2016 #3 Indian Adventures {by Alison Hall}

 2016 Topic 3: Wax

Hi everyone Alison (Craftytrog) here.

Tonight I'd like to share with you a post about using Portfolio Oil Pastels on a mixed media journal cover.

I've just been on a wonderful holiday to India, and I wanted to make an arty journal to take with me. I used a fabulous set of PaperArtsy Ink and The Dog stamps, Asian Plate 2, which have an Indian theme. There are some beautiful intense colours in the Portfolio Oil Pastel set, and I chose some hot colours to go with my theme.

Step One: I started with an A5 plain black year planner. Very boring, don't you think?!

Step Two: I covered the front and back with torn book pages, then added my new favourite collage material, teabag papers. Very apt for the Indian theme I thought! I adhered everything with Golden Regular Matte Gel Medium. Some of the bags still had a little tea in them, which adds to the texture!

Step Three: After painting the cover with Golden White Gesso, I stamped the flourish image from Asian Plate 2 around the edges with Jet Black Archival Ink. I did this on the back cover too. Then I stamped some more images from Asian Plate 2 onto White Smoothy Card, cut them out, and arranged them on my cover till I had a layout that worked. I took a quick photo with my phone that I could refer back to.

Asian Plate 2 

Step Four: Referring back to my layout photo, I used PaperArtsy Stencil 021 to add more texture with some Grunge Paste, then I stamped 'India' a few times too.

Step Five: Time to add some colour! I scribbled with orange, pink and red Portfolio crayons at the top of the cover, front and back, blended them water and a paintbrush, then spritzed with water. I held the journal up to allow the colour to drip down. Unusually for me, I left some white space! I did go back in with some more red on the top left though afterwards. 

Step Six: Next, I scribbled with the crayons on my craft mat, spritzed with water, then used a paintbrush to add watercolour to my images. I also added a little extra colour here and there, by using the crayons directly on the images and blending with a paintbrush and water. I accentuated the edges of the images by sponging them with some Black Archival Ink.

Step Seven: I used Glossy Accents to glue my images to the cover, then decided it needed some metallic texture. I mixed a little Golden Fluid Acrylic Iridescent Bronze (fine) into some Golden Glass Bead Gel, then used a palette knife to add it in the corners, on the edges, and to the 'flower' centre. Once this was thoroughly dry, I gave the whole journal cover a coat of Fresco Finish Matte Glaze to seal everything. I glued some of the pages in the planner together, then painted them with gesso, to give them a base for my holiday journalling.

I hope I have inspired you to give the Portfolio Oil Pastels a try. They blend so beautifully with water, and I love the waxy intense effect of them around the stencilled numbers at the top. They're great to take with you when you travel too, to add colour to your sketches. Don't forget to take a waterbrush!

Alison x

Blog: Craftytrog's Inky Adventures

Facebook: Alison Hall

Twitter: @craftytrog

Oh this is gorgeous Alison, I hope your holiday was magical and that your journal is now full of wonderful memories.These Asian images have totally transformed your cover. Thanks ~Darcy 

We would love to see how you interpret this Wax  topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #3: Wax, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas,  particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The 'Wax' link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, February 21st. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.