Hey there, hope all is well with you.
This is in my 7x7 Stonehenge journal of watercolor paper. I started out water coloring the blue sky with a really wet mop brush. I laid down a sheet of paper towel to pick up the excess water and it left those little blue dots from the towel's design. Right off the bat, I was like oh great, lol, but since the flower heads ended up there I decided it looks kinda cool!
Then I got to work stenciling the scene, using Versa Magic Chalk and Brilliance inks. Then I got out my Posca paint pens and pretty much colored over everything except for a few of the butterflies. I completely redrew/painted the yellow flower head and the white seed heads, then I defined the yellow flower's leaves with a Sakura Stardust glitter gel pen. For the white seed heads, I needed the bright white of my white out correction pen, which also gave then a raised embossed look. I drew a few seeds blowing in the wind, although you can barely see them. Since it still wasn't showing up enough to stand out, I shaded in and around the heads with a gray wax pencil and it helped.
To finish up, I painted some brown dirt at the bottom and then with a crumpled up paper towel I picked up some lighter green Posca paint and smooshed it along the dirt line and grass line to help the stenciled grassy area not look like an island, lol. Lastly, I drew around the outer edge of the page with some Distress Crayons and rubbed them with a wet finger as best I could, to frame it.
Oops, forgot the drama trauma with the sentiment! It's an ancient SEI rub-on, maybe 15 years old. I'd used another sentiment from that same sheet without a problem recently, so this time I got brave and rubbed it on my page directly. Well, wouldn't you know the last 2 letters would not transfer no matter what I tried. Luckily, I had a Pitt Artist pen the same color, so I took a deep breath and freehanded the g and s. It looks pretty good if you don't look too closely, lol. And yes, I have learned my lesson about using old rub-ons directly on my art! And I'm very grateful for having something presentable to share after all the hiccups.
😁😅😌
Now, I want to share some info about dandelions.
Now, I want to share some info about dandelions.
This ARTICLE has way more than you ever wanted to know, but I learned a lot about dandelions and the botanical family of species it's in. I had no idea that dandelions were in the same Asteraceae Family as sunflowers, lettuce, artichokes and (the one I did think) daisies! I also learned online about its lifecycle aka what comes first and later, especially from this ARTICLE.
Here's a graphic from that second article, and...
I told Honey I didn't want him to mow until the wildflower/weeds have run their course. We're gonna try to do No Mow May or at least as long as we can. Honey quit mowing in April for me because the flowering began then, so the grass might get too high before May's end. I told him it benefits the bees and honey is his favorite sweetener. He buys it locally made, so I think he's willing to try this. Plus, Honey's his nickname!
We also had a termite swarm this evening at dark and had to turn all the outside lights off. Thank goodness they are only here for a few days every year.
Spring has all kinds of stuff going on, doesn't it?
😊
Thanks for visiting and I hope your week's behaving!
XXO
36 comments:
Wonderful journal page, and it's good to get rid of things which annoy us! Lovely to see the dandelions in your garden, too, they are so important for bees and insects. And dandelion salad is good and healthy! Have a great day, and thanks again for another lovely piece at AJJ for your challenge. Hugs, Valerie
Agree they are fascinating, as children we called then clocks and used to blow the seedhead to decide on the time, it rarely got beyond four o'clock! Thanks so much for sharing your pretty journal cover with us at Allsorts challenge this week.
B x
I thought the background blue diots looked like seeds blowing in the wind along wuith the ones from the stencil. I have so few stencils, yet I have one that is worthless, too. You sure compensated well.
I've had the same thing happen with rub-ons in the past. I don't use them and they get rubbed in storage and they no longer work. You did a fabulous job of filling in the missing letters.
I enjoyed the dandelion article. I knew some but not all of it. In your personal back yard, I see at least three stages. I wish I could let my yard go, but my city has VERY strict grass height laws and we are fined if they aren't obeyed. The ONLY time the rule is not enforced, is if it has rained every day for at least five days or every other day for at least seven. Since my back yard is visible from the street, I can't get away with not mowing. However, I applaud you. Thankfully, I have honeysuckle and other climbing vines the bees go crazy over.
Thank you for this great journal entry and your dandelion information you have shared with us at Art Journal Journey using your great theme.
