I was using this gorgeous stamp set from 49 and Market and what came to me was ‘tarred and feathered’. Often whilst using my stash, certain words come to mind, phrases or sayings that can spark an idea. So tarred and feathered it was!

For the tarred portion of this project I used my gears stencil to create some texture and from there on the project was built up layer by layer. Let’s take a look…

step 1 – On a sheet of watercolour paper, use your texture paste and apply a pattern onto the background. I used this stencil from Kaisercraft

step 2 – Once the paste is dry, use a pipette and two colours of All Purpose Ink and add some colour. Mist the paper with water and then add the ink one colour at a time over the wet areas and let it flow and bleed.

step 3 – Use Cool Grey All Purpose Ink and your pipette and paint lines around the gears to create shadows.

step 4 – Once the grey ink is dry use your Graphic pencil and add shading.

step 5 – Stamp feathers onto smooth white cardstock using VersaFine Ink.

step 6 – Colour the feathers in using your 3 shades of All Purpose Inks and blend the colours. I used a small paint brush for better control over the colouring process and smooth lines.

step 7 – Once your feathers are dry cover them in a layer of dimensional glaze. Lightly sprinkle the wet glaze with some light blue micro beads and leave to dry

step 8 – Once the glaze dries the beads are encased in the glazed and gives a beautiful dimension to the feathers.

TIP: Please note that normally I would always adhere my element to my base making sure the edges are glued down really well before glazing them. Otherwise the glaze runs off the edges, makes the element curl up and the glaze run off the edges. But this time I knew that it would be ok it something weird happened, although I was confident it wouldn’t. Instead the glaze made the feathers curl, giving them a beautiful shape.

step 9 – Adhere the feathers to your art panel background and finish off with more stamping and a twine bow.

This layering technique will translate really well into your art journal, so have fun, experiment and don’t forget to layer, layer and layer your inks.

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