Smile, Sparkle, Shine

I was inspired to create a page for Try it on Tuesday’s theme of “Let it Shine” and decided to create a sun page to help use up lots of different coloured glitter glues I have in my craft stash. The resulting page made me smile as it sparkles and shines!

I started by stamping a starburst stamp on the top right hand corner of my page using London Fog Memento Ink. Then I extended the starburst design to fill the page using a ruler and pencil. Next I used Sunflower, Gold, Marigold, Orange and Begonia Spectrum Aqua markers to colour the sections alternating the colours; I did this by scribbling the markers onto an acrylic block and picking up the ink with a wet paintbrush.  Next I selected a different glitter glue pen for each of the Spectrum Aqua marker colours used, squeezed the glue onto the corresponding sections and spread it using a palette knife to create sun rays. I also created a round sun shape using the different glitter glues and used the palette knife to give a smooth finish. While the glue was still wet I added the sequins to the sun and sun rays, then I left the page to dry thoroughly. As the glue dried it reacted with the solid blocks of Aqua marker ink that I had applied and concentrated them to form lines of colour a bit like heat radiating from the sun. I emphasised these patterns by building up the colours more using the corresponding Aqua markers again. Then I used black and yellow Uni Posca paint pens to add dots of colour and definition around the sun and the sun rays. Next I stamped the words using an alphabet stamp by Papermania and black Versafine Ink. I went over the letters with a black Sharpie permanent marker so they were fully coloured black and then I covered the letters with Glossy Accents to give the wording a shiny 3D effect so they stood out more. To finish I added the black butterflies, flowers and small gemstones using Glossy Accents.

As this page celebrates the summer sun, I’m also pleased to be able to join Bluebeard and Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover who are hosting the “Summertime Love” challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

This page reminds me of all the smiles, sparkle and sunshine that we saw at Blackpool Carnival last weekend. Blackpool has brought back their annual summer carnival after an absence of many years and we had such a fun time. The theme was “International” and there were steel bands playing wonderful up-beat songs that made you smile! There were also international food stands and a stage where there were different dance troupes and singers.

As part of the carnival there was a parade along the promenade which was full of sparkle!

The parade was packed full of culture, variety, and fabulous costumes.

Then we moved over to the dark side (grin!) as Star Wars also took part in the parade, which is probably “intergalactic” rather than “international” (double grin!). It was really strange because the atmosphere seem to change as they went passed – quite eerie but ever so cool too! It made my day to see them in the parade and it was lovely to have more summer fun in the sun!

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:

• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Sunflower, Gold, Marigold, Orange, Begonia)
• Tsukineko Vesafine Ink (Onyx Black)
• Tsukeniko Memento Ink (London Fog)
• Uni Posca Paint Pens (Yellow, Black)
• Sharpie Fine Point Permanent Marker (Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Sugarloaf Inc. Anita’s wood mounted rubber stamp (26551)
• Papermania Alphmania A-Z clear stamps (Leftovers Alphabet PMA9071102)
• Poundland (Design Gems 134240 & 175751)
• Poundland (Mini Glitter Embellishments 59409)
• Poundland (Assorted Sequins 119188)
• Hobbycraft Glitter Glue Pens (Assorted Colours 6103601000)
• Ranger Glossy Accents