Art Journal “The Rainbow Connection”

I must say I am so in love with this new path I have found myself on!  My journey into the world of art journaling has been nothing short of amazing!  Each day is filled with new discovers and adventures in creativity.  I feel like a bird getting braver and braver with each page I complete and I know before long I will be spreading my creative wings and really starting to fly!  This weeks challenge at TOFF is flowers.  There’s nothing I like more than a beautiful bloom; especially magical flowers like the ones that grow in the world of The Octopode Factory.

The Rainbow Connection

Since this Art Journal will eventually become an Octopode Factory Storybook I have used the weekly themes from TOFF as prompts for my pages.  However, the backgrounds and overall creation of each page is inspired by many sources.

Marbled Stains Background

The background was inspired by the CC2 challenge at Studio L3.  This weeks challenge was marbled stains.  You can find this technique in Tim Holtz’s new book Compendium of Curiosities 2.  *When using this technique on large surfaces just pick your craft sheet up and mash it on to the page   The rainbow was added using the same technique and inspired by the Color Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Hero Arts Flowers and Text

To add texture to the background I used the Flowers and Text stamp from Hero Arts with Watermark ink and clear embossing powder.

The Rainbow Connection

The Distress Stain Rainbow was a bit faint so I outlined it with Copic Markers and added some Zentangle patterns to each color.  I was further inspired to add the lyrics to “The Rainbow Connection” to the colored stripes as well.  As of late I have been trying to learn Lettering and Zentangle patterns.  Julie Fei-Fan Balzer has a wonderful lettering Tutorial where she even discusses which pens work best for different lettering styles.  As for learning Zentangle I have found TanglePatterns and Beez in the Belfry to be most helpful.

Someday We’ll find it…

Here you can really see the embossed Hero Arts Stamp peeking through the Marbled Stain background, along with some new additions to the Octopode Factory…Art Words!

You can learn a lot of things from the Flowers…

Another new addition to The Octopode Factory…Art Letters!  I Zentangled each and every one then outlined them with my new silver pen and cut them out…yeah that took awhile

An “eye” for Beauty

The eye flower is one of my favorite flowers from the Octopode Factory.  I printed it multiple times and mounted the eye portion on chip board to add depth.

Dream a little Dream with me…

The same technique was used for the Sunflower and Heart Flower.  All of the images were colored with Copic Markers and adhered with Mod Podge.

Inspiring Words

I was planning on practicing my lettering skills and hand writing all the things that “You can learn from the flowers”  but just a few days ago I received an email from Lily with the new Art Words!  Gosh it’s like she’s reading my mind!

Love Art!

The “Love Art” is my favorite.  I thought those words were the perfect ending to this page.  Don’t you just love when art comes together?  I swear I’m not even creating this thing…it is creating ME!  What have you been creating?  If you are working on an Art Journal stop by Balzer Designs and share…there is no shortage of inspiration and loveliness over there.

I hope you will join us at TOFF for the flowers challenge…all of the Flowers used in this project are available at the Octopode Factory.

Here’s to finding the “Rainbow Connection”!

Amy*

Tagged as: art journal, Copic Marker, Hero Arts, Mod Podge, The Octopode Factory, The Rainbow Connection, Zentangle