Thankful Art Journal Page Tutorial

Hi friends! We've had a week's school holiday here with lots of fun activities. Today it is Monday again, which means a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!

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

This week our theme is Art journal. If you have never done art journaling before, this is a great time to try it out. Art journaling is really fun and freeing. It is also a great place to experiment with techniques, ideas, color combos and more. 

It is a new month and as always on the first Monday of a new month, the team is showcasing products from a specific designer/company and this week it is Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions products. You can find all the Dylusions products here. You don't have to use Dylusions products to join, but it is always fun if you do. 

We also have a new guest designer and during November Joanne Travis will be joining us. Be sure to check out her blog Sleepy in Seattle to see what she has created.

My favorite Dylusions products are the art journals. The paper is of a very good quality and can handle a lot of techniques. I like to vary the size that I work on and have several Dylusions journals. Here I used the large Dylusions Journal, but I also really like the Small Creative Journal and the square 8x8 Dylusions Journal. This page is about 11.4 x 8.25 inches.

November can be a grey month here. Most of the leaves have fallen, it gets darker earlier in the afternoon every week and the weather is often quite rainy. To counter that, I have tried to focus on the beauty of November during my recent walks, on how nature is preparing for winter and on things to be thankful for, inspiring this page.

Start by applying gesso to a page. I applied it unevenly. When dry, paint with watered-down Distress Paints and mist with more water if needed.

Before the paint dries completely, remove some of it through the Dylusions Behave and Martha's Mat stencils. Use a soft, moist cloth.

Apply paint through Martha's Most Massive Mat. I used Carved Pumpkin and the brand-new Lumberjack Plaid.

Do the same in the sky, with Salvaged Patina.

Mist Postbox Red Shimmer spray through Martha's Mat. Turn the stencil around and use it to stamp here and there.

When dry, build up a scene with stamps. I wanted the trees to be mainly bare with almost all the leaves on the ground. I used Simon Says Stamp All Seasons Tree, Real Leaves and Forest Scenery, combined with Tim Holtz Worn Text, Tiny Text, Mini Ornates and Nature's Moments. 

I also stamped some crackles with Potting Soil ink, to both the sky and the ground, using Simon Says Stamp Crackle Background. There are also some black and white pen scribbles on the page.

A piece of design tape was added in three places, mainly to underline the sentiments.

This sentiment comes from Tim Holtz Nature's Moments. 

Use Distress Oxide Inks and the texture stamp from All Seasons Tree to stamp some leaves on the trees, falling from the trees and on the ground.

I see a lot of deer on my walks and just had to include one of them here. Add shadows under the trees with a black pen.

A bold title works great for a large art journal page since it stands out well.

It is fun to build up layers of texture and color with stencils.

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

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

Thank you so much for stopping 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.