When I play in my art journal sometimes a story is revealed to me.  This particular tale, of two lovers separated by time and space brought together thanks to Johnny Cakes, isn’t really Pulitzer prize worthy.   In fact, it is quite a silly love story and I like it that way.

Between you and me…I expected to create a very modern looking art journal page as I added some stenciling to the page.  I was thinking modern.  I was feeling modern.  And then my art journal led me a totally silly, fun, and playfully different way.

Enjoy a chuckle as I play around and create a story with classic elements of story telling and you’ll even get to see more of my postage stamp quirks in the video!

Watch  Finding the silly story in my art journal on YouTube.

And I’ve never had a Johnny Cake before.  Does anyone know if they are any good?

 Supplies Used:

• Picasso’s Words stencil
• Scales-Legends stencil
• Stamps by Mary C. Nasser

Does an art journal page happen in one afternoon?  It can, but very very rarely for me.  I used to feel pressure to “finish what I start” in one afternoon.  That pressure that took the fun out of it for me so I decided to let an art journal page take as long as it wanted.

How long between each session?  Every page, every canvas, every project is different.

This was done 3-6 months ago or even longer – can’t remember.  I was simply playing around with paint with no expectations.

Today, my muse decided it was time to add more.  Using just one stencil, Urban Insiders Tag by Seth Apter, I stenciled white in the grid of dots by using parts of the stencil.

Using Seth’s Urban Insiders Circle, Square, and Star I created a messy random background with watery white paint.

I love the feeling of movement thanks to one of Maria McGuire’s butterflies from her Butterfly Duo stencil.  At this point it is hard to see the detail of it on the page.  Never fear!  This is just the first layer with a quick stenciling with ink and a sponge.

I colored it in with All Purpose ink & a Fantastix.

I put the stencil right back on top of where it was and stenciled it with white paint.

Then I traced over the butterfly with an irRESISTible pico embellisher.

The fine tip is a bit addictive…I just didn’t want to stop drawing with it so I kept on drawing!

After adding a very very thin layer of white paint, I added more yellow with a Fantastix and yellow all purpose ink.

And this is where the page will wait until I am ready to add more since there is no rule about how quickly an art journal page must be completed.  How long will it be?  Could be a day. Could be a month.  Could be more.  Of course, I’ll share with you as it develops.