As part of #ClarityOpenDayFestival we are sharing stories of pieces of art work that are special to us. This is the story of my first ever art journal page. I had
had an empty Art Journal for nearly a year and the pages had scared me
to death. By chance, I happened to come across the Mission Inspiration
group on Facebook and liked the idea of having to follow a set of
instructions to create an art journal page. I therefore accepted
August 2016's mission and I was really happy with my first attempt, using Clarity stamps of course!
I must
admit that I didn't use the Moleskine journal that I had been hoarding.
There's a local art shop which sells all kinds of spiral bound books and
I came across one which was 11.25" x 8" containing heavyweight cartridge
paper for the princely sum of £4.99; I snapped it up and created the
whole page in one evening.
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CTnauZEO0h0/V8Bd8X8hraI/AAAAAAAACGk/nMlw2wD6TaQ87ud-LTbpEcSxdPh0MoXzQCEw/w400-h283/DSCI1035.JPG) |
Step 1: Use a torn up map |
![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AS72cKp_Ta8/V8Bd82RLEHI/AAAAAAAACGk/SRpHfPQBJ6kS0HJm09kwElCPAdwCCog9QCEw/w400-h276/DSCI1036.JPG) |
Map pieces plus gesso |
I found
an old map book from the car which was well out of date. I deliberately
chose pages which show where I live now, where I grew up and places
where some of my family live as I wanted to personalise the page in some
way, while following the instructions. I did give the map pieces a
diluted coat of white gesso to move them into the background a little,
as well as provide something for the spray paints to adhere to in step 2
as the map book paper had a smooth coating. At this point I had no idea
where I was heading with the page.
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i1kt1Qlbblg/V8Bd95o6bhI/AAAAAAAACGk/QtmNvjkldUsopuEbUrX8znVNq0yyHyAsACEw/w400-h271/DSCI1037.JPG) |
Step 2 - Spray over confetti |
Step 2
called for confetti to be put on the page and sprayed over (to be left
in place or not as seen fit by the artist)! I had a good look through
my bits and bobs and found some small butterfly confetti, which I had
stashed away years before and forgotten about. I spread it out over the
page and sprayed the whole thing with Weathered Wood and Stormy Sky
distress sprays. Unfortunately when I tried removing the confetti, the
paint ran; therefore I replaced it and added some Frosty Blue Mica Mist
by That Special Touch; drying the whole thing thoroughly with a heat gun
before peeling off the butterflies. As you can see, the pink dye came
out of some of the confetti pieces.
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mIXHiBOSarg/V8BeSORmKrI/AAAAAAAACGk/U474p1hqZyEI6wUbd42Te4AWx7iweDCIQCEw/w400-h283/DSCI1038.JPG) |
Step 3 - Add stamping |
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nanlzNJKvMg/V8Bd-Xq6jzI/AAAAAAAACGk/ScYYufeHnw0nzSQG1T7A7Bj8XQGkBaDqgCEw/w400-h275/DSCI1039.JPG) |
Step 4 - Add tree |
Step 3
was to add stamping and step 4 was to add a tree. It was at this point
that a plan started coming together, inspired by the butterfly
confetti. As I looked through my stamps, I came across the Butterfly Tree stamp set by Claritystamp - 3 different sized butterflies and a
tree which turns into butterflies. I stamped the three different sizes
of buttterflies moving from small to large and using ever darker
Archival inks (Aquamarine, Forget-Me-Not, Manganese Blue and Cobalt
Blue) from left to right, leaving space to add the tree in the bottom
left corner of the page.
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xCdK0JO_g0g/V8Bd_BF8yYI/AAAAAAAACGk/Zw4OY7GI83c_tc6pNFTRndWxkH7myHgpgCEw/w400-h276/DSCI1040.JPG) |
Step 5 - Add string |
I added
the tree stamp using black Archival ink, then went over the whole image
using a Pitt artist brush pen in black to intensify the colour.
The
string needed to fulfil step 5 was used to add a 'sun' in the top right
hand corner of the page; I wound it round and round in a tight spiral
over matte medium. Some of the blue colour from the background spray
came off onto the white sections of the bakers twine but I liked the
effect - it made the sun appear 'hazy'.
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rLile_ygA_A/V8Bd_y3q4QI/AAAAAAAACGk/Cnhsg4uxFYU7cYKqKRt2nJoGD-_f8nrmwCEw/w400-h272/DSCI1041.JPG) |
Step 6 - Add a focal point from a colouring book |
Now I
must admit that I cheated a little for step 6; add a focal point using
something from a colouring book. I don't have many; the two that I
have didn't have any butterfly images and all the images were way too
big for the page. I therefore found an outline stamp of a butterfly
which looked as if it could have come from a colouring book, stamped it
onto white card, coloured it in using water colour pens and a water
brush and cut the whole thing out - one of the Cherry Green Butterflies stamps would be great for this. Before I added it to the page, I
drew in the antennae using my Pitt artist brush pen.
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BfNJNLOsSbM/V8BeA4VJ3oI/AAAAAAAACGk/B3dfMOJLDn4PmgaCcI2ZdXhABaQ7Yvl2QCEw/w400-h276/DSCI1042.JPG) |
Steps 7 and 8 | |
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Step 7
was to add white paint using the end of a cardboard tube. This was
remarkably liberating; I keep my messy mats wound up inside the old
inner of a kitchen roll, so I used that plus white gesso to add the
circles randomly over the upper portion of the page. Step 8 was to add
shading and highlights using black and white pens/pencils. I used a
black pencil to define the outline of the confetti gaps
and a white Signo uni-ball pen to add white highlights to the tree and
the coloured butterflies.
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NVJFKTUrmas/V8BeBncn5FI/AAAAAAAACGk/YqMtleJ39bIVpXH2A47yK0iqw38BmKg2wCEw/w400-h276/DSCI1043.JPG) |
Step 9 - Ink the edges |
Step 9
was to edge the page using ink. I decided on Archival ink in Cobalt
Blue and Watering Can and added it round all 4 sides using a Spot On sponge to add colour on the edge which is spiral bound.
The colour took more strongly where I hadn't used matte medium and/or
gesso right to the edge of the page; again a happy accident, but I love
the effect - especially along the bottom of the page and on the corner
around the 'sun'.
The
final step was to add a quote or title; I had the perfect one by
Claritystamp, which I added using black Archival ink then went over it
with a black Pitt artist pen. It sums up how happy I felt at the end of
the process, by not planning the page in advance, but by letting the
instructions and the materials which I had at hand, lead me to my final
destination.
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-loSb1K9Sr4Y/V8BeCoDH-cI/AAAAAAAACGk/avL8kkZdACcLgwWIfRL-Rily0a4h53yeACEw/w400-h278/DSCI1044.JPG) |
Step 10 - Add a title or quote. |
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