Hi everyone,

It's Donna here today with Fred who has decided to go on holiday with some of his friends but they must have picked the wrong destination because it rained....must have been the UK then!!!

What I Did:

I've just started doing art journaling as I was too 'scared' before of mucking up a nice page...weird I know as there's always Gesso, right?!

Anyway I've fallen in love with Birgit Koopsen's fab mini Gelli print journals and now have a little pile of them as they're so easy to make (search Youtube for the video). I decided to create one just devoted to the The Freddy and Friends Collection stamp set as I knew I could have unlimited fun with that and that's what art is all about isn't it, having fun.

Now for the Gelli printing mega session I used some paper that I had set aside for just such a thing but it doesn't have to be the best quality, just make sure it can take the acrylic paint so it can't be too thin. I used a mixture of Decoart Fluid acrylics paints and all the new That's Crafty! stencils on a 6x6 Gelli plate and just did a mahoosive bundle of prints!!

Once I had a little pile of backgrounds and I could eventually tear myself away from the printing session, I stamped all the images I wanted to use on Strathmore Mixed Media paper, coloured in with Distress Markers and put to one side.

I then wanted something with a holiday theme so I used some stamps from the Rubber Dance Whimsical Summer stamp set and stamped the words directly on to the background but I fussy cut the cloud and suitcases out after stamping them on the Strathmore paper.

I gathered all the stamped images together and began to add then to the background using Fred, the suitcases and his fishy friend. For the little mouse I drew him a little umbrella and coloured in with Posca pens, that's how I added the raindrops and the puddle too. He was adhered to the opposite page to Fred to show what a fun time they were all having in the rain :)

I have a few pages to go so I can see all sorts of scenerios Fred could get up to, if you have any ideas for the next one just pop your idea in the comments!

Supplies Used:

That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set - The Freddy and Friends Collection
Rubber Dance Stamp Set - Whimsical Summer
That's Crafty! - 8x8 Stencils (I used Flourish for this background)
Decoart Fluid Acrylic Paints
Gelli Plate - 6x6
Tim Holtz - Distress Markers
Archival Ink - Black
Posca Pens
Strathmore Mixed Media Paper Pad

Hope you like it
Donna xx