My own stencils

Tags

Altered books, art journal, butterflies, Degas, gratitude, Inktense, stencils

I made my own stencils for these pages. The one is a cutout of The Little Dancer by Degas. I love this silhouette. The butterflies are just a very simple cut out. I keep finding very fancy butterfly stamps and stencils and I do enjoy those, but I really wanted something simple. The feather stamp is a new one that I’m loving. I am so happy with the way this layout came together. So often I am increasingly grateful for my gratitude journal. It has enriched my life in so many ways, not the least of which is my growing confidence in my art skills.

This page did not come out at all how I had envisioned it. The quote was shared at the Day of Mindfulness I participated in as a followup to an MBSR program. The quote is by Albert Camus “In the depth of winter I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer.” I had this image of a silhouette of me meditating with the quote inside. Well. I added too many details to the silhouette and the pattern tissue kept sticking to my fingers and ended up all bunched. The pen that I wrote with became blurry, but it does capture the idea that I had in my mind. Part of the beauty of art journaling is that each day is a new page.

I was preparing for a collage class using transparencies and I have really enjoyed experimenting with different kinds of transparent/translucent layers. These copies of the daffodil painting for my mom’s birthday card were made on different copiers and one was on a transparency and one was on the wrong side of a transparent label. I used the actual transparent label for my mom’s card and it turned out beautifully. I will definitely use this technique again in the future.

The blue sky page was such a clear spring day outlined with crisp bare tree branches. My husband and I went for a fabulous walk and he bought me this lovely forest stamp. Another satisfying page.

Fun with layers and transparencies. Lots of scones, friends, and coffee shops this week.