Maura's Musings: Make Your Own Background with Paper Artsy!

Monday, July 1

Make Your Own Background with Paper Artsy!

UPDATE: I AM THRILLED THIS PIECE WAS CHOSEN AS A FAVORITE OF 2019 AT SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS!! TRULY HONORED!

Hello Monday and welcome friends! We are making our own BACKGROUNDS this week at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and showcasing Paper Artsy products. We'd love to have you join the challenge and create your own background!

We have a wonderfully talented mixed media artist joining us for July - Kerstin F. from Scrapbook Dreams! I am always in awe of her amazing creations, and I know you will be too. I am privileged to work with Kerstin on other projects and am so happy to welcome her to Simon Says Stamp this month...Welcome Kerstin!!

UPDATE: I am thrilled and honored to have my Efilump Friends chosen as a Favorite for the Week of July 6 at Splitcoast Stampers!!!! Thank you!

I just love these Efilump stamps from Paper Artsy, so I decided to create a little scene between two friends in my art journal.

I started by mixing Buff and Terracotta on the gel plate, blending with a brayer and pressing it into my pages.

I used a number of Seth Apter's stamps to add in more layers with designs.

I decided to add in more orange with the Coral, and crumpled up a dry baby wipe and lifted paint off the gel plate to press on the left, then pressed the plate on the right.

Next up a light blue layer with stamp and Venice Blue and Glacier Ice. Part of me wishes I had stopped here with my background, I really love this mix of colors.

But, I forged ahead with another pattern and a deeper blue - South Pacific.

I felt the need to bring it back again and used the stencil with these colors.

I smudged in some Glacier Ice as a white wash in areas, then stenciled in a row of the flowers at the top and bottom of my pages.

My pages were calling for a touch more blue, so in with the lace stencil and South Pacific, but randomly.

I set the journal aside to dry and made my background papers for the elephants. I used a mix of Candy Floss, pansy and Spanish Mulberry and tried to get a peeled paint look.

I added some yellow, let it dry, then stamped the elephants.

Detail of the background layers...

I stamped a garden of flowers, added in a bit of color, then cut across a section of the top of the flowers to put my elephant in so it would look like it was walking through a field.

I added a few friendly birds visiting this fellow.

Remember, Efilumps never forget...and neither do women!

There's my colorful and whimsical take on this week's challenge. I hope you are inspired to join us for a fun challenge! One lucky participant is drawn at random to win a $50 shopping voucher from our generous friends at Simon Says Stamp!