Hope Mixed Media Art Journal

Hi friend! Today I have a mixed media art journal tutorial to share with you, using a mix of old book paper, stamps, stencils, ink and acrylic paint.

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On Women's Day earlier this month, I was thinking about the war in Ukraine and on the heavy load that many women have to carry, which is also the case in many wars, conflicts and disasters, and indeed often in ordinary life. That topic is what I wanted to lift with this art journal page. So many people are suffering because of the decisions and actions by others.

I started by adhering pages from an old dictionary, picking the section with topics about Ukraine. This book is from 1970, which means that the text is about the time when the country was not independent and forms a historical background. I also added some design tape. Apply a layer of matte medium on top too.

Apply gesso with a paint brush. I added more gesso where I planned the face to be and less in the text areas which I wanted to be, at least partly, readable.

Let dry and then add Distress Paint. Mist with water to make the paints blend and wipe off paint from areas that you want to keep lighter. I took care not to get any dark paint where the face stamp would go.

Stamp the face with Dina Wakley's I am stamp set. The butterfly was added with the Simon Says Stamp Stylized Butterfly stencil and Distress Oxide inks. I also added some dots with a Tim Holtz Bubble stencil.

Give the butterfly a body and paint the face. Don't worry about getting it perfect. When the paint was dry, I added some line work with a black pen.

Die cut a sentiment from black cardstock using Tim Holtz Friendship Words Script. Stamp the word 'you' here and there on the page. It comes from the Simon Says Stamp Because of You set.

Color watercolor paper with shades of blue and yellow Distress Ink or watercolor paint. Die cut the small flowers with one of the dies from Tim Holtz Funky Floral 2.

The layers of text paper, design tape, paint, ink and stamping gives nice texture to the background. I also stamped it with the Simon Says Stamp Old Letter Background, to symbolize old war-time letters, all telling the same stories about the sufferings of ordinary people, regardless of where in the world the wars take place.

I used the Simon Says Stamp Because of you set for the sentiments. 

And one more sentiment to finish the page.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by here today!

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.