Explore Hidden Corners

Creating unplanned collages in a journal is a practice that is good for the soul, and something that I need to make time for daily. It is very freeing to just grab four or five unrelated papers and randomly—using matte medium—glue them onto a blank page. You never know where it will lead, how it will turn out, and what thoughts and emotions it will evoke.

I rummaged through my scrap box and chose a few background papers, and selected a couple others for a possible central figure. Step one has a section of a magazine ad and some vintage paper that had accidentally been sprayed with lime and turquoise Dylusions ink while working on another project. At the top, I added a piece from a magazine story on decorating and fabrics.

I love butterflies, so the central figure is a royalty free butterfly from The Graphics Fairy. The page began to feel like I had opened an old trunk in the attic of grandma’s farmhouse, so I added a lacey Victorian effect with white printmaking paint through an old Crafters Workshop stencil. To add to the old attic feeling, I dabbed on antique linen Distress Stain, which enhanced the aged appearance of the newsprint.

Thinking of old houses and attics, the words “explore hidden corners” popped into my head, so I used tiny alphabet stamps with a black archival ink pad to write the phrase. Next, using a Pocket Stencil, I added the word SEEK in two places using a fine black pen, gray Tombow brush tip marker, pencil and white Signo pen. One of the SEEKs changed color from light to dark, and the other faded from dark at the top to light on the bottom.

The final touches were some white dots, some black and white random triangle created with the Harlequin stencil, and a strip of butterfly washi tape on the bottom.