Gardening Journal

This Gelli print seemed perfect for my cover! 
 I cut the title out with my Silhouette Cameo.

This spring I planted more flowers and plants than I normally do. We inherited a bunch of large planters from friends that moved overseas and didn't want to incur the cost of moving them. So I placed them around the front and back of my house and filled them with flowers and herbs, even some veggie plants!  I think there were about 2 dozen in various sizes by the time I was all done planting!  I think I'll be spending my summer watering plants!

Since I love art journaling, I decided to make a gardening journal to help remind me what worked and what didn't next year.  I knew I wanted to use watercolors, so I decided to use a 9 x 12  Strathmore Mixed Media Watercolor journal. The paper has a bit more texture than the mixed media paper and it takes lots of water and color well. It has a nice sturdy cover that I glued a Gelli print I had laying around.


Gelli print for the inside cover:

 

Below is a page spread that I haven't filled with pictures yet.  

Here is how I got the look:  

 I used the Crafters Workshop Vine mask (the black areas in the picture above are the open spaces) as a stamp.  Apply several colors of green Distress ink directly onto the stencil then spritz liberally with water. Flip it over onto the page.  I do this several times till I get the look I want.  Heat set the ink then watercolor blue around the leaves.  I love the subtle results of this technique.  

Now I must go water my plants so I don't kill them!! Thanks for visiting my blog and leave a comment below!