Georgette Lace Square 2

I've enjoyed swaps where 2 people get the same supplies and are to use them to make a card. It's always fun to see how two cards using the same materials can be very different.  In this case, I used that idea myself.  A few days ago I made a card using these materials - Georgette Lace squares (Tattered Lace die) cut out of black paper, and focal made by fussy cutting the focal off another card.  It looked like this:

For more on that card, check the older blog post here. This time, as you can see, I made an easel card.  I added a bit more black mat around the border of the lace squares & mounted the larger square on a piece of white card stock.  I used ribbon instead of washi tape for embellishment.  I also added some Dazzles stickers around the smaller lace square on the inside of the card.  Flowers used inside the card were what was left over from the previous card (where I had cut some flowers from a 2nd card for the inside).  Instead of leaving the flowers in the grouping as they were, I cut the smaller one off and put the larger two up on foam tape (to hold my easel panel in place).  Same pretty focal & die cut - quite a different card.

Be Strong and Courageous!

Today's post is another Bible journaling piece.  As usual, for the spiritual message check out my other blog here.  Continue reading this post to learn the specifics of how I created it.

PAGE PREP: I started by preparing the page with thick white gesso from Art Basics - adding it in thin coats using a 1" foam sponge brush and drying with a heat embossing tool between coats.  (I used white gesso this time - instead of clear - because there was a map printed on the page that I didn't need and was covering it up to make space for my journaling. For more on general page prep, see Bible Art Journaling Tips on my other blog)  

WORDS & PICTURES: For this page I was able to use several stamps I had on hand - stamping them with black StazOn ink:

• The text of Isaiah 40:31 and the eagle picture were stamps from Our Daily Bread Designs - "On Eagles Wings"
• The text of Matthew 10:31 & the sparrow picture were also Our Daily Bread Designs - "He Watches Me"
• The cat in the window & text of Romans 12:12 from Art Impressions - "Be Joyful Window".
• The banners (used for "BE STRONG and COURAGEOUS!) were from Inky Antics - "Banners, Brackets & Borders"
• The words "Important", "Rest in this" and "Praise Him" were from Inky Antics - "Memorable Messages"  (for some reason these stamps, and the one listed next, tended to stick to the page & not stamp quite as well as some of them so I had to use a Pitt pen to fill in some places. I got the feeling they might stamp better without the gesso - but then there could be bleed through depending on the ink used)
• The words "Give Thanks" were from Inky Antics - "His Love Endures"
• The text of Jeremiah 29:11 was from JustRite - "Cast All Your Cares" 
• The words "BE STRONG and COURAGEOUS" were hand-written with a Pitt pen

BACKGROUND: 

• After stamping the basic shapes on the page with StazOn, I stamped the pictures & banners again with VersaFine ink on post-it notes and cut around the shapes to create masks to protect the images while I added color to the background.
• After the masks were in place, I took a Ranger round applicator with foam and pounced Broken China distress ink all over the page. 
• When I removed the masks those protected images were still white and ready to have color added.  

COLORING THE IMAGES - I used my Scroll and Brush markers to color these images - with a water brush!  Here's what I did for each image:

• Eagle - I added a bit of very dark brown along the front of the wings and pulled the color to the rest of the fore wings with a water brush. I then did something similar with the back half of the wings adding a medium brown along the front & pulling the color with the water brush.  Then I started to dry it with my embossing gun.  I discovered I needed to make sure there wasn't TOO much water or it would get blown all over the page.  I also discovered that I could mitigate the amount that got blown around by holding the heat gun farther from the page.  The colors I had were more reddish than I wanted, so I took a craft sheet and scribbled them on it - along with a touch of black.  Blending with my water brush and then applying to the image worked pretty well!  I kept working the wings until I was happy with them - then used the marker directly on the image to apply yellow for the beak and feet.
• Sparrow - The flowers were colored directly with my markers, but I had learned from doing the eagle and colored the sparrow by scribbling colors on the craft sheet and using the water brush to create the color I wanted to use on the sparrow.  After layering color until I was happy, I used a bit of an apricot color on the sparrow's beak.
• Cat in Window - Most of this picture was colored by scribbling the marker on the craft sheet & picking the color up with my water brush.  In a few instances I took the pen directly to the picture - like for the darker shade of burgundy in the flower pot & flowers.
• Words & Banners - The words were colored in directly with the marker.  The banners were colored by adding a bit of color on the image and then drawing it out with my water brush - repeating this process until I had what I wanted.