Spirit of the Woodland A4 journal Part I by Lynne Moncrieff

Hello

Early 2020 there was the release of my The Language of Trees stamps sets and along with those releases, new That's Crafty! journals including an A4 size journal.

At the time I did share photos on my social media but for some reason, I never shared the A4 journal as a Blog post.  As I looked through photos from 2020, this journal caught my eye and thought it was a good opportunity to share.

The journal comprises MDF covers with greyboard inserts along with metal rings. This journal is perfect for incorporating further pages whether cardstock, more greyboard, fabric panels, etc.  

For this page, I was seeking to evoke the sense of when life is a struggle, the storms of life, when we feel as though we are bending and swaying but that is okay, this ensures that we do not break, just like a tree bending and swaying in the strongest of storms.

Supplies

That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set The Language of Trees Set 2
That's Crafty! Surfaces A4 Journal MDF Greyboard Journal
That's Crafty! A4 Stencil Hex Net TC40005
That's Crafty! A4 Stencil Words TC40001
That's Crafty! Medium White Gesso
That's Crafty! Medium Walnut Crystals
That's Crafty! Pearl Inks Black
That's Crafty! Multi-Surface Paints: White, Black, Grey
Extras: old book text 

Instructions

The greyboard was prepared with white Gesso and onto this, torn pieces of book text were adhered.  From the outset, I had the idea of torn pieces of book text appearing on each page, to bring interest and also because I wanted the feel of a storybook. The effect is very subtle at times but I like knowing that they are there!

Then, in a very "slap dash" manner and keeping a spray bottle of water and damp cloth beside me, the multi-surfaces paints were applied.

Taking the stencil, with the focus towards the upper left corner, dipping a damp cloth into Pearl Ink in Black, the cloth was rubbed through the stencil, almost a wiping on/wiping off motion, to bring a subtle stencilled effect. Where the tree would be stamped was the area where I wanted the most light to appear, as the backdrop to the stamped tree.

Walnut Ink was applied, mainly as I cannot resist it!

With Jet Black ink, I stamped up the tree which to me represents the phrase "bend and sway" so well.

After stamping the tree, the "bend and sway" stamp was repeatedly stamped to create a fade in the background around the tree.

Life was stencilled from the A4 Words stencil with Multi-Surface black paint, again I opted to use a piece of cloth to stencil with.

I will be sharing further pages throughout February.

Thank you for your visit.

Wishes

Lynne