"Welcome, Your Majesty" -- Friends with Flair 6-5

"When you are looking, a cat acts like a princess, but the minute they think you are not looking, a cat acts like a fool."
                                                                                   --------------K.C. Buffington


Hi, Friends....

I am here with an art journal page I made for the current Unity Friends with Flair link up.  I used a little bit of everything this time. But instead of the kitchen sink...I used the freezer! 

This mess means I am having fun.  Will somebody please tell my hubby that!!

Yep.....it's the top of my freezer posing as my mixed media workbench!!






Somehow the industrial feel of the unfinished half of our house gets me in the mood for messy art projects!!  :)



When the warm weather arrives here in Idaho, I begin seeing our summer birds.  One of my favorites is the Eastern Kingbird.  (We also have Western KBs here.)  

I remember the smile that spread across my face this year when I saw a kingbird on my fence, surveying our pasture, ready for any errant flying insects.

I was happy for the warm weather and happy that this bird was gracing my front yard.  A welcoming verse welled from my heart.  I knew I needed to make an art journal page about it.  :)



I am not good at drawing freehand, so I needed a photo to help me sketch out this monarch.  My fence is metal, but I liked this wooden perch better, so I used it as my inspiration.





I sketched out my bird shape on scratch paper and then used my copier to reduce it to the right size for my page.  Then I cut it out and traced it onto some pale gray cardstock and cut that second one out to use on my page. From there, I used Gelatos in black and gray to color the darker areas, rubbing the colors in with my finger, moistened with a baby wipe, to blend.  I colored his crown with a metallic gold marker, and added a few feather marks and other features with an ultra-fine black marker.

Yah, I am so coooool.....umm...regal.

By the way, did you know the kingbird is named such because of the tiny tuft of bright feathers hidden on the head of the male?  It is rarely seen, but he can display it to impress the ladies or to show other males how regal he is.



For the background of my page, I collaged some used gift wrap (that was too pretty and fanciful to toss out) onto my page.  You can see bits of the pattern where it isn't all covered with other stuff!!  :)

I used a large variety of different products on my page including some Unity stamps from grab bags and a feather from Unity - Feather Flight.  I used purple and green Clearsnap - Designer Foils  and Stampendous - Stamp and Bond Embossing Powder with the feathers and tons of other embossing powders in turquoise and gold.  I love all the rich colors and textures and all the shine!!! 


I tinted gesso with blue Gelatos to make a background for my bird.  I like the stucco effect.  I sketched in a fence and colored it with Gelatos, using the same technique of rubbing with a wet finger to blend.  Then I glued the royal avian onto the page and outlined everything with a black Faber-Castell Pitt Big Brush Marker.  I drew in the feet with a black marker.

I wrote out my verse (Yes, I really did something in my own handwriting!) on strips of pale blue cardstock that I had previous stamped in Simon Says Stamp - Khaki ink with a Unity grab bag stamp.  The pattern is very subtle, but adds depth, with the writing over the top of the stamping.  I inked around the edges of the strips with Salty Ocean Distress Ink. 

As a finishing touch, I used a Unity grab bag stamp to put "thanks for coming to visit" on the fence.  Because of the uneven nature of this page, it didn't stamp well and is hard to read....but I know what it says!!  :)

Whew!!!  That was a long description of my process!  Thanks for politely scrolling down patiently plowing through it with me.  All this process is still very new to me.  

One thing that I LOVE about art journal pages is that I can capture a thought or a moment of inspiration and put it down on a page.  I would never have made this into a card, but it is perfect for an art journal page!!  This was a lot of fun and I hope you have enjoyed seeing it.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I appreciate each of you very, very much!!!

<3
Janis


Thank you for the honor of entering this art journal page in the following challenges:
1. Unity Friends with Flair 6-5 Link-Up 
2. DRS Designs Challenge #177 - Hot Trends Over the Top (I wrote my verse over stamping and stamped a sentiment over my fence.)
3. Unruly Paper Arts - June Art Quest 2 - The Great Outdoors
4. Design Memory Craft June Challenge - Find an inspiration piece and make an art journal page from it.
5. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Royal (This was the challenge that kicked me in gear to finish this page!)
6. Wow! Embossing Powder June Challenge - Summer (I did lots of heat embossing on this page!!)