Today, I am sharing my pansy lady art journal tutorial on the blog and Art Journal Chat Episode 5 over on YouTube. On YouTube, I am sharing my opinions on Sub Boxes, so if you have an opinion on them and want to share, let me know over there. For today’s blog post, I will be sharing some quick instructions for creating this art journal page. It felt like it came together very quickly and I will share tips and tricks I used along the way. As.always, I’ll be starting off with my supply list.
Pansy Lady Art Journal Supplies
I’m starting off my supply list by introducing an amazing website to you. For my Lady, flowers, and vellum page, I used the Graphics Fairy images (paid subscription). I always wondered where people got their cool ephemera from and, since I don’t want to gate keep, I am sharing that website with you. And now for the rest of my supplies!
- My Mellow Days B5 Mixed Media Art Journal
- Tim Holtz Distress Crayons (you can read my thoughts about them)
- The Pigeon Letters Studio Filbert Brush
- Canson Watercolour Paper
- Graphics Fairy ephemera – pansy, lady, and typed page
- Black and white dotted party bag
- Tim Holtz Ephemera – Botanical Die Cuts (Discontinued)
- Brown Craft Paper Tag
- Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Ground Espresso
- Tim Holtz Quote Chips
- Glue
- Scissors
Pansy Lady Art Journal Tutorial
Getting the Pieces Together
This piece felt like it took 30 minutes to finish because of all the prep work I did. Starting with The Graphics Fairy, I chose the person and the flowers I wanted to use. I ended up combining the 2 images together in Photoshop, but you can also cut and print them, and then glue them together. You’ll want to size them first – using whatever software you have available. But very simple to create.
I also painted the background layers, red, orange, and yellow days before I created this page. This way, they had a lot of time to dry and flatten out. I used watercolour paper and Distress Crayons as watercolour paint.
The final prep piece was choosing an antique journal page from The Graphics Fairy site, and printing it out on vellum. I did reduce the opacity of the journal page so that the background was a lot more visible through the vellum. With all those pieces in place, the rest of the background came together very quickly.
Piecing it all together
A big part of the art journaling process for me is to figure out the placement. I spend a lot of time fussing with pieces before gluing them down. Take your time, don’t rush, and follow your gut when it comes to placing elements. Adding the black and white polka dot paper is an example of a gut instinct for this piece.
For the watercolour paper background, I ripped (instead of cutting), the 3 colours for more dimension and visual interest. I glued the vellum down using washi tape. The basic-ness of the grid washi serves a purpose while not demanding attention from the rest of the elements. I also started incorporating a lot of black and white elements to allow the background and my focal point – the Peony Lady – to stand out.
The tag looked a bit boring next to the rest of the busy elements so I added some Ground Espresso Distress Ink to the edges and some streaks to the body. This made it fit in better with the rest of the page.
Pansy Lady Art Journal Tutorial Final Thoughts
I have been dealing with some heavy emotions lately. I’m a creature of habit and struggle with transition and change. June represents so much impending change – especially with 2 young kiddos – that I get in my feelings. This year, there’s an added “bonus” of additional stressors so I just allowed myself to get lost in creating this piece. When I look back at some of my other pages (my mermaid page or my latest page), it feels like such a huge jump in my layering skill. This is my FAVOURITE reason to use journals – to have the ability to go back and see how much you have improved.
I hope you enjoyed today’s tutorial. If you would like to express your opinion about Subscription Boxes, head on over to my channel and let me know. If you decided to recreate this art journal page, I would love to see. Tag me on Instagram @natashamillercreates or send me an email to share. I love seeing people push themselves outside of there creative boundaries. If you would like to purchase a print of this piece (with some small changes made), you can check out my Society6 page.
Thank you so much for your time today and I will see you in the next one!
