2016 #8 Notebook {by Anneke de Clerck}

 2016 Topic 8: White Space

Hi everyone Anneke here.  

I'm happy to be back here tonight with a blogpost about stenciling and stamping on a white background.

When creating cards, art journal pages, book covers...I usually start by painting/collaging a background before adding stencil work and stamped images. For this project I grabbed my stencils and paint and decided to work on a white base instead of a colored one. I love this technique and the effect it creates. The white background makes the bright colors even brighter.

I've created a notebook, let me walk you through the steps.

Front cover

Back cover

I bought a cheap exercise book and removed the cover by taking out the staples. I folded a new cover from white 300grs paper. I used the inside papers as a ready made signature for my new notebook.

I started by decorating the cover. I sponged Mermaid paint through a flower stencil (Stencil Girl Products S296 Bautista).

Then I stamped circles using a glass (2 different sizes/diameters) and Caribbean Sea paint. I added green circle squares using a stencil (TCW: Mini Circle Squares) and lime paint (Dina Wakley Media: lime).

I continued by adding text with a ledger stencil (TCW Mini Ledger) using Archival Ink Watering Can. The plusses were made with Zesty Zing and the Tim Holtz Layering Stencil Plus.

Time to add some pink accents. I created circles with  Candy Floss paint and the Mini Cut Circles stencil by TCW. The tiny dots were made with the  PaperArtsy Clare Lloyd PSO23 stencil using Sherbet paint.

I colored the flowers using a flat brush and Zesty Zing, Candy Floss, Limelight, Caribbean Sea and Snowflake paint. I made circular motions with my brush, started with Caribbean Sea at the outside and worked towards the centre. I blended the colors using Snowflake paint.

I stamped the flowers from the PaperArtsy EKC02 set on top of the painted circles with Archival Ink Jet Black.

EKC02

I created leaves by using the PaperArtsy Clare Lloyd PSO23 stencil. Did some random black stamping with a small flower from the PaperArtsy EKC02 set.

I added highlights to the pink circles and the flower centres with a white Sharpie.

I glued green handmade paper to the inside of the covers.

Instead of adding new staples I used some cord to attach the signature to the covers. 

An easy way to transform a simple exercise book into an eye-catching notebook.

Working on a white background is not as forgiving as working on a colored one. When I make mistakes with my stencils on a painted background I use a baby wipe or I just add a fresh layer of paint and I can restart the stenciling.  Here I had to work more carefully and precisely. I cleaned my stencils with a paper towel before replacing them and I had some scraps of paper on hand to mask off where ever necessary. Despite all my efforts I ended up with a few spots of paint were I didn't wanted it. So I took the circle stencil and added an extra pink circle on top of the unwanted spots. Problem solved :)

I hope you'll try this technique, I would love to see what you come up with!

Have fun!

Anneke

Blog: http://somefiddlingonthekitchentable.blogspot.be

Beautiful, zesty, zingy colours that pop right out. That large flower stencil is so very effective wrapped around the spine, and is a great supporting piece for the smaller elements. Brilliant use of the White Space as it leads the eye around the whole cover. ~Darcy 

We would love to see how you interpret this White Space topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #8: White Space, 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 White Space link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, May 1st 2016. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.