A lovely page and a lovely theme - thank you for choosing this.
I love seed headed dandelions especially, but not in my garden, on paper. Especially some of the rubber stamps.
Have a nice day
~Hugs, Neet xx
Love your pages!
On Sundays on KiKa you can watch "Löwenzahn" - I do since the 1970´s. I also have two jewlery-pieces that have dandelions inside.
So lovely to see you hosting at AJJ this month dear Aimeslee!
I love your beautiful dandelion page, and lovely to see your wildflower garden too. We never mow now, and have a few dandelions which I love. We also have a ton of forget-me-nots and bluebells. I so love the Spring flowers!
I'm looking forward to joining in at AJJ. I really need to get my art journaling going again!
Big hugs,
Alison xx
awww. this is such a sweet journal page! 💙💙💙 the bunnies in our backyard have been doing a good job munching on our dandelions. Have a fantastic day! Cheers, Makira
Fabulous journal page even though it caused stress and I agree if it doesn't work throw it!Love the dandelions and butterflies though.I did know about the dandelions as I have a chart about them and they are good for the soil too-never seen so many as we have this year,the verges and lawns are covered with them-good for the Bees,I have honey every day a spoonful in my porridge every morning and a spoonful before I go to bed too.You should read up on mushrooms too-now they are interesting and have intelligence!
Carol x
Thank you for joining us at Scrapping4fun
Pearly Sparkles
Carol DT x
A beautiful journal page, so full of vibrant and pretty colors and a fabulous floral scene! BTW, I am mailing out your stencil prize today, I even went to town yesterday and got home and pulled in the garage and looked over and here it was sitting on the seat lol, so will get it in the mail today!!
Thank you for joining our challenge at Stencil Fun and The Sisterhood of
Crafters!
Diane SF Co-Owner and TSH DT
{Nellies Nest}
{Stencil Fun}
Beautiful journal page showing the life cycle of the Dandelion! How interesting is this info! I've always been one to sort of enjoy the bright color of these little beings sprinkled over the lawn. It is fun to think about how they go from bright yellow to the fluff balls! Such a great part of nature and your page shows it so well with the dots and little bits flying! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Path of Positivity! ~Katrina
Wonderful this flowers page!
Hug Elke
Always nice to read that I am not the only one who likes dandelions. They are such fun and happy flowers and I hate that they are considered a weed. Back in Germany (where I used to live and work in a pharmacy) we used to sell Dandelion tea. I don't think I ever drank it but I'm pretty sure my dad made it occasionally back in the day.
Sorry you had trouble with the stencil but glad you made it work for this page. It turned out so beautifully!
Thank you so much for joining in at "I spy with my little eye"!
Ellie
Ellibelle's Corner
OMG ... love all those beautiful butterflies flitting about on your page! GREAT job! Thanks so much for joining in the fun at our Sisterhood of Crafters challenge! Good Luck and we hope you’ll come back often.
Darlene
Sisterhood of Crafters
DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS
PS ... thanks for also joining us at our Stencil Fun blog ... good luck!
Hi Aimeslee! I absolutely love the beautiful page you created. I'm sorry to here that the stencil was a pain to use - your perseverance certainly paid off in your gorgeous flowers and page! And I really enjoyed reading about your dandelions! Yes, they are so good for a lot of things! My mom and dad used to make dandelion salad all the time!!! Thanks once again for hosting this fun challenge! Hugs, Sharon
What a Gorgeous Aimeslee page! A very interesting creation process, with its comings and goings, as often happens to us, and always learning. I love butterflies and those dandelions are wonderful. It's nice that you help the little bees a little bit.
I hope you have a nice Friday and weekend
Big hugs, Caty
Fabulous art journal page such beautiful colours and images, thanks for playing along with us at Fab’n’Funky Challenges.
Pat xx
What a lovely summery scene. The dandelions are lovely with the butterflies fluttering around. Thank you for joining in the Allsorts Challenge this week. Good luck!
