12 Tags of 2015 - My May Art Journal Pages

Procrastination is my thing. Here I am sliding in at the last minute with my art journal pages inspired by Tim Holtz and his 12 Tags of 2015. I honestly didn't realize we were at the end of the month already. Time is just flying by!

As Tim creates his awesome tags each month, I then push myself to use his techniques and theme toward art journal pages. Sometimes it transfers easily, other times it gets a bit tricky. This month was indeed a tricky one.

Take a look at Tim's fabulous tag...

Burlap, 3-D flowers, metal embellishments, ribbon... God bless him, it's a gorgeous tag, but these are things I just can't do on a journal page, so I really have to stretch my creative process to get it to work for me. I tried not to stress...

I forged ahead and created these pages in my journal. I still can't decide if it's a hot mess or if I like it. I try not to judge myself. And this is sometimes why people have a hard time with art journaling. But you know what? I had such a great time making these pages, I don't even care if they are amazing or perfect. And that's what it should be about more than anything, right?

If you're interested in how I created these pages, read on and I'll take you through my humble process.

The pages started with a spritz of Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress Stains which I spread in strokes with a paper towel, first vertically then horizontally. Once dry, I stenciled the Burlap stencil with Potting Soil archival ink, moving the stencil around until both pages were filled.

Texture paste was then applied through the Blossom stencil across the top.

This sat for about a half four to dry while I worked on other parts.

Once it was completely dry, I colored the textured areas with Distress Markers. Mostly with Worn Lipstick, then several of the other newest colors: Fossilized Amber, Abandoned Coral, Twisted Citron, and Cracked Pistachio.

From the Emporium Ephemera Pack, I pulled this image of birds which is black and white and colored it in with Distress Markers. Some of which I employed the water brush to tone down the color.

I applied Antique Linen Distress Ink over the entire surface and then inked the outer edges with Gathered Twigs.

I pulled more pieces of ephemera from the pack and did the same. I LOVE this pack!

Okay, this is the step that will likely freak you out. I dabbed blobs of Distress Paint onto a full sheet of Ranger's Mixed Media Cardstock. Again new colors: Twisted Citron, Fossilized Amber, Mermaid Lagoon, and Abandoned Coral.

Then I spritzed the sheet generously with water and dabbed the color with a baby wipe. This idea is based on something I learned from Ranger Designer Dina Wakley. She taught us that while it might not appear to be much at this point, once you die cut smaller pieces from it, something really cool happens...

I cut a 2 1/4 inch wide strip and ran it through the Tattered Floral Garland die. See what I mean? Pretty cool. 

After inking the edges of the leaves and flowers I selected for my pages with Gathered Twigs, I began layering all my elements onto my pages.

I adhered everything with Glue & Seal and also spread some over the texture paste flowers and leaves. This gave a slight sheen and blend to them. I added some Big Chat stickers and ruler ribbon, then stamped some random stitching to simulate Tim's actual sewn stitches.

The only bulky item is the single vintage button in the middle of the flower on my left hand page.

While I'm no art journaling expert, I enjoy it tremendously. And if I had one tip for you, it's to remember to have some elements go off your pages' edges like this flower and several other elements on my pages. People tend to want to keep everything within the pages, but there is more visual interest and beauty when you go beyond the edges.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Now, I'd love to know from you...

Hot Mess

or 

Pretty Pages?