Art Journal: Imagination

Happy Friday!  Today is the day!  I have been busy, busy, BUSY working on the FINAL page in The Octopode Factory storybook all week.  I’m so happy to be able to share it with you today.  Thanks to all who have been following along and sharing this creative journey with me.  I so appreciate all of your kind comments and encouraging words…big hugs to you   I apologize in advance this post is going to be a bit photo heavy…I just don’t want to leave out any of the fun details that went into this creation.  Are you ready for a colorful ride?  Here we go!

Last week Imelda was having some serious regrets about stealing all the color from the world of The Octopode Factory.  Today she has seen the light…and the colors again with the help of Lily and The Octopode Factory characters.  See I told you it would have a happy ending.  Everyone wants a happy ending right?

The Colors have been freed from their cage and are now soaring around the page and cascading in from all directions like a waterfall.  Happiness has been restored…and it appears that Imelda has transformed.  She sits among the flowers who whisper encouraging words to you as you pass.  She’s learned to use her imagination and is no longer a surly and boring old witch.  Now she is bright and fun and ready to take on the world with her new-found imagination.

Lily the creator of the Octopode Factory is giving Imelda the gift of Imagination.  She gave this gift to all the Octopodes, Imelda just forgot to open hers.  You know what they say…”There’s no time like the ‘present’!”

Ok so now that you know a bit about where I’m going with this story here are the steps I took to create the final page.  I recently discovered a new blog Art Journal Cafe and they are having a technique challenge this week.  Oh what fun I tell you!  I had a blast creating this and am blowing big smooches to Art Journal Cafe for helping me finish my first Art Journal with a serious BANG!

I started out by adding Studio Gesso to my pages.  I added several coats to the illustrations and left the text lightly coated to let the words peek through.  A second coating of Folk Art Extreme Glitter paint was added for texture and a dash of sparkle.

The Illustrations weren’t quite covered enough for my taste so I added Picket fence Distress Crackle paint to random areas all over the page.

I scored this awesome texture stamp at the flea (among other things) for a buck!  I loaded it up with Distress Crackle paint and stamped my pages while they were still wet.

I had to clean my workspace before beginning this project and found all kinds of goodness to add to my page.  I have a drawer full of bits and bobs from projects past.  I found this mesh bag on the floor and cut it up and adhered with Studio Multi Medium to add texture to the bottom of the page.

Ah white…I can’t ever leave anything white for long…Especially a shirt!  Do you see where I’m going with this?  Clouds at the top…grass on the bottom.

Next I added Geometric stamps along the page.  All of these stamps were scored at the flea last week for $1 each!  I was happier than a seagull with a french fry that day!  I also added my favorite Hero Arts Flower Text stamp for good measure.  This is the same stamp I used on The Rainbow Connection Page.  I wanted to incorporate elements from every page in my journal to tie the last page together.

Next I added a Myriad of torn papers from various sources…most of which were leftover scrap from earlier pages.  I used paper towels that had mopped my paint brushes, wax paper covered in Dylusions over spray, wrapping paper scraps left over from the “If Animals Could Talk” page, pieces of poetry torn from the original Mother Goose book, and my favorite…pieces of a Cadbury egg wrapper.  This Cadbury egg may very well have been the reason I came up with the idea to create this book in the first place.  I get most of my great ideas when consuming chocolate

Here I used a die cut piece of Packaging plastic (left over from another project of course) as a stencil and sprayed with Dylusions.

The point of the challenge at Art Journal Cafe is to leave a bit of white around the page.  I tried very hard but truth be told I did get a little overzealous with the Acrylic and Dylusions spray ink.  Finger painting and spraying Dylusions is just too much fun!

This was another fun dollar find at the flea…Paper Perfect Accents!  They are flowers buuut they look a little like something you might find a Gathering of the Vibes.

The paper accents were mixed with Folk Art Blue Sapphire Acrylic and added to the pages to give a cohesive look.  Now for the embellishments!

I used the brushless watercolor technique from Tim Holtz Compendium of curiosities vol. II to create the Rainbow cascades along the sides of the pages.  Snagged this stamp at the flea for a buck too…it brings me back to the days when I had a Trapper Keeper filled with Lisa Frank folders.

Remember on the Mirror-Mirror page how Imelda used the crowd of crows to put all the colors in a cage?  Well the colors have been set free!

I used my new seasonal Distress inks and some old favorites to create a rainbow on cardstock.  I misted it with Perfect Pearls Mist and stamped and embossed the birds with Archival ink.  All I can say is these new Distress inks are FABULOUS!  Especially “Peacock Feather”….definitely my new fave!

Here is a close up of Imelda (aka “Sophie” the latest addition to The Octopode Factory).  I colored her with Copic Markers and Gelly Roll Pens.  I outlined her with Glossy accents and added chunky glitter to show her “Magical” transformation.  I don’t know about you but I always feel a bit magical when sprinkling glitter around.  I usually say “Bippity Boppity Boo!”… just in case a random object in my studio spontaneously becomes a stage-coach.

I love this quote from Muhammad Ali.  Doesn’t this just say it all?  The flowers in the background are also new images from The Octopode Factory…”Journal Flowers”.  I love these.  I added Studio Multi Medium to the centers and sprinkled Spica glitter over them…bippity boppity boo!~  Stars were punched from scrap packaging plastic left over from The Alice in Wonderland Tree Sculpture and adhered with Glossy accents.

Here’s Lily offering Imelda the gift of Imagination.  I tried to replicate the colors of the Mermaid tail from the Under the Sea page with Copics.

The rest of the Octopodes are looking on in wonder at all the wonderful things that are happening.  The Mod Flowers in the background are new images as well and Stuart the Giraffe is available for pre-order as a rubber stamp!  I <3 him!

Last but not least is another new Image from The Octopode Factory…Summer Bunting!  I decorated it like I was throwing myself a party and stamped “Happily Ever After” on the pennants.    SO there you have it.  I have a few odds and ends to wrap up before the book is truly finished…the story being one of them.  I have three pages written already and will be doing a re-cap post once I figure out where to put the text.  I would love to hear your opinion on my writing so don’t be shy let me know what’s good, bad or just plain fugly!

Hope you will join us at TOFF…our theme this week is Girls just Wanna have fun!  These girls sure look like they are having fun don’t they?  Lily has a Jubilee inspired Freebie digi on her blog so swing by and grab that! Also stop by Art Journal Everyday…Julie is featuring  Carol Mahy-Merveille one of the founders of Art Journal Cafe.  She is amazing!

Thanks for reading through this insanely long post

Have a colorful day!

Amy*

Tagged as: art journal, Claudine Helmuth Studio Gesso, Copic Marker, Distress Ink, distress stain, The Octopode Factory, Tutorial