Journal pages in colour

Well I am chuffed to have found a new use for my oil pastels in the second part of the Strathmore visual journal course with Pam Carriker.  I would never have thought of using them with gesso but OMG I just love the technique and will use them even more now.  Opens up so many fab projects for me to do with them in future...whooohooo.

 I like this one best and it came together like a dream.... I had problems with the face on the one below and ended up redoing that part 3 times before it looked half decent!! 

I got a bit fed up in the end so decided to leave it alone even though it's still not how I would like it.  It didn't photograph too well because the paper buckled because of all the layering I did so there are more shadows on it than in reality.  I have a feeling that I will come back to it when I'm feeling a bit more patient and redo the bits I'm not happy with.

hugs

Chris xx

The Papergirls Challenge - Alter a photo

It is Chriss's turn to set this month's challenge over at The Papergirls blog and she decided we would alter a photograph artistically... boy was I having palpitations over this one... especially as my mojo has been hiding under the bed...lol I have never created artwork with a photograph as the base but I must admit that once I got started I found it to be quite addictive and will probably use my finished pieces to create a couple of layouts very different from my usual style. I would recommend however that you scan the original before you start... even if it's not one of the best you've ever taken because you may find you wish you had kept a copy.

Ok my first photo to get the treatment was one of DD and DG and I had a few headaches with this one but I got there in the end :D I firstly covered a large part of the photo with gesso before colouring with distress inks and stamping with a squirl stamp from The Artistic Stamper. I covered part of the clothing too, so that I could trace part of the bodies and hand colour them to give a cartoony effect. Some hand cut head wear and lettering along with some doodling and a bit of bling completed my first attempt.

My second photograph of DG on his own had a very clear background so this meant I could alter it quite differently as I didn't have to cover up any dark shapes.

I had lots of fun with this one... I masked off DG and re-coloured the background with distress ink before using the tree stamp from Lost Coast Designs. I then added Dinosaur stickers from BasicGrey Archaic scrapbooking goodies (from my recent spend...tee hee...naughty naughty) and hand cut a speech bubble to add the wording (which took me all night to come up with by the way...lol) I was happier with this one and think it will look well cool on a layout with DG favourite Dinosaur jokes... don't you :D

Now here is a sneaky peak of the photograph that Chriss has altered but you have to pop over to the Papergirls blog to see the finished creation and to find out the rules for entering. The challenge has been sponsored by Caroline at Bubbly Funk and there are some fab chalk inks up for grabs which again you can see over at The Papergirls blog.

I hope you will join in with the challenge which runs until 30Th January... it really is fun and you gotta be in it to win it right :D

Happy creating

hugs

Chris xx