M for......

I created this page from my August Kreatorville kit mainly because I knew we were focusing on painting techniques this month, but also because on regular occasions I just want to go all "art-journal" on my pages. This came together really quickly and was absolutely freeing and soooo much fun to do!!

I used the b-side of the Collage Press paper in the kit as my background. It was perfect because although it was plain, it was also already 'grunged up'. (I tried to upload a picture of the paper to show you, but Collage Press have got copyright protection stuff turned on, so I'll direct you to this link instead).

Firstly, to create the frame for the photo I laid down the cover sheet from the Girl's Paperie Sticker Book directly onto my background paper and traced around the inside of the window shape. Then I just drew a simple scallop frame around it.

I also traced the same shape onto the red Sassafras Paper and cut it out slightly inside the lines. I stuck that down on my page before mounting my photo onto it.

Without any pre-planning, and without any rough drafts I simply got my black calligraphy pen and started doodling fun shapes. That's why my birds are a little wonky!! Sure, I could have used some kind of template, or drawn it in pencil first until I was happy with it, but I liked the risk of just going with the flow. It's quicker and easier, and gives a more 'arty' feel rather than a perfected painting.

Then I got out my water-colours and painted away. Again, the trick here was not to be too perfect or precise but simply slap on some colour! Once it was dry I did some free-motion sewing to add dimension, and highlighted with a white gel pen.

To incorporate more of the kit contents onto my page I added a lot of the embellishments from The Girl's Paperie - such as that banner, the compass', the bird and the arrows around the photo. And as Keandra pointed out on the Kreatorville blog, I love how you can barely tell where the paintings finish and the pre-made embellishments begin.

So what do you think? Too messy and distorted? Or arty and lovely? I have to admit that I waver between the two opinions myself, but at the end of the day I really enjoyed the process of this page and would do it again in a heart-beat.