Crafty Flirtations: Memory Box

Monday, May 21, 2018

Beauty Emerges From Something Completely Falling Apart - Art Journal

Hello all,

I feel that in life one of the most essential things to be happy is to have "Hope" & "Faith". Hope that even if you are in tough times, better times awaits you. Hope that if you are unwell, you shall get well soon. Hope that all your wishes would come true one day. Along with hope, one also needs to have Faith. Faith not just in God but also in one's own ability to achieve what you want from life. Faith that even if you fail at something or make a mistake, there is always a chance to succeed next time or correct your mistake.

Page 3 in the art journal that I made for Tejal is all about Hope and Faith. Both me and Tejal have been through difficult times this year. So, this page was a reminder for both of us that even if all doesn't seem okay at the moment, we should have hope and faith that things shall get better soon. And what signifies Hope & Faith better than a butterfly. Butterflies represent Endurance, Change with Time, Hope and Life. Also, Tejal loves butterflies and hence was an added bonus to use them on this page.

This page truly did test my hope and faith in myself too while I was creating it as I got some ink marks and texture paste marks on the page which werent as per my plan. But than when I added Butterflies to the page, these marks werent visible. Hence, whenever creating Art Journals dont get scared if you make mistake. You can always rectify it.

I also wanted to use Khusboo's (Tejal's friend) favorite flower "Lavender" on this page. Lavender are symbol of refinement, grace, and elegance. The last 4 months have taught us that however difficult the situation is, we can always face them and come out as winners with grace and elegance. Hence, field of Lavender flowers was perfect for this page on Hope & Faith.

Supplies Used:

6 by 7" card stock or chipboard
White card stock
Distress Oxide Inks: Broken China, Twisted Citron, Wilted Violet, Worn Lipstick
Itsy Bitsy 2 in 1 texture paste (used as gesso)
Memory Box Stencil: Delphinium (#88571)
Kaisercraft Butterflies stamp set
Ranger Texture Paste
Violet Acrylic Paint
Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions Paint Pens
Ranger Black Archival Ink
Sakura Water Colour Pens
Scissors, Glue, Foam tape, Blending Foam, palette knife
Printed quote/ sentiment

Steps To Create:

Apply gesso on the card stock/ chipboard base and let it dry. Blend oxide inks on the background.
Mix texture paste with violet acrylic paint and apply through stencil using palette knife.
Once the texture paste is dry, draw stems using paint pens.
Stamp butterflies using black ink and fussy cut. Color using water colours (I used Sakura pens).
Adhere quote on the base using glue.
Finish the page by adding butterflies. Add some foam tape between 2 layers of big butterflies to add dimension.

I would life to thank Saumya for lending the Memory Box Delphinium stencil to create the look of Lavender flowers :) I shall soon be back with the 4th page.