Thanksgiving 2016

Although we live in the UK we like to celebrate Thanksgiving, which is next Thursday, so I thought I would create a page to capture the holiday spirit. I also wanted it to tie into this month’s theme “No face, no wings, no leaves but COLLAGE” over at Art Journal Journey being hosted by Susi. I hope you like it!

To start with I applied patches of Liquitex white gesso to the page using a palette knife and left it to dry. I then diluted some Faber-Castell Big Brush marker ink and Distress Ink, and painted them in blocks across the page, alternating the 3 colours so they looked like tiles. I like the way the white gesso shows through when a thin layer of ink is applied on top of it, adding texture and a different colour tone. Next I defined the sections further using a black Faber-Castell big brush marker applying it to the page with an old gift card. I added the sentiments which are rub-on transfers and tore pieces of paper that compliment the colour of the painted blocks. I edged the papers with Archival Ink using a blending tool and stuck them in place using Liquitex matte gel medium. Once the gel medium was dry I used a black big brush marker to edge the page and tile sections, smudging it in places by using a baby wipe. I added the white flower stickers, hearts which I had punched from the same papers I used for the tiles and finally some buttons which are held in place using Ranger glossy accents.We like to start our celebrations early and enjoy everything pumpkin! We don’t get a great choice of pumpkin food stuffs here in the UK unlike America, so home baking is the order of the day. This is a picture of some of my pumpkin bakes – my hubby’s birthday cake and a yummy pumpkin pie in the background too! The cake I created is based on the wonderful pumpkin Dunkin’ Donut we had in America, it is a vanilla sponge, pumpkin butter cream and maple syrup icing topped with crushed Graham Crackers (these are also homemade as you can’t buy them easily in the UK). Delicious!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Pébéo White Gesso
• Faber-Castell Big Brush artist pen (Black 199, Sanguine 188 B, Cold Grey IV 233 B)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Brushed Corduroy)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm and 0.8mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• Craft Sensations Design Pad (Pastels & Whites CR0260/PW)
• Poundland Design Pad (Changing Seasons CR0701/16PL1)
• Paper Bundle
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Transfers (Thanksgiving Sentiments #ROY522 RUB-ON)
• Home Bargains Special Occasions (Mini Decorative Stickers 22740)
• Tonic Studios Paper Punch Accent (Hearts Sider 830E)
• Buttons
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• UHU Stic