Hi everyone, about a week from now it’s Halloween and for this Lindy’s Stamp Gang has created an Instagram Hop with lots of fun Halloween themed projects. And you can even win a price!
Today I will show you my step by step inspiration for this hop!
Step 1:
For today’s art journalling project I’m working in my altered book, the pages are yellowed and since the book is quite old I adhered two or three pages together (using gel medium) to create a more sturdy canvas to work on. On some pages I also created pockets and tags for some added interest. In a couple of weeks I will go into more detail how I altered this book.
To get my project started I first adhered some washi tape in the middle and coated both pages and the washi tape with a layer of clear gesso. Now my project is ready to receive colour and other mediums.
Step 2:
While the gesso is drying I’m working on my focal point: I stamped some of the images from the Whimsy Stamps “Going Batty” stamp set onto Strathmore Bristol Smooth Surface paper using Versafine “Onyx Black” ink and I clear heat embossed afterwards using Lindy’s Stamp Gang “Clearly Clear Embossing Powder”. This way my stamped lines stay black and crisp no matter how much water I add. Now I’m ready to colour the images.
For each color that I used I create a paint by mixing some of the powder from the jar with water in my palette. With a small brush and water I color the images, adding layers to create depth and dimension.
For the area around the images and the other green parts I used Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magical in “Mountain Meadow Green”.
For my pumpkins I picked Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magical in “Canna Lily Burnt Orange”.
For the yellow parts I picked Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magical in “Martina’s Marigold”.
For the bats I picked Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magical in “Lara’s Wild Malve”.
When I was done with the coloring part I added back in some detalsl using my white geld pen and then fussy cut the images leaving a small border.
Step 3:
Time to work on my background again. I don’t want to cover the book pages entirely but I do want to tone them down a bit so that my focal point will stand out more. For this I added some white gesso to my glass work surface and sprinkled some of the green, yellow and purple magicals on top using a fan brush. I did not mix the pigment in with the gesso yet.
Now I’m going to use my fingers and mix the pigment only a little and than apply this onto the pages wherever I felt like, but mostly where I planned my colored image to go. I did the same on the tag. Then I let the colored gesso dry.
Step 4:
Next I’m applying clear modeling paste over some of the area’s using a spider web stencil by The Crafter’s Workshop (TCW877s) and a palette knife. The clear modeling paste reactived some of the pigments in the gesso and these colors became stronger which effect I totally loved! I did the same on the tag.
Step 5:
To create more interest in the background and to let the numbers from the washi tape design come back I now stamped using background stamp with mostly numbers in combination with Archival “Jet Black” ink, using first and second generation stamping. I did the same on the tag.
Step 6:
I used some of the left over paint from coloring the images, mainly the green, to create darker background where my main bat image on the right hand page was planned, using my fingers. When dry I ceated splatters using the green and orange Magical as well as Lindy’s Stamp Gang Squirt in “Poutine Gold”.
Step 7:
Now I’m evaluating what I have and I figured my project would benefit from a more defined and darker edge. For this I first edged with Versafine ink in the color “Toffee” (which is about the colour of the paper but darker), using a foam applicator tool.
Over this, but less inwards, I applied a little of the Archival “Jet Black” ink the same way.
Step 8:
As my last addition before finishing the project I created some splatters using a little of the white gesso thinned down with water and a brush.
Step 9:
For my title I picked some of the Halloween themed texts from the Tim Holtz Idea-Ology “Occasions Small Talk” sticker set and adhered them onto some matching purple mirrored card stock. This combination I adhered to the project using liquid glue. I also adhered one of the stickers to the tag.
And to fnish my project I now only have to adhere the bat images on the project using one millimetre thick foam tape!
Detail pictures:
I totally love how this project turned out! I wish you a creative day!
Lindy’s Stamp Gang products used on today’s project:
- Embossing Powder: Clearly Clear;
- Magicals: Mountain Meadow Green, Canna Lily Burnt Orange, Martina’s Marigold and Lara’s Wild Malve;
- Squirt: Poutine Gold.
