the body of the butterfly and I applied a bit of white around the butterflies to pull them more in the front). And to finish this project I traced the outer edges of the butterflies with the Copic multiliner (to create more definition).

The small details you add, like I did today in Step 5, change this page from a flat project into a dimensional project. Oh, and by the way, both stencils I used today are very versatile, I love to use them, they belong to the favourites in my collection !

I loved working on this journal page and I hope you feel inspired to try something like this yourself!

Have a creative day!

Heidi Jakobs

The Crafter’s Workshop Design Team Member