Trying Something New

I keep thinking of the Art Journal Caravan prompt to do something new and one thing I have been dying to do is create my own stamps to use in my journals.  The problem though is I don't know where to get the supplies in my country, I emailed an art store here to find out if they have it, or its equivalent and I am waiting for their response.  I hope its not too expensive since I have such a spare budget at the moment.  The great thing though about not having the budget is that I have become so resourceful.  I am kind of impatient with respect to my wanting to do art and when I come across some tutorial - I want to try it right away!  The problem is, I don't have the materials recommended.  So I end up trying to find some alternatives and start scrounging around my home for whatever materials I can come up with.

I love the look of those decorated papers, you know, those ones with the Indian inspired stamps and prints on them, they're so yummy to look at.  Sort of boho inspired looking.  And everyone knows, I am such a Bohemian girl at heart.

So today, I was experimenting with some watercolor washes on my junk journal and I wanted some sort of stamp looking decor on it.  The closest I could come to having that look without the stamps is to do some stencils.  Again, I did not have the right materials but who was to stop me from using anything I can get my hands into.  I'm just experimenting anyway and I really love the process of discovery :)  So I just drew some shapes onto thick paper and cut them out with an Xacto knife.  Ha, ha, ha, talk about crude!  I read in the tutorial that I needed to sand the edges so I'd get a smooth shape but then again, sorry I did not have any sandpaper (mental note to self: get some sandpaper).  Anyway, I wanted the shape to be imperfect.

So, what do I use to color in my new stencil? I remembered I had a can of very light colored spray paint that I had bought by mistake thinking it was a fixative or clear lacquer.  Hah! Was I wrong, I sprayed one of my drawings on my nice side table without any newspaper under it (dumb!) and got the shock of my life to find that it wasn't clear lacquer at all but some opaque paint.  Ruined my drawing and ruined my beautiful table.  But I digress.  I thought to myself that I might as well put that can to use.  Learning my lesson, I took the can outside with a sheet of newspaper and started to spray paint the stencil.  Oooohh, I love the effect! I was so excited!

Next, I cut out another stencil shape and this time tried to use watercolor, BIG, BIG mistake - the water color just made a mess on my wonderful new paper! Oh No! Okay, don't panic Indy, lets see....well lets try some acrylics then.  Voila! it worked! Dabbed some acrylic paint over the stencil, ooohh, I love it more!

Finished it up with some more colors and took my hairdryer out for it to dry.  Now I love the paper and it looks all so pretty that I don't want to write on it, hahaha! So I scanned it in case I wanted to use it digitally or print it out.

Now I have a background freebie for you! You may right click on the photo to save the image and use it as a background digitally or print it to do as you please on your journal pages (personal use only):

I'd love to put some gold leaf looking paint in there and maybe some asian imagery...hmmm...something to think about... another page for me to continue working on next week.  

Have a great day my friends!