The Crafter's Workshop BlogHave Stencils, Will Travel- On-the-go Art Journaling

I’ve been in the hospital for a few weeks so creating isn’t exactly the most convenient as I would like it to be but you never need many supplies to get creative am I right? I’m showing how I do simple art journal pages that can be done on-the-go with a few supplies that can be done just about anywhere. The best part of them is that it’s little to no process thinking which is great if you’re in between different events or stressed that you need something to get your mind to shut down for a bit while keeping your hands busy. We all have those days and it’s ok!

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

tracing through mandala stencils with thin black alcohol marker

In my Dylusions 8×8 Mixed Media journal, I traced through TCW461 Rosetta Stencil, TCW460 Ring Doily Stencil, and TCW462 Stained Glass Stencil with a thin black sharpie. I chose these three because they are the most similar in style yet slightly different. I even added a more detailed lines to close off sections to make coloring a little more easier and diverse.

stenciled mandalas colored in with alcohol markers

Next, I colored in each mandala with alcohol markers (featured here are the jewel tone and pastel tone sets from Brea Reese). These colors worked so well together! If you don’t have a set that goes together like these tones do, you can always pick out a color palette from your own marker stash and put them in pouch for easy coloring. Need help choosing colors? Research different color palettes on Pinterest (or an app on your phone… there’s an app for everything right?) and you might find some great color combos you love that you didn’t think of before.

watercolor background around the stenciled mandalas

For the last part, I colored in the background using watercolor palette colors in the same marker shades from the same company and filled in the open space with a water brush. It could have been filled in with marker or a solid color but I didn’t want to draw too much of a distraction from the colored mandalas.

Renae Davis, The Crafter’s Workshop Design Team Member