We all have them; things we buy thinking
they will come in handy, and then we store them away and promptly forget we
ever had them. I’m trying to bring some order into my supplies at the moment in
the hope of getting rid of some of the clutter. But I must admit rather than
throwing things out I rejoice in finding them again.
One of the supplies I came
across when tidying my inkjet printer supplies were not just one but two packs
of DIY business cards.
It had been my plan many years ago to produce my
own business cards but it proved to be so much easier to simply order them that
packages remained unopened till now. It suddenly struck me that instead I could
put these to use in my art journal.
Here is my step-by-step process
(remember to let each stage dry thoroughly!):
1. I
took one page out of each pack and covered each in a different color of
paint and stenciled both with a different color of paint using Ancient Marks.
Use a gentle hand as the business cards are apt to
come loose otherwise.
2. Repeat
with a different paint color.
4. Using
an art foamie (I used Writer’s Block designed by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer) and
an Archival black ink pad, add marks to the pages.
5. Drip acrylic ink down the pages. I used fluorescent yellow and green.
This completes work on the business cards. Set the sheets apart to dry for
the moment.
Now we'll start on the background in
the black 8 x 8” Dylusions art journal.
6. Paint
each facing page a different color. I used red and blue for this step.
7. Using
the stencils from MB’s Grid Stencils as well as the medium stencil
from October 2015 StencilClub, stencil on squares of various sizes onto
the pages using first the opposite colors to the ones used in step 6 and then black and white.
You can do this in any order
you like and as often as you prefer till you are happy with how the spread
looks.
9. Remove
the business cards from their background and put them under some heavy
books to flatten them.
10. Glue
on the business cards to the pages.
11. Outline
the business cards with black and white markers and glue on the vintage
text as shown,
outlining that in turn with a pencil.
There are even some painted business
cards left over!
Now I only have to remember I have them and store them
somewhere where I can easily find them again!
Have a very happy and artful holiday season (here’s hoping you will receive some stencils!)
and wishing you a creative
2017.
(C) Frieda Oxenham 2016. To see more of Frieda's work, please visit her BLOG.
