Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Next Step and Creative Therapy...

This week's challenge at The Next Step is to make embellishments with stamps and paint, etc. I've been having fun trying different methods of coloring the same stamp. Below from left to right I used 1) Oil pastels blended with my finger, 2) Watercolor crayons, and 3) Watercolor paint...
here's a closeup of each - this is the oil pastel (I like the way the middle of the flower turned out on this one)...

the watercolor crayon...

and the watercolor paint (this one got the most intense color)...
The differences are more obvious in real life. It was a fun experiment, and I will refer to it the next time I am trying to decide which medium to use on a project!

So, the next thing I did was cut all three flowers out, and I used them as embellishments on this art journal page I did for this week's "Creative Therapy" challenge, which was to create something around a personality trait that you admire. Here's the result...
The journaling reads: Being able to talk to each other is the key to understanding each other. Really talking. Being able to express your thoughts and feelings is a trait that I admire and one that I need in a relationship. To talk to someone about who you are and how you really feel is to allow yourself to be vulnerable and that takes courage, but it's really the only way tobecome close. Talking is sharing, and sharing is connecting, and connecting is loving.

Materials used include acrylic paint, magazine image of a cat, duct tape, gaffer tape, dictionary paper, white and black sharpies, Stampin Up alphabet stamps, and various bits of patterned paper.

I hope your weekend is going well! I will be back tomorrow with another update! Take care my scrappy friends!

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh Michelle those flowers are crazy cute! I have been reading that Next Step blog and love the inventive ideas they have. I may try that technique tonight.

You never fail to inspire!

chris a said...

I love how you did the flowers and will try that technique this week. I have to admit I have not done any art journal pages lately as I have been doing watercolor painting and quilting but you are inspiring me to get back to my journal. Just love the emotion and energy of your page!

Nathalie Kalbach said...

Those flowers turned out amazing. And your journal page is the coolest ever. I love your wonderful and deep journaling!!

Jamie Dougherty (jaylynn) said...

WOW Michelle Those flowers are amazing!!!!

Jess said...

very cool pg. love how the flowers came out!

Unknown said...

Those flowers are great! I love how you used different mediums.

Your page turned out beautiful too. Thanks for playing along!

Beth Norman said...

I found you by the comment you left on The Next Step. As a follower of that blog, I decided to go back over the comments so I could view what others did with the challenges. I am in LOVE with your style of scrapbooking. Your watercolour flowers are beautiful! Thank you for showing the variety of techniques you used to achieve a watercolour effect. Your layout is awesome. I'm now going to follow your blog.

Dalovely Damanda said...

Hi! I did the Next Step Challenge too and wanted to see your work. SO NICE! Love what you did with the flowers! Great work.

Nan said...

Just have to tell you how much I love this! So creative and colorful. Love your mini tutorial on the flowers too! TFS!