The Year of the Dog

Joggles Art Journal Adventures has restarted for 2018 and it seems I'm going to participate again this year as I eagerly grabbed a journal. For this page I used my Bee Paper Mixed Media 9 x 9" journal and this year I will work in whatever journal appeals to me on the day. Our first prompt for this year was: the year of the dog. This is what 2018 is in the Chinese calendar. Needless to say the temptation to use that one dog that dominates my heart was great but I also knew I had a lovely dog image in my collage collection and in the end that dog suited the page better.

The page was started with a lot of collage, including vintage pages dating to the 18th Century as well as images from catalogues and magazines. I then used Distress Markers and acrylic paint combined with stencils and a baby wipe to form the background. I used the following stencils (all by Stencilgirl Products): the medium stencil from the August 2014 Stencilgirl Club, the medium stencil from the October 2017 Club set, and finally the S451 Woven Small one. As you can tell I could not resist adding some sparkle to celebrate the New Year.

I also dripped paint (fluorescent pink and white) down the pages before gluing on the dog and the text. They were outlined in a black Stabilo All pencil. I added some marks with a black Artgraf stick and then wetted them with a water spray.

It feels good to be back in an art making rhythm after all the festivities. Hopefully by next week I will be aware of what day of the week it is as I seem to have lost track what with all the bank holidays (we have an extra one here in Scotland, as Jan 2 is also a holiday day, presumable to have extra time to recover from Hogmanay!).

Now I just have to finish a quilt that took over 2017 and should have been done by the end of that year but it is still lingering on my desk. Not much more work to do and then I can finally contemplate starting the next one.  I don't think I have ever wrestled with a quilt so much and we will be parting on bad terms although once it is finished I might just love it again.