There’s Always the Possibility of a Dream Coming True - Art Journal Page

This art journal page started with a very clear picture in my head, composition-wise, and I'm so pleased with how it came together. The idea in my head and the finished page are pretty much the same - which doesn't always happen!

I also wanted to stick to a limited colour palette, hopefully inspiring other creatives to see that you don't need to use everything you own to make something interesting. Says the woman who is an awful completeist!

For this page, I'm using my new Possibility of a Dream stamp set from Art Inspirations. My idea was to make the flowers and the separate D R E A M letters stand out against a heavily layered background.

The other challenge was to embrace the white space, which is a recurring creative struggle for me.

Building the background

Although the background looks quite complicated, it started with just two colours: Crackling Campfire and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Oxides.

I placed the inks onto my glass mat, spritzed them with water and tapped the page into them, drying between each layer. It's a simple way to start building colour without worrying too much about where everything goes.

Next, I used the Dream Background stamp with Crackling Campfire, stamping it twice down one side of the page. This created another background layer and gave me a guide for where I wanted to place the D R E A M letters later.

I then stamped the main floral image using VersaFine Clair Nocturne. This wasn't the finished image but a placement guide for the additional stamping I wanted to build around it.

Using Crackling Campfire and Squeezed Lemonade again, along with two of the smaller 'worker' stamps, I gradually filled in the background. Sticking to the same colours helps create the impression of lots of layers without introducing a whole new palette.

Finally, I used the small sentiment stamp with Nocturne, stamping around the floral image. This gives the impression of a shadow without having to paint one in.

Adding the focal image

On a separate piece of watercolour card, I stamped the main floral image again, this time using VersaFine Clair Nocturne. I coloured it with the same two Distress Oxide colours, adding a little Forest Moss for the greenery, before cutting it out.

I know cutting around all those twiggy bits could be fiddly, but I actually removed them! Instead, I coloured those details directly onto the placement image using a Micron pen.

I also stamped and cut out the individual D R E A M letters, ready to add to the page.

When I placed the floral image onto the background, I felt something was missing. Although the overall idea had worked as I'd imagined, the stamping seemed to sit too much to one side of the page. I wanted to balance things out a little.

That's when I remembered my Art Inspirations Indian Collage stencil. It has a lovely semi-circle design, which was just the extra element the page needed.

The finishing touches

Once I was happy with the balance of the design, I added the floral image and letters using 3D foam pads.

And, of course, I still felt it needed something else! Nothing too dramatic, just a little extra detail.

I stamped three butterflies using VersaFine Clair Nocturne, and that was it. I was finally happy with the page.

It's funny how a project can follow the vision in your head so closely and still need a few adjustments along the way.

Want to see how I made it?

When I introduced this stamp set, I recreated the page in a different colourway during a YouTube demonstration. You can watch the process there if you'd like to see how the layers came together.

If you want to jump straight to the demonstration, wind forward to 1 hour 9 minutes.

Thank you ever so much for popping by today. I hope this has given you a few ideas to try in your own art journal, whether that's working with a limited colour palette, building up a background or having a go at embracing a little white space.

Until next time, take care,

Lou
xxx