StencilGirl and PaperArtsy Blog Hop

Hello, fellow creatives! 

Welcome to the StencilGirl/PaperArtsy blog hop! 

I feel very blessed to work with these companies' products, and thrilled to show you my project.

Let's get started!

I chose to participate with what I love best at the moment: to work in my art journal. 

I had great fun with a sweet stamp set designed by Kim Dellow, as part of the Eclectica line.

And these gorgeous stencils from StencilGirl: 

November 2016 Club stencils, Nature and Nurture by Jessica Sporn

Grid Outline 4x4 by MaryBeth Shaw

I am using a large Dylusions Journal. 

I start by covering the two pages with black gesso. 

Let dry, then add white gesso, scraping with a plastic card. I don't want all the black covered.

Next, I go in with a pencil and scrape marks into the wet gesso, creating more texture. 

Before completely dry, I close the book and open it again, peeling away some layers, to reveal black.

A part of it ripped, so I glue it with matte medium to a different part of the layout.

The juiciest part is next: using these GORGEOUS chalk paints!

Seriously, I want all the colours!! ♥♥♥

I start sponging with the Spongee from StencilGirl, covering about three areas. Then I add in three more colours.

Candy Floss

Bubble Gum

The next step is very subtle. I stencil leaves using the 9x12" club stencil using various paint colours on three edges of the layout. 

Then I isolate one flower from the stencil, and create some clusters.

I add in some Mermaid and Captain Peacock with the sponge to create a bit more contrast.

Stenciling with the grid stencil is the next fun step. I try to place the stencil down randomly.

Some pretty washi tape is next.

These sweet little rounded square clusters are so fun to work with!

I rotate the stamp to create a varied look.

Sharpie paint pens to doodle in the squares to add more interest and colour is next.

I also add white paint in places to brighten the page up.

My text will come next, and I want it to stand out, as it is my focal point, so I put down Snowflake in that area.

I had some leftover paint on my pallet, so I finger paint in areas to use it up.

Pink paint dots are a welcome addition. I love dots!

The sweet SHINE word stamp from the stamp set goes on top of the white area on right side of layout.

I add lots of white paint dots to make the word shine and radiate from the middle.

I felt that the word didn't stand out enough, so I stamped multiple times to make it appear larger. I first added a bit more white background.

Still not quite bright enough...

So I paint circular swaths of colour in the lower area, adding more white paint dots so the words radiate further out.

And there you have it! It was a fun, easy project, and those paints!! Soooo luscious! The stencils? Always an easy way to add interest to backgrounds!

Please be sure to visit the other artists who are participating in this hop for more great and beautiful ideas!

GIVEAWAY

One lucky winner will receive a $75 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl Products

AND a £50 Gift Certificate for PaperArtsy!!

Visit the fabulous designers from both teams and comment for your chance to win!

The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!
(One comment per blog please.)

You have until Friday, December 30th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.

Winner will be announced on StencilGirl's Facebook page and PaperArtsy's blog on Sunday, January 1.

Blog Hop Order:

Dec. 21
Darcy Wilkinson
Kim Dellow
Mary C. Nasser
Gwen Lafleur

Dec. 22
Jo Firth Young
Lauren Hatwell
Kristie Taylor
Tina Walker

Dec. 23
Clare Lloyd
Lin Brown
Anna Friesen
Janet Joehlin

Dec. 24
Kay Carley
Emma Godfrey
Cindy Gilstrap
Karen Gaunt

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥

November in my unPlanner Part 01

Hello all! 

I have had some fun in my unPlanner again with a new colour palette: blues, greys, whites, blacks. We have full-fledged winter temps and snows up here in Canada, and I feel that suits my journal. :)

To discover other unPlanner ideas and see the project challenges and themes, sign up for The Documented Life Project 2016- The unPlanner at the Art to the 5th Academy or see the blog HERE.

The first part I've done is make the divider, and below is a photo of it open. 

This was my project for my StencilGirl Creative Team post over at the StencilGirl blog. To see my step-out tutorial, check it out HERE.

I enjoy the depth of this piece, using blue-black and varying shade of grey. 

If I had to sum up one thing I've learned from art journaling this year, it would be this: create depth with varying shades of colour!

Photo below, page on left, is a page from the unPlanner kit. The photo after this one, you see the other side of that page completely covered with black paint. I will do the same here. Page on right is my prepared pages for the rest of the month, where I journal daily.

A process pic of decorating the pre-made pocket page. Of course, StencilGirl stencils were used. ;) The "ladder" at the top part is a club stencil by MaryBeth. See it HERE. The "snowman" is from a stencil with three varied sized ovals. See the stencil HERE. The other stencils used are THIS and THIS 6x6 stencil.

I circled the part below to show you which part of the large stencil I used. :) More photos to come in my next blog post when I have the pocket pages complete. That's my plan, anyway.

Photo below is one of the items in that pocket. I painted a tag white, then glued photos to it. 

I discovered a fun app called Prisma, and spent too many hours playing with it! It transforms photos into different styles of art with filters. My favourite filter is the Wave and Candy. I discovered it from Miranda, through her weekly project called the 18/52 Art Journal Project. 

Scroll to bottom of post to see two more photos of my unPlanner.

The second photo on the tag is of my son and his silver velour cape.

Here are some more photos I tweaked. :) I might include a few of these in my unPlanner as well.

Before, of our tree in our front yard:

After, using the Wave filter:

Candy filter

Before:

After, with the Wave filter again.

Before, our shortcut through the trees to the mailboxes.

After

Before, some of the roses in my garden:

Before, photo of the brayered backgrounds I used for my August unPlanner pages:

After:

This last one is giving me ideas of painting backgrounds! Need to try!

Spent a good half hour driving around in the country yesterday, taking photos of the beautiful scenery around us. 

This altered version reminds me of some famous painter...but I can't remember who!

Well, it was fun to share what is happening in my unPlanner! I'm looking forward to making the PACs and the fun List10 this month. Hope I inspired you to work in your unPlanner or other artjournals!

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