Colourful Journal Pages

Hello everyone,  I needed to create an extra project for the Design Team Blog this month, and decided to have a bit of fun. Lesley, during the TV shows that introduced the new Russian themed stamps, had suggested giving the lovely Katya image some hair, and that was what kick-started this whole journal spread off in the first place. I chose to use the really versatile A5 Pink Pig journal containing 270 gsm watercolour paper, as this size of journal allows for a lot of choice in the layout that you can create, without feeling that you have too much space to fill. The watercolour paper is lovely and smooth and will take lots of water.

I started my project by masking the headdress on the Katya stamp, and inking up just the bottom part of the image, using Versafine Sepia Ink, before stamping it onto the journal page. I drew some hair freehand, using a pencil at first, until I was happy with the design, and then inking over it with a permanent brown pen.

I needed to mask the image, and as the masking tissue available on the website is not completely opaque, I was able to lay it over my image, and draw an outline to create my own custom mask.

I added several other images to the pages; the Swirl Centre Flowerhead, and some leaves and a butterfly from the Tangled Garden stamp set. I masked all of these images as I went along, so that I could create a layered look to the pages. I wanted a subtle floral image in the background and added a favourite texture stamp from the Texture Fragments stamp set, using Acrylic Wax to stamp the image. I simply put a small amount onto a craft mat, applied it to the stamp with a piece of sponge, and stamped the image onto the background. I heat set the image before moving on to the next stage. I added Distress Ink to colour the background, and the acrylic wax acted as a resist where I had stamped the floral texture image.

I drew a few swirls by hand, using a permanent brown pen as before, and added a sentiment from the Artistic Expressions stamp set. A little bit of stencilling completed the background.

I coloured the images using Zig Clean Colour markers, keeping the colours bright and cheery to match the vibrant background. I decided to give Katya a modern twist with ombre hair, rather than a conventional colour. I added extra shading to her hair with some Stabilo Fineliners in co-ordinating colours.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading about my project, thanks for stopping by, xx