Hearts & Flowers with Tracy Scott stamps {by Mags Woodcock}

Hello everyone

Mags  here with you today and I'll be showing you how I created an art journal page using a Tracy Scott Lace Booklet, stamps and a stencil.

For quite a while now I've been intrigued by the Tracy Scott Lace books (TSLB04) and wanted to use one. I also love the floral stamp set (TS009). My idea was to combine the two, along with a stencil (PS386). Choosing a quartet of Tracy's Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics would hopefully also allow for some nice contrasts and combinations of colour.

My idea was to create an art journal page, combining all the supplies. As Tracy has quite a distinct style, clean cut and vibrant, with lots of pattern building and symmetry, I wanted to create something with a different style and feel. Bold but asymmetrical, and with a painterly feel.

So lets take a look at how I started

My initial idea was to use the second layer of the Lace Book as a stencil to lay down colour onto a gel plate, but also to add colour to that second layer. The gel plate was great at grabbing the laser cut card of the book, and I used several sponges to apply the Fresco Finish chalk acrylics, Bermuda (FF224), Butternut (FF02), Deep Sea (FF198) and Lily The Pink (FF218). I allowed the texture of the sponge to show in several areas, but also blending the paint in other places.

When I was happy with the coverage on the lace book page, I removed it from the gel plate and set it aside to dry. To pick up the paint from the gel plate I applied a thin layer of Snowflake (FF15) Fresco finish Chalk Acrylic. Whilst this was still wet I pulled a print using a sheet of Smoothy Card (SCA4).

Here you can see the resulting print from the gel plate.

It was now time to work on the top layer of the Lace Book. I wanted a bold contrast to the colours I was using, so Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic , Little Black dress (FF19) came into play.

I placed the top layer of the Lace book onto a sheet of Smoothy card and completely coated it in the black paint, including the gaps. This gave me another stencilled page to use later.

It was now time to create some lovely focal flowers for my page. As I said previously, I wanted a painterly look so I had an idea on how to create that in a very simple way.

I chose a sheet of Smoothy card to work on and using a large brush, applied small amounts of Frescos in a circular pattern. Combining a couple of colours on each circle gave me lots of variety. I soon discovered that a drier brush, with hardly any paint gave better results.

As with a lot of mixed media techniques, the first layers often look very messy, this was very true here. But as I stamped the flowers onto the the painted circles with Versafine Clair Nocturn ink, and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder, my idea began to take shape.

I wanted to add some more details to the flowers and also more contrast, so my trusty Signo Uniball white pen was ideal. It transformed the look of the flowers. The final stage was to fussy cut the hearts, swirls and flowers, leaving a small border around each image.

If I strayed over the black lines with my white pen, A cotton bud soon removed the excess.

Now it was time to bring everything together, but first I needed to add some details to the Lace book layers. I bit of penwork on the black painted layer.

Now I bet you think I had forgotten about the stencil I chose ? Well it was time for it to add some random details to break up the symmetry a little. Again using my white gel pen.

As you can see, I had previously used the stencil to try out another idea, and there was leftover paint still on it.

The final lot of penwork on the layered up lace pages with a  base layer of black cardstock.

Now to the exciting bit ! Adding the flowers and hearts using 3D foam pads and PVA glue.

At this point I decided the page needed a word or sentiment. Stamping Bloom from one of Tracy's other  stamp sets  (TS029) was exactly what was needed and completed the page perfectly.

So let's have a look at the finished page.

Here you can see the completed page

The grouping of the flowers to the left of the page adds asymmetry, and also notice that the page is in landscape format , not portrait , nice and unusual.

The hearts drift across the page to encourage your eye to follow.

The painted, stamped circular swirls are layered over the centre of each flower, adding dimension and a colour contrast to the surrounding petals.

The distressed, painterly look of the hearts adds visual texture and interest.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post and it has given you some ideas to inspire you.

I still have the two bonus pages from the project to play with, the gel print and the black stencilled page. Watch out in the PaperArtsy People Facebook page over the coming weeks, and I'll share what I create using those.

Thank you for popping over to the PaperArtsy blog, if you would like to see more of my work or videos using PaperArtsy products please follow me using the links below

Facebook:Mags Woodcock

Instagram:Mags Woodcock

YouTube:Mags Woodcock

Happy crafting

Mags x

Fun with stencils with TS {by Mags Woodcock}

This project was born of a challenge, a challenge to myself to create an art journal page using mainly stencils by Tracy Scott, along with Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics.

