Colour Blast by Bee Arty

Sparkle! by Linda Pearson

Happy New Year Bee Arter's ... welcome to a bee-utiful start to 2021.

We could all do with a bit of sparkle at this time of year so I have incorporated some papers from the Trendsetter collection by Michelle Grant to create a mixed media journal page. There is also opportunity for 'scrappers' to convert this page into a photo layout by adding an image or two to compliment the sentiment and cutout.

Step by step process for creating the 'sparkle' journal page follows:

Prepare the White Cardstock 350gsm page by applying a thin layer of Bee Arty white heavy gesso.

Add 5-6 drops of Colour artist inks (3 colours; marine, slipper, berry) into 2 separate small amounts of gesso mix into pastel shades of colour. Please note: berry and slipper were mixed together in gesso to brighten the colour.

Loosely apply the pastel (blue) gesso into clusters over the page, dry off, then apply the pink gesso to fill in the gaps, it's okay to blend some colour to completely cover the page. Dry off.

Applying the Lined A5 stencil to the page. Firstly, add more white gesso to the previous left over pastel colours. Using a soft silicone sponge, lightly apply blue pastel gesso randomly over the pink areas of the page. Then apply the pink pastel gesso over the blue areas as before. Dry off.

When creating journal pages I like to add lots and lots of layers, this helps to build up the layers and adds textural element to the page.

The next step I added another quantity of gesso to any left over from the previous step (I mixed the two colours together and loaded up with white gesso to make a very light hue).

Apply the Lined A5 stencil again, this time all over the page in a random and loose fashion.

whole page after stenciling detail image of stenciling

Once the stenciled layers are dry, now is the time to add some collage papers. In this instance, after I had fussy cut out the girl from the Fashionista - 12"x12" Scrapbooking Paper.

Tear a couple of large strips of the heavy coloured side of the paper as well as a strip from the lighter side of the sheet.

Adhere the strips of paper to the background using matte medium or glue.

Adding some decorative stencils -

I like a more textured look so I added a little texture paste to the heavy body gesso. Apply sections the Starry Night A6 stencil in several places over the page. Dry off.

Next apply sections of the Scripted A5 stencil randomly over the page also. Dry off.

The next layer on the page is to add depth of colour to tie all the layers together. I used colours reflected in the Fashionista - 12"x12" Scrapbooking Paper; violet, magenta and cobalt blue.

Randomly scrap the individual colours over the page with a palette knife.

Ensure the colour is scraped over the stenciling layers to create depth in layers.

Once again, using the Starry Night A6 stencil apply some Colour paste (singing the blues) over the page (being mindful of where the girl cut out will be placed on the page, add blue stars around the cutout placement) with a palette.

Dry off the Colour paste,

Fussy cut the fashonista girl from the Fashionista - 12"x12" Scrapbooking Paper.

Add strips of mounting tape to the back of the cut out then add to the page.

Use a black fineline marker to highlight the shape to help the image stand out against the background colour. I felt the cutout still needed more depth from background so I added water colour pencil in french ultramarine blue then smudge the outline with water to blend out the pencil.

Add sentiment to the page from the Sparkle - 12"x12" Scrapbooking Paper Word Sheet, again I added mounting tape to the back of the words. Added some payne's grey paint to the edge of the word strips.