12 Tags of 2013 - June Journal Page

Happy Friday everyone! Those who have been following my blog know that I am creating journal pages in place of tags inspired by Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013. Be sure to hop over to Tim's blog to check them all out and to learn a lot about Distress Markers while he demonstrates his June tag. Today I want to share my June journal page inspired by those marker techniques.

My pages are 6 x 8 on Bristol, vellum surface, 100 lb. by Strathmore. At the end of the year I will create a book with rings.

Okay, let's get started coloring!

I began by stamping images that have an open design in which to color. I stamped on a piece of watercolor paper cut to 4 1/2 x 6 inches. This is an older Close To My Heart stamp set of sunflowers. The honeycomb in the background is from Tim's Mixed Media set. One of my favorites. Since I'll be color in the images with water based markers and a water brush pen, I stamped with archival black to avoid bleed.

So, how do you begin? Let me first say that I am not an illustrator or a fine artist in any way. So my shading might not be spot-on, but I do what I can with the skills I have and I don't stress about it. It's too much fun to worry about all that. I do know that you have to stick with a light source, so for mine the source is coming from the upper left of the page. I began with something small, like the leaves. I used Shabby Shutters first. It's the lighter color of the two greens I'll use. Notice how I left some white space above where I colored?

Next I used Peeled Paint to color below the previous.

Then with the waterbrush, I blended the two together and pulled the color up into the white space. (You may have to click on the photo to get a closer look.)

Next I used Scattered Straw on the sunflower. 

Then Wild Honey coming out from the center. I work quickly and don't fret over anything.

I use the waterbrush to pull the two shades of yellow together.

Since the flower is already filled with color, if I want to add any more color I have to dry it first. Here I added Spiced Marmalade by scribbling the marker onto my non-stick craft sheet and then picked up the color with my waterbrush and brushed and dabbed it here and there for some added depth.

I continued to do this on all the sunflowers. The centers are colored with Tea Dye as the lightest color and Vintage Photo as the darker, then the waterbrush did the rest.

To color the edges of the watercolor paper, I used an ink blending tool with Tumbled Glass to rub around the edges, then used Broken China to darken just the outer edges. I used a waterbrush to pull the blue colors into the page more. I absolutely love how this looks. You'll see a close-up in the next photo. For the pinkish red splatters I scribbled Barn Red marker onto my craft sheet, then picked up the color with my waterbrush and flicked it onto the page. I did this technique again with Fired Brick to get  some variation. 

See the blue edge? Love that. And those splatters just look like they're floating on the paper.

Onto my Bristol, I created a monochromatic background using Victorian Velvet in three media. Stain, Distress Ink, and Distress Paint. I simply smeared each onto my craft sheet, then a heavy spritz of water and then dragged and dipped my Bristol into it until I was happy. After heat setting it, I inked the outer edges with Aged Mahogany.

I stamped the flourishes with Victorian Velvet Distress ink. This image comes from Tim's "Artful Flight" stamp set.

I adhered my watercolored piece to my page with strong glue stick, then stamped the sentiment in the upper left corner.

The key thing to remember is, if you're doing journal pages, be sure to punch your holes in the page first, not afterwards.  Oops.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful day, and I'll see you tomorrow from eclectic Paperie's blog where I'll be sharing a Burlap Canvas creation using all sorts of great Tim Holtz products. And speaking of eclectic Paperie, you can find all the great Distress Paints, Stains and Markers in their store. Start shopping now.