Wednesday sketchbook page

26 February 2014


So, I find myself home alone on Wednesday evening - home alone (well, not quite!  The dog is here!) and all geared up for a bit of sketchbooking. 

And why am I so enthused?

Because I have found yet another You Tube source of inspiration!  This time a lady called Donna Downey.

She has a series of 'Inspiration Wednesday' - so, it being Wednesday, I was inspired.

I started with this, a blank spread in my sketch book. 


So I sprayed it with pale blue ink (using Brusho powder) and darker ink using Procion Dye.  I would also have used a sand Brusho ink, but the nozzle was blocked (don't you just hate that!)


The Procion ink was very dark, so I blotted it with paper towel (and got a bit mucky to boot!)

Then I selected two acrylic paints, watered them down a tad and applied them with makeup sponges.  I sort of followed the 'corner, corner, side' technique to make a nice blended background.



Then I got some blue heavy body acrylic and mixed that with the pinks, to make an almost purplish blue.

I'm liking this.
I rummaged around in my collection of handmade print blocks.  These are the arches used in last years Horizons quilt.






 And then a bit more rummaging through the print block tins, and low, I came upon this gem!  A piece of polystyrene cut from a pizza base (I think).


And this is what the page looked like after the two stamp blocks had been pressed into service.


Another stamp block!  This one was a real fiddle to make.



And then I found these letter stamps.  I think I bought these in Hobbycraft.  They were pristine and new.


I used an ink stamp to load up the letters and print on the page.


And finally, I added some gold ink. (it had gone a bit congealed, but still worked).


Jewel like colours!


 The finished page.





And here is the super sophisticated Procion Dye spray ink bottle. (obviously I washed it out thoroughly first!)


And then, because there was a good play on the radio, which hadn't finished, I gessoed some old Christmas cards.  I am thinking small handmake book with these.



Definitely a very productive Wednesday.

Tomorrow I have to decide how much of the studio to pack and take South to Portsmouth for a long weekend.  Difficult, I always want to take it all!

16 comments

  1. Very productive looking evening . Thanks for posting the Youtube links.

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  2. Looks like you had lots of fun, Hilary, and you've got potential for future projects. I know just what you mean about taking everything when you go away. It's very hard to be selective.

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  3. Sounds just like what you needed-an evening on your own!
    xEl'chen

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  4. A very productive evening Hillary!

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  5. Goodness - you really got with it! I'm starting to notice a lot of spritzing going on with inks on sketchbook pages, but I never think to do that. I DO have a few spray bottles set aside (repurposed like yours) and of course, the procion dyes. So you've given me some more ideas for my own art journaling. Oh, and I just love the grid of that pizza base. Well done!

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    1. I like to decorate with spraying. The other technique is to apply dry ink powder, such as Brusho, and just spray that with water.

      But i am also getting into applying paint with a sponge.

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    2. Sorry - froze on me mid reply.

      I was also going to say how I do love the possibilities for printing afforded by packaging!

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  6. Great idea, gessoing old xmas cards .... this must be why I've been keeping them all these years!

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    Replies
    1. I cannot claim it as mine. I think I got the idea from Jenniebellie - I follow her blog. We'll see how they turn out!!

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  7. Lovely sketchbook page :D

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    1. Thanks very much Chloe. I'm another Hilary ( just to confuse you!!)

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  8. Great to catch up here, lovely pages & I love the use of your stamps mixed with found stamps. Good luck with the house hunting.

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