2017 #2 Let your Imagination Fly {by Ingrid Vichova}

2017 Topic 2: Masks

Are you ready for a bright and cheerful post? Something to whisk us away with the fairies into crafty heaven? Well Ingrid has certainly cheered me up no end with this delight! I really think she needs to frame these 2 pages and pop them on the wall, they look so fabulous! I'm going to be visualising you all grunging, painting, and layering with gay abandon tonight!

Hi everyone! Ingrid here.

Great to be here on the PA blog tonight. I've chosen to share with you my art journaling process using the fabulous mask by The Crafter's Workshop and a few PaperArtsy products. I can safely say that this is a match made in heaven!

A big part of being a Card Designer for magazines is to follow directions... colour schemes, supplies, card orientation and more, so art journaling for me is a way of relaxing. This is when I can completely let go and let my imagination fly freely. If you are familiar with my work, you will know that I love creating textures, playing with colours and my journal page today is exactly about this.

It's about playing and enjoying the process itself rather than concentrating on the final result. I truly hope that today's post will inspire you to not be afraid to just play without any pressure on yourself. Where do you start? Read on to find out what I did...

I don't tend to overthink it when it comes to journaling. I have a good rummage through my half finished items or embellishments and usually get inspired by what I find. 

It's amazing what one can find!!!! In this case I fell in love with the colours on the Prima flowers I coloured some time ago. I'll write another post on how to make them, so easy and fun! 

I continue to journal in my good old handmade file journal I made some time ago. The pages are sturdy and can take a lot! Which is great, because I really like to LET GO! :) A few layers of white gesso, old curtain, cheese cloth, book pages of a rubbish brain rot book I refused to read... and there... I satisfied my need for a textured background! 

Using this beauty with the PaperArtsy Grunge paste was a real treat. I think I need to buy some more paste though as I am in a danger one of running out of the paste!!! I use it a lot.. I love the grungy texture it provides me with and the way it takes colours.

I added some stamping with the journaling stamps by Sara Naumann - ESN03.  

A simple combination of the Stampendous Embossing Shabby White powder with some Potting Soil Archival ink on a chipboard embellishment was my next choice. This is when I start thinking about what direction I would like this to go to, but not necessarily know where exactly I'm going with it. 

I think die cuts are a perfect way to add dimension to any project. They need to coordinate with my other bits and bobs though and so I reached out for the gorgeous Fresco Paint in Gold and oh my!!! I got butterflies when I saw how beautiful they turned out! The colour of gold is to true it's amazing...Look! 

Now that I stopped oooh-ing and aaah-ing over the gorgeous golden die cuts, I proceeded to add colour to my background. I chose similar colours to the ones on the flowers. Why? I don't know, maybe I like things matchy-matchy :) PaperArtsy make my life so easy by creating such a wonderful range of colours. It was super-easy to find similar colours... I used Mermaid, Zesty Zing, Teresa Green, Coral and Blush. If you haven't tried this combo, you must! 

What would be the point of creating all this fab texture, if you can't see it as much. To make it pop out, I took some Snowflake Fresco Paint and dry brushed over the raised areas here and there. Yum! 

The next step is something you can completely omit in order to save yourself swearing like a farmer and making an almighty mess. That, my dears, is the Glass Glitter by Stampendous that ended up all over me! But it was all worth in the end and after I hot-glued my embellishments, I ended up with this...

In between the textures, colours and adding sparkly things to jazz it up, I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the process.

I used colours that worked well together, I think, and most importantly they made me happy and I hope the look at the pics will somehow uplift your mood too! :) It always is a pleasure working the Fresco Paints. 

It was my friend Donna Gray who introduced me to them and I never looked back. We all make crafty friends on our journey and discover new supplies, new technique and inspire each other.

The PaperArtsy blog and Leandra together with the team do a fabulous job bringing the community of artists and crafters together in the mot beautiful way and I am grateful to be able to share my work here with you today!

Thank you and all the best,

Ingrid x

Blog - https://ingridscraftscorner.blogspot.co.uk/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ingridscraftscorner
Twitter - https://twitter.com/IngridKristinaV
Instgram - https://www.instagram.com/ingridkristinav/
Pinterest - https://uk.pinterest.com/ingridkristinav/ 

Ohh Ingrid, what a riot of colour, and gorgeous layers!! THis looked like so much fun, even if you did wear some glass glitter along the way!! Goes with the territory though! Haha! Thanks for sharing this with us, very cheerful and makes me think of the warm summer to come! ~ Leandra

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