Creative Squad

Hi from the Creative Squad! This week we have a sweet 3-page art journal spread from Maura Hibbitts who shares a peek into her local scenery :) Maura uses my Toledo and Crackle stencils, my Marks stamp set, and my Adirondack Chairs stamp to set the scene, and drew inspiration from this month’s theme: This Must Be the Place –We’re all on a journey to somewhere or something. Sometimes we’re just making preparations for simple things like dinner or weekend plans. Other times we’re aiming for bigger goals, bigger places. Whether it’s a location or a state of mind, you’ll know when you get there. Where are you headed?

When I saw this month’s theme, I immediately thought of my Turquoise Adirondack chairs on our deck. I am so lucky to have a wonderful view in my work area looking out on our deck, and the Adirondack Mountains. I printed up a photo I had taken in summer of one of our chairs with it’s bright pillow, and used these colors as my inspiration in my art journal. I started off thinking I would create a frame for the photo, but as often happens, my Muse took me on a slightly different path with three pages instead.

I’m using a Dina Wakley Media Journal which has a mix of pages in it, including canvas. I started by using the Crackle stencil and bright orange, yellow and green paints. I use cosmetic sponges to dab my paint into the stencil. (Tip – you can reuse these when they dry, just cut off the colored end, and you have a fresh sponge)

Next, I sponged on some Peacock Feathers Distress ink with a mini blender in the areas without a stencil design.

While the paint was drying on the canvas, I stamped the Adirondack Chairs onto watercolor paper, using archival ink. Once the ink was dry, I went in and added some color with a Tombow marker and went over the color with a water brush.

The next page in the journal was a watercolor page, and I used mini blenders and Distress Oxide inks in pink and orange to cover the background. Next, I spritzed it with water, and dabbed it dry.

I laid the Toledo Stencil over the inked page, and using a cosmetic sponge, I dabbed on the turquoise and lime paints.

I glued the photo of my Adirondack chair onto this page, then went around it with a Stabilo graphite pencil and then a water brush to make a frame. Once that dried, I added a bit of white highlights on the page with a Posca white paint pen.

For my final steps, I went back to the canvas and cut out the center for the photo to show through. Since I had printed my photo from the computer, I used the copy paper I had cut it out from as a template for cutting, and made a few more snips as needed. On the back of the canvas, I cut the square in four and glued these to the corners, and wrote around the opening with a Pitt pen “ Home is where the Adirondack chairs are”. I used the Marks stamps and went around the frame on both sides of the canvas.

Nathalie’s Adirondack chair stamps were the perfect match to my chairs, and I had fun coloring them turquoise just like mine! When I was looking for pillows for my chairs, I found these which have wonderful contrasting colors that I took as my inspiration for the pages. Truly, home IS where my Adirondack chairs are!

Thank you Maura! Love the idea of making window openings in my art journal! Here are some of the supplies that Maura used:

Play along with us too: I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

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Nat