Something Wonderful

I love the phrase “Always believe something wonderful is about to happen” as it reminds me to always have hope and stay optimistic. So I’m pleased to link the page I created using this saying to the “Poetry in Motion” challenge over at Art Journal Journey, where you are invited to create a page inspired by a poem, quote or saying.

I started by mixing acrylic paints to make a teal colour, which I applied to the page using a baby wipe. I used a paintbrush to apply fine splatters of white and black acrylic paint over the top. While the paint was drying I drew and cut out some tree silhouettes and twiggy branches from a London A-Z Street Atlas, which is quite old so the pages have aged and become discoloured (grin!). I stuck them to the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium and once dry, I outlined them with a black Uni Pin marker. Then I added some bark details using a black Sharpie permanent marker and a white Uniball gel pen so they looked like Silver Birch trees. The butterflies are fussy cut from a wallpaper sample leaving a very thin white border around them so they would stand out from the background and they are stuck in place using double-sided foam tape. The wording is made up from letters that I cut from old magazines and they are stuck to the page using the matte gel medium again. I choose Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks to match the colours of the butterflies and used them to paint the letters; I did this by applying the ink pad to an acrylic block, spritzing the block with water and then picking up the ink with a paintbrush. To finish, I drew white boxes around the words using a ruler and a Uniball gel pen so they stood out more.

The butterflies on my page remind me of these pretty butterflies that adorn my craft room wall, they were bought from a trendy interior design shop in Liverpool for my birthday.

I see them every day and having created this page I will forever be reminded to “Always believe something wonderful is going to happen” – which makes me smile!

“Poetry in Motion”

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:

• Liquitex Artist Color Acylic (Swedish Blue, Christmas Green, Ivory Black)
• Colvin & Co Artist’s Acrylic (White Titanium)
• Tim Hotlz Distress Ink (Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers)
• Sharpie Permanent Fine Point Marker (Black)
• Uni Pin Fine Line Marker (Black 0.1mm & 0.8mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• A-Z London Street Atlas
• Wallpaper sample
• Old magazines
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium
• The Range Double-sided tape