Inspired on a Tuesday....

I will first off apologize for the lack of photo's in this first project, was on such a roll, totally forgot to stop and take photos along the way!

Decided it was time I started playing more with the Prima Finnabair Alchemy Metallique Paints so pulled out some of my favorite colors (Fresh Orange, Pink Blush, Lime Peel, Rich Turquoise and Pure Sunshine). I applied these paints in my homemade 6x12" journal I made earlier this year.  

Once it was dried, I applied a coat of DecoArt Media (Black) Antiquing Cream.

Next, I laid an older Dyan Reaveley Dylusions Stencil  (Flower Medley) over top and started rubbing off the black paint on both sides.

I let it dry fully, and carefully tried to put a layer of Matte Medium over top.  You will see some streaking as the Antiquing Cream never sets until it is sealed (Matte Medium or Varnish).  Understand when you add wetness to a water based product there is always that risk of streaking or bleeding.  I find if you spray lightly, the results are the best - but as we all now, sprays are not always accessible.  Go over light handed with a palette knife works best for me.

Of course I couldn't be done, so I added another layer of black antiquing cream and them pulled out one of my newer Stencil Girl stencils Windswept Tree  and placed it over top and carefully rubbed away the black.

It is a tad too busy here for me, so I pulled out my DecoArt Media Interference Paints and painted the tree branches on the right page with a paint brush and Interference Green.

For now, this is how this one stands.  Not sure if I want to continue with it anymore or simply leave it as is.  That is the awesomeness of Art Journaling now isn't it!!

My next project, was playing with image transfers.  I chose to use the Donna Downey technique in which she simply uses inkjet printed images and Golden Regular Gel (Matte).  I have had 99+% success rate using this format. 

I chose not to gesso my page first knowing that I was simply putting image transfers down.  I went onto the internet and searched for images.  The clock was my favorite by far.  The butterflies are on my Pinterest board via Swirlydoos. The words....wish I knew (or remembered, probably off the internet via a search as well).  The one thing you have to remember doing image transfers with words is to open your saved image via your photo editing program and flip the image so the words will print off backwards.

Here we go....

Honestly, after this I would have easily walked away.  Totally in love with the look.  But of course, how could I possibly leave well enough alone!

Knowing this was going to be a tough one to seal - I did a bunch of research and contacted a few companies for help.  One thing I will say, is if you ever have questions regarding your Golden Artists product, never, and I do mean NEVER, hesitate in contacting them!  The information they provided me with was awesome!  Now, having said that, I did not wait for their response, but am still happy with the results.

I ended up putting a light coat of Liquitex Clear Gesso (as that was all I had on hand), yes, it did work; however, I did have some bleeding but was able to wipe a good part of it away with a baby wipe.  Once it was totally dry, I sprayed the page heavily with water then spritz and dripped Lindy's Stamp Gang Neon Graffiti (Flat Fabios) the sprayed more water over  top to dissipate and spread the colors over the page(s).

This is where I called it done.  I did several layers of the Flat Fabios to get the saturation I wanted.

Thanks for stopping by!