Two Meters Apart Art Journal Page

Hello crafters! I can't believe it is June already. The sun is shining and yesterday the boys took their first swim in a lake for the season. The water was still pretty chilly though. 

Today I have a mixed media art journal page to share with you, with a fun layered background. 

At the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog we have a 'Make your own background' theme. This is one of my favorite things to do and sometimes I sit down and just make a bunch of backgrounds, ready to be used for later. Since it is the first Monday of a new month, the team is showcasing products by a specific company/design and this week it is Paper Rose. You can see all their beautiful stamps, dies and paper here. You don't have to use their products to join, but it is always fun if you do. The Paper Rose products I ordered for the challenge are unfortunately still making their way here, because of hold ups in the international postage system. As soon as the parcel arrives, I will make something. 

We also have a new guest designer for June and it is Sandra Rupp with her beautiful blog Srpaperlove. I hope you will stop by her blog to see the wonderful project she has created for this week's challenge.

Due to the present virus crisis the concept of '2 meters' have taken on a completely different meaning than before, and it is one I think we will remember. In the USA I think you might be talking about 6 feet instead, but here in Sweden, it's two meters. It is about the same distance. I got an idea for this page when I was out walking, observing how we move across the path to always keep a safe distance when meeting someone else. 

The woman with the umbrella from the Simon Says Stamp Follow the Rainbows set was perfect to depict the concept of social distancing. Not only are the two friends standing far apart, they are also separated by the umbrellas and kind off even more on their own.

The page is done over two pages in my large Dylusions journal, since I wanted space so that they could stand far apart. Apply gesso to the page and let it dry. Paint with watered-down Distress Paint and mist with water to make them blend and run.

When dry, I used the SSS Large Dots stencil together with Dina Wakley Ocean Gloss Acrylic spray.

Next I used the Irregular Dots stencil together with Dina's white gloss spray. I also turned the stencil around and pressed it on the page in a couple of places to use the mist that was left on the stencil.

The page was stamped with Tim Holtz Newsprint stamp, since covid-19 is dominating the news. I also used a date stamp and a brick stamp, from Tim's Ultimate Grunge. It is one of my favorite stamp sets. The bricks were stamped with Forget-me-not Archival Ink.

Next, I added more dots with the SSS Circle Dots stencil and Matte Texture Paste. You can mix a tiny bit of white paint into the paste to make it whiter.

And some splatters to finish the background. The splatters were done with three colors Scribble Sticks. I love the look of Scribble Sticks splatters and it is less messy than splattering paint. Dip the Scribble Stick in water and flick a paint brush against the tip.

The title was die cut with Tim's Letterboard die.

I stamped the two women and colored them with Prismacolor pencils. Use a white pencil to blend the colors.

Here's a close up of the umbrella. I added only subtle shadows and shading.

Scribble under her feet to give her something to stand one. I also stamped some additional sentiments. This one is from Follow the Rainbows.

 

The second woman was colored with other colors, but the dress uses the same color as the first one's umbrella, and the other way around. This was to show that they are friends.

Don't worry if the sentiments don't stamp perfectly since it fits in with the textured background.

I really like this type of unpredictable and unplanned background.

Just continue building up layers until you are happy with the look. And if you are not happy, you can always paint over some sections. 

To illustrate the distance, I used three strips of Design Tape, from Tim's Chatter and Vintage sets. I also drew an arrow.

The text translates 'keep the distance'.

I really like this sentiment from the SSS Stronger Together set. 

One of my favorite parts of the background are the large white circles and the way the white gloss mist gave such a great texture. It is also glossy, which you don't see here.

I hope you will join us this week in our Make Your Own Background challenge. You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until next Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Don't forget to follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram, they post great stuff daily. 

Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog today!  

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

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