Time for a challenge!

Little People by me! 

In Full Bloom by Soraya Hamming

Rainbow is my Favourite Colour by Birgit Koopsen

all for Carabelle Studio

Who doesn't love a challenge?! As part of the Carabelle Studio Creative Weekend I am setting a challenge to create an art journal page where you give a little character stamp chance to shine! Let it become the central and focal point of your page :-)

And there are so many characters to choose from!

I used a character from my 'Little People' collection but you can use any at all.

I am sharing the steps I took to create my art journal page so you can see exactly how I did it. Feel free to follow my steps OR completely do your own thing, the choice is yours.

Step 1:

Begin by stamping, colouring and cutting out your chosen character. Also cut out anything else you may add. I chose the vine from Birgit's 'Rainbow is my Favourite Color' but chose to leave it in black and white. I also cut three long triangles from an old gel print I had lying around.

Step 2:

Gesso a page in your journal. I am working on a bnalc page in a Joggles Disc Bound 6x6" journal, but you can work on any page. Once dry add some untidy patches of colour with acrylic paint - be loose and free with this! I chose colours to match the colours in my stamped and coloured character.

Step 3:

Sponge the same colours through a stencil. I used 'In Full Bloom' by Soraya.

Step 4:

Stamp some random texture over the page using Archival inks in black and colours to match the background. I used 'Un Regard sur mon Histoire' by Carabelle Studio.

Step 5:

Use a white paint pen (I used Posca 1-M) to doodle around the stencilling. Add a few extra doodles and scribbles too.

Step 6:

Use a Stabilo All pencil (or any dark pencil) to add some extra marks. Keep it simple! Lines, crosses and circles work great.

Step 7:

If you feel your page needs a little more colour add some touches with Distress Crayon or similar - Scribble Sticks, oil pastels, Stabilo Woodys etc...

Step 8:

Lay your images on top of the page. Does it look balanced? What does it need? I felt like mine needed a bit more black to balance the right colours.

Step 9:

I used a Calligraphy ink to stamp some bottle lids and add a few splats. You could also do this with slightly watered down black paint.

-I added a couple of strips of gel print to give my character somewhere to stand.

-I added the three triangles in the corner opposite the focal image to give balance to the page.

-I kept the foliage in black and white to avoid too much colour (yes, I think sometimes you can have too much colour!)

- i found a suitable quote and typed it with my typewriter (you could just use your computer or find a random quote in an old book)

Ta-dah! And here is the finished page alongside another Carabelle page in my journal.

Thanks for playing along :-)  If you would like to share your page please join the Carabelle Studio creative group on facebook here **Les Cara (friends) where you will also find lots of other challenges and demos this weekend.

And don't forget to check out the Carabelle tab at the top of my blog for extra inspiration, and info about stockists.