PaperArtsy Challenge #16 - Circles

Greetings crafters! Today I'm sharing a project that I created for a PaperArtsy challenge, which was to use circles in a project. 

Circles are a favorite design element for me and one that shows up often in my art journaling projects so I couldn't wait to make something for the challenge! I even took a few photos of the process so you could see the steps I took to make my page.

My page actually started out as a gelli print. This was a print created with the new 6" Gelli Plate and a variety of texture sheets. This might have even been my scrap piece of paper that I used to clean the gelli plate....all I know is that it's been included in my pile of "partially completed art journal pages" for months!

I then added a whole lot of stenciling! I used paints from Dina Wakley and PaperArtsy, along with Jet Black Archival Ink. Stencils are from The Crafters Workshop and Donna Downey. The goal of creating this page was to use a lot of color and pattern...I think I accomplished that goal! Normally my backgrounds would be a combination of colors that are closer to each other on the color wheel, for example, blue and green tones vs. the combo that's on this page. There's a method to the madness!

Next, I used a Stabilo pencil to draw circles all over my page, making sure the circles were different sizes and drawing some as only half circles. Yes, you should always have a portion of your design flowing off of the page, 'cause that's what Julie Fei-Fan Balzer told me...

Take your water brush and go over all of the Stabilo lines. For those of you who don't owe Stabilo pencils...go get some, like 10 or 12 of them...you can't live without them...seriously, coolest pencil ever! You can purchase them at MisterArt. Now here comes the scary part...

Cover your entire background with a dark paint! AAAHHHH!!! This is the scariest and best part ever! I took a Julie Fei-Fan Balzer class last year and she encouraged this kind of crazy behavior! I accepted her challenge and I've never looked back! WooHoo! This is pure magic...I am crazy over the look of the purple paint (Blackberry Violet from Dina Wakley) in contrast to all of designs peeking through the black-lined circles. It's drama, baby!

I added some circle images from the Don't Forget to Fly stamp set, designed by Finnabair, stamped in white ink, which looks fab on that dark background. I aged a small manila tag with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink, added a cardstock circle, surrounded by more Stabilo and some black thread, and the sentiment (also from the same Finnabair stamp set). The butterfly was stamped on designer paper, fussy cut, and adhered with a glue dot. I added some glass beads (from Liquidtex) and glass glitter, also from Finnabair (glass glitter ROCKS!) The metal pen nib is from Timmy (Holtz, that is).

I hope you enjoyed today's project! Be sure to check out all of the other wonderful creations posted on the PaperArtsy blog!

Oh, and the entire eclectic Paperie store is 50% off today! Use code BIGNEWS50 when checking out!