Art journal pages using Polkadoodles Stamps

Today I used a new-to-me stamp make – Polkadoodles at a class. They have really cute little stamps suitable for focal images and art journalling with gorgeous little bits and pieces. They also have stamp sets that are called “soup” stamps. These stamps are a bunch of shapes you can use to make mushrooms, birds, houses, faces, flowers, and so much more – all depending on your imagination.

The class today at one of my locals – The Purple Magnolia – was another wonderful and inspirational class. We made pages using various background techniques.

The first two were done using ink smooshing to create soft and organic backgrounds. The second technique was using watercolour powder (some brand names you may be familiar with include Brusho, Nuvo Shimmer Powder, Colour Burst, Magicals, or Pixie Powder). The third page was made using watercolour paint.

We did some stencilling onto the backgrounds using a little white acrylic paint through a stencil, and then created some focal points using stamped elements coloured in using distress ink, gelatos, or watercolours. We also used some pens to draw and highlight elements on the pages.

Some of the ladies made spectacular elements using gorgeous watercolour skills.

Here are some of the backgrounds:

I cut my watercolour paper at 6 inches by 6 inches and punched holes to fit the rings to make it an album. I plan to complete the focal points for the other pages and add some stencilling and sentiments, as well as dates onto the pages and they will be done.

Some hints I followed for this page that I have learned along the way:

• Create a frame using stamping or drawing elements
• Ground any focal elements so they don’t appear to be floating on the page
• Use similar colours on the background as well as the focal point so they are related and not too different
• Add some extra texture using marks, such as doodles, hand-drawn details, or ink or water splashes

This was such a fun class and I plan on making many more of these pages in the future.

Hope you are all keeping warm, and dry with this unseasonable rain. Have a lovely day tomorrow, and please pop in again.

XxX