Thursday 5 November 2015

'Remember, Remember....' ~ Stamps and Stencils ~ New Challenge

Hi everybody ! It's the first Thursday of the month and that means it's time for a new challenge over at Stamps and Stencils. I hope you enjoyed our last challenge along with the blog hop. Many thanks to all of you that joined in and paid me a visit. Ruth is our talented host this month and she has chosen 'Remember, Remember'. This is what she has to say .......

Hi, Ruth here with this months challenge which is 'Remember, Remember'......it may be the 5th of November today (Bonfire Night in the UK) but for this challenge we want to see mixed media projects inspired by 'favourite memories', you can interpret this in any way you like as long as you include some stamping or stencilling in your mixed media piece. What we want to see is how a favourite memory has inspired you, so don't forget to mention this in your post. 

Roberta and Me and the Bumble Bee
When I started thinking about the challenge, I soon realised how lucky I am to have a lot of happy memories, from my childhood right up to the present day. You can't ask for more than that ! I decided to go with a memory that always makes me smile. I was about 6 years old and it was one of those endless summers that you only have when you're a child. My best friend Roberta and I, had been 'playing out', when we noticed that an 'enormous' bumble bee had landed on the skirt of her dress. Now, as inner city kids, all we knew about bees was that they made 'hunny' and if they landed on you, you had to stay very still or they would sting you. We stood perfectly still, for what seemed like hours. I can't begin to tell you how terrified we were! I'm not sure how our dilemma ended but needless to say neither of us was stung.
So my project is this journal spread of Roberta and I in our summer dresses. who knows it could even have been taken on the same day!
I started off by taping two pieces of watercolour paper, side by side, with masking tape. I then glued on various textured elements including some pieces of bandage and washi tape. Finnabair, showed us this technique during one of  her workshops I attended last year. Working on   both pages at the same time, helps the flow and balance. 
After coating the surface with white gesso, I stamped, using some of my homemade stamps, with fluorescent acrylic paint. 
I then sprayed here and there with Dylusions Sprays and encouraged some 'drippage' by spraying with water.
I added some stencilling and doodled around the flower with black and white pens. I'm still looking for the 'ultimate' white pen ! I also used a black Stablio pencil and water brush to add a bit of depth.
I then stamped Dina Wakley's bumble bee and coloured it with paint, and then added a bit more stamping around the edges, using black Archival ink. It was then time to remove the pages and try them in my journal. I adhered them with matte gel  and added a print of the photo and a few finishing touches. So now it's over to you, this has been a great fun challenge for me and I'm sure you'll enjoy it just as much as I have. 
Such happy care free days when all we were scared of was a bumble bee !

9 comments:

  1. Gorgeous spread! LOVE the layers and stenciling and all the bright colors! Very cool!

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  2. A fantastic journal spread. thank you for sharing your lovely memories.
    Yvonne xx

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  3. What a fabulous memory Toni, I can just see you standing so still waiting for the bee to fly away ! The journal pages of beautiful and how fantastic that you've used your own stamps on it too ! Sue Cx

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  4. So glad you didn't get stung Toni!!! Love the vibrancy of these flowers and stencilling, and the fact that you've used your own stamps! Jenny x

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  5. What fabulous pages taking us down memory lane. I'm so happy neither of you was stung by the evil bee creature, and I love the layers and rainbow colours here.
    Alison xx

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  6. This just made me smile Toni, loved the memory, a perfect choice to take your inspiration from. Glad to see the homemade stamps from your inspiration post being put to use so brilliantly..as they go perfectly with the colours and Dina's bee! Superb! Ruth xx

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  7. Terrific page to portray a terrific memory. Love all the bright colours and the flowers - perfect to show off the black and white photo and capture summer.
    Hugs!
    Cec

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  8. I did so enjoy reading about your memory. Isn't great to remember such a sweet and innocent time? Loved the inspirational project and thank you for detailing how it was done. Gorgeous colours and gorgeous layout, love it x

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  9. What a creative thing you did! What a beautiful and impressive color scheme! Looks so inspiring!

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