Liz xx
Dandelions are not weeds, are they? I love when they get to the scattering phase. And you have very tall dandelions compared to what we have here. Ours hardly are usually closer to the ground. And I do like your dandelion page too. Those little dots are great. Very nice stenciling, so thank you for linking this up to TIOT also. I hope you're week is going well. hugs-Erika
Thanks, Aimes for using FQCB's dandelions theme as your focus for your AJ! I'm honored! And I didn't even realize that there are more stages and I love your research to find out what botanical family they belong to! A cousin to artichokes!! Wow! One time when I stayed overnight with my Grandma Morris, she fixed bacon and dandelion greens. I focused on the bacon and only took a nibble of the greens. She cooked them like spinach. Back then I wasn't into cooked or wilted greens. But the time spent with her was precious. She lived for about 3 years after that. I'm glad you persevered with the stencil and completing the page. Your efforts look like it was a breeze to put together!!! Bravo to you! Give yourself a pat on the back! THANKS for also sharing at FQGS and Ally's Angels! Appreciatively, Becca
My goodness, this card really gave you a run for your money. I would have never known by looking at it. I can't tell at all that you did the "gs" by hand. II tend to throw away things that frustrate me. I do that quite often with artwork. If I don't like something I tend to tear it up right away so I don't keep going back just to be frustrated again. I almost always start from scratch. You have much more perseverance than me. Anyways, it is so beautiful! I love it.
Thanks for sharing at FQGS!!
And another official appreciation from FQCB!!! :)
I love your dandelion art journal page!! It's beautiful!! I've had a few stencils I've thrown away myself because they just drove me nuts to use them. We have dandelions in our yard every year and I love to keep them blooming as long as I can. Unfortunately, there are too many beehives around here dying off. Have a fabulous day and thanks for the inspiration my friend.
Lovely page and photos 😍🌞🌻
I took a look at the stencil and understand why it would be difficult to do, I have a feather stencil that has those tiny bits that turn up or move when it's coloured. Maybe I'll throw that too? However, saying all that Aimes, your page is fabulous a beautiful natural scene that could be taken from your backyard. Love the paper towel effect, how fortunate that happened. How you wrote those letters, no one would know unless told. Super work.
So interesting about the dandelion, I didn't know about the cycle of the dandelions, just saw it happening, not realising what was happening. At the moment around here, they are in wonderful drifts of flowers on the side of the roads and fields, an absolutely wonderful sight to behold. Then the seeds start flying, filling the sky! Thankfully, we don't have termites. I love seeing Spring and everything being reborn, isn't it the most breathtaking time?
Enjoy your Sunday. x
I adore the lovely 'n' generous dandelion, for so many reasons.
What a beautiful page Aimeslee- perfect for our 'Use A Stencil' theme as well as your own 'Flowers' theme at AJJ. Thanks so much for joining us at Try It On Tuesday. I love wildflowers and my neighbour and I have persuaded our garden committee that we need to leave some grass uncut at least for 'No Mow May'which they hadn't even heard of!! I recognise all those stages of a Dandelion life cycle! Hugs, Chrisx
Lovely project Aimeslee. Thank you for sharing with us over at The Creative Crafters (creativecrafterschallenge.blogspot.com).
Wendy DT
Superb art journal page Aimeslee ... the background sky looks fab with the subtle patterning, and the colouring on the dandelions really paid off. Thanks so much for joining in this month with I Spy With My Little Eye challenge.
Pauline xx
Beautiful Spring scene! Love all your stencil work!! Thanks for joining us at Try it on Tuesday! ((HUGS)) Helen DT
Very Pretty Colours. Thanks for playing along with us at Pearly Sparkles Challenge. Lisa J
Our lawn mower broke and we ended up with a million dandilions. Your page makes me think of that. He got it fixed yesterday and now we look home again (you know people wondered if we were sick or gone - lol). Another beautiful page for your pretty flower theme.
This is a wonderful journal page. Just looking at this calms me down! Nice imagery and great colors!
Thanks for stopping by A Place to Start !
Hugz,
Chana Malkah, Owner
Redora Lee Designs , My Blog
A Place to Start , Challenge Blog
613 Avenue Create , Owner
Wonderful page. Thanks for joining us at Pearly Sparkles this month for Anything Goes but a card challenge.
This is the sweetest creation and I enjoyed your back stories! Thanks for playing at Happy Little Stampers May Watercolor Challenge. xoxo LynB
A lovely journal page Aimeslee! The beautiful happy colours really help it to pop! Thanks so much for sharing with us at HLS - Watercolour Challenge! Have a good day! :)
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