I chose four Tracy Scott stencils, (PS306, PS340, PS462 and PS446) along with four main Fresco Chalk Acrylic colours, Vanilla (FF65), Peachy Keen (FF157), Butternut (FF02) and Cerulean (FF200) to work with. With the option of adding in other supplies if I thought the page needed it.

As with a lot of my art journal pages, the process is about building up layers on the page.

I started by applying areas of Fresco Chalk Acrylics to a sheet of heavy weight Smoothy card (SCA4H). I blended the Frescos in some areas, and over painted with a dry brush in others, concentrating with the warmer colours in my selection for the first layers.

 I had punched holes along the top edge to align with the ring binding of my journal.

I continued adding areas of Frescos. overlapping some of the first layers, this time using a mixture of Cerulean with a touch of Vanilla. Using a small amount of paint allowed me to create brush strokes for visual texture.

I hate to waste supplies, so I used up the leftover paint on another sheet of Smoothy card, warm colours at one end, cool at the other. I had a plan for this, but more of that later.

It was now time to add some more detailed layers to my page, using Fresco Chalk Acrylic, Snowflake (FF15) sponged through Tracy's stencil PS306.  I balanced the large area of stencilling on the right hand side with a smaller area on the left hand side for balance.

As soon as the Snowflake Fresco was completely dry I used a white gel pen to extend the stencil on the left hand side. I love this technique for adding interest without visual weight.

It was now time for me to add some stencilled wording using Tracy's stencil PS446 and Ranger Archival ink Bluebird. I used a mini stencil brush to get into all the details. I then shifted the stencil a touch and brushed on  Ranger Archival, Hickory Smoke to create a shadow.

 

I love to add shading to details on my pages, so chose stencil PS462 and a black fine liner pen to add circles traveling upwards across the page. 

To create the illusion of three dimensional bubbles, I added a small area of 6B pencil to one side of each circle, and smudged it out with a cotton bud to create shading.

When creating art journal pages, I like to have a strong focal area. I was now time to start creating that.

Remember those painted papers, created from the leftover Frescos ? It was time to bring those back into play. I placed stencil PS340 on the Cerulean painted paper and applied Ranger Archival, Bluebird with my mini stencil brush, I concentrated on the centre area and the edges of the petals.

 

Continuing to use the stencil as a guide I used a black fine liner pen to outline the flower petals. I then used Tracy's stencil PS462 to add circle details to the centre of the flower.  Initially I used a white gel pen, but I was unhappy with the look, so added black fine liner over the top

My focal element was looking good, but it was lacking a little something. I cut it out, leaving a little border around the outside. Placing it on my page I could see it needed some lighter and darker areas.

I added white gel pen to the circles in the centre of the flower, which lifted it considerably. Using a soft pencil again to add shading to the petals around the centre section. Both alterations added interest and depth to the flower.

To make the most of all the stencilling, I aligned the focal flower with the stencilled petals on the background. I adhered the flower with gel medium and removed the excess. I repeated this with the leftover part of the flower on the left hand side of the page.

It was at this point I felt the page needed some more interest and details in the background. So stencil PS340 came back into use with the Bluebird Archival ink, adding small flowers where I thought they were needed.

My page was almost finished, but it needed some stamping and a few darker details. Tracy's stamp set TS065 had just the right elements , so I used Ranger Archival, Jet Black ink to stamp the small crosses and Bluebird to stamp the random marks.

I love how this page turned out, the sense of movement provided by the bubbles, and the focal flower which links the two sides of the page.  The white stencilled petals which add details to carry the eye across the page, along with the bold lettering

If I could sum up some of the cornerstones of my art journaling style, it would be, depth, focus and details. Each one as important as the next.

Here you can see the shadow on the wording, created with Hickory Smoke ink, it combines all three cornerstones perfectly.

You can see here how the stencilling below the  flower reinforces the focal area, and the repetition makes the page cohesive

The stamping on the page adds small details to the background, some bold, some subtle, but all adding to the overall look of the page.

I've loved creating this journal page, and also setting myself a challenge. I think I may set myself a few more in the future. All the techniques I've used can be easily transferred to other projects, such as a canvas for home décor, greeting cards and ATCs etc.

I would love to see any projects inspired by this blog post, even in a small way. Please tag me if you share on social media.

Happy crafting   Mags x

Facebook: Mags Woodcock

 Instagram: Mags Woodcock

YouTube: Mags Woodcock