Apples for Everyone

What do you see?

I thought I'd show an Art Journal page I created, step-by-step for the background, using The Crafter's Workshop (TCW) Wood Grain stencil. You might remember I like to look at things a bit differently...or upside down as in my Masks of the Manor post a couple years ago when I turned my cricut books upside down to find more interesting ideas.   Anyway...When I was thinking about buying the large wood grain stencil I saw what looked like several faces in the design, which gave me lots of ideas ... and then just had to have it. =)  I'm showing one of the ideas I had for this stencil in my art journal.  Everytime I look at the stencil I see it a bit differently, so I'll revisit this again later down the road. 

To begin...these pages started out as a place to wipe off my paint brush from another project. 

Didn't have a towel handy so I wiped off my brush of purple paint onto these pages.

 Adirondack pebble colored paint dabber to paint over TCW wood grain stencil. 

 Added a paint wash of Manila colored paint. 

 Thought it needed a second coat of Manila paint wash.

Added vintage photo distress ink over the pages, direct to paper.

With a blending tool, I randomly added walnut stain distress ink over the stencil,
keeping it slightly askew, to give it a bit more definition.

 

And now...the finished pages.  I drew in where I imagined the face in the tree to be and stamped apples & leaves on the adjoining page. I created a notice on the tree using a watercolor black paint wash, distressed the edges, used the Tim Holtz distress hammer to indent the brads and wrote with permanent marker & Signo white gel pen the "Notice" sign.  The apple w/leaves stamp is from Stampin' Up (Sun-Ripened II stamp set), and I used barn door & peeled paint Distress Markers for the coloring. 

I just realized the green ink blot at the bottom...a carry over from another page of playing.  I think I'll add another green leaf to that area to tie it into the page, but otherwise it really doesn't bother me.  Just the perks of finding more ways to integrate "messes" into the "art" of the moment. 



NOTICE:  The Wicked Witch is dead ... Apples For Everyone!

Try looking at something a bit different and see where it creatively takes you...you just might be surprised!  Lisa