Thursday, January 25, 2018

Pastel Play

Hi everyone. 
Maybe you remember the box of pastels I found a few weeks back on the mark down rack at a big box craft store.
Susi told me that these pastels are made near where she lives and she gave me some excellent advice on how to use this media.
That was good because I hadn't a clue. But she told me they are great with water and that the colors stay bold and vibrant when they get wet.
And you can see here that they do stay bright.
And no brushing off either. I love the permanent brightness. Thanks Susi!
For my background
I colored and made some random patterns on some watercolor paper. Then I used a wet paintbrush and washed each color to make them more permanent.
 I took a stencil and some Martha Stewart black metallic paint and covered the entire page.
I cut the heart out of some red paper and stamped the design on it. Then I added the TH found relative couple, and stenciled the white arrow/adventure word. Once it was dry I added some old postage stamps, the stars and the stickers to finish off my quote.

This is my link today to this month's New Year: New Adventure theme Art Journal Journey. You still have another week to link up with your art adventure.
There's been so many fabulous journal pages so far!

Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog and I hope your day is going well.

15 comments:

froebelsternchen said...

Oh wow - you got the colors so vibrant! Amazing! And it made a fabulous background - I love how interesting the couple is arranged infront of the big hearts - beautiful!
Have a great day and a big ♥ for such a fabulous page linked to the collection!
Such a fun and super month at AJJ!
I am thrilled about all the ideas and pages! Wished I had have more art-time this past month.
oxo Susi

Valerie-Jael said...

Gorgeous page, love the bright metallics. The quote is good - love is always an adventure, that's for sure! Have a great day, hugs, Valerie

kathyinozarks said...

I love this!

Astrid Maclean said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous page, - as are your other projects from the last few days! I have just spent a happy 10 minutes or so scrolling through your blog :) Wonderful work!

Jeanie said...

Finding an old art supply that's still good is like a free trip to the art store! Nice find and nice work on the page. Boy, those colors did retain!

Divers and Sundry said...

I'm impressed at how bright they turned out. The only pastels I've used were much more muted even in the bright colors. Nice!

pearshapedcrafting said...

Wow! Those colours look so good! Love your stamped heart with that lovely paper doll couple and the words are just perfect!Hugs,Chrisx

Meggymay said...

Those colours are gorgeous, so vibrant, you can almost feel the couples love after seeing those super hearts in the background.
Its a fabulous page Erika.
Yvonne xx

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Those colors are certainly very vibrant, Erika. I liked the addition of the couple and wondered if it was from your own photo collection or random. We also had ice covered trees here in Nashua on Tuesday.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

You really SCORED with those pastels. Your page turned out vibrant and bright. It is stunning. I love everything about it, and found the various embellishments and postage stamps an excellent choice. Of course, we all seem to love those TH paper dolls, don't we? It's a super page and a great entry for your theme this month at Art Journal Journey.

CJ Kennedy said...

Those pastels look awesome. I love the bright, vibrant colors in contrast to the couple photographed in black and white.

Toni said...

Whoa! Have to get some of those pastels!

Nice work!

Let's Art Journal said...

Wow, those pastels worked amazingly! They definitely add a zing of colour and vibrancy 😁. I love the heart patterns you created with the black stenciling - beautiful! Wishing you a Happy Friday and Weekend! J 😊

Katie Jeanne said...

This is a fabulous piece just in time for Valentine's Day. I love using pastels in my mixed media work..I'm so jealous of your new set because I've used most of mine down to little bits. haha ;)

Eileen The Artful Crafter said...

Wow - they really are vibrant. Isn't it odd that they're called "pastels?"