De-Stress with distress at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

Hi everyone and welcome. Tera is hosting the latest challenge over on The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and she's called it 'De-stress with a little distressing'; "Are you feeling stressed? How about destressing with a bit of distressing. Show us some yummy grungy distressed goodness. This can be anything from torn and tattered bits, crackling, sanding, water spots and so much more! What's your favorite way to add distressing to your projects?"

The Design Team will choose their top four picks, with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and three additional outstanding entries will receive Top 3 Badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

I've returned to working in my Paris art journal for this one, creating a distressed looking collage that features a photo we took inside the modern concourse in the Louvre. Looking up through the glass pyramid you can see the older part of the building outside, a real contrast in architectural styles.

Looking a little closer you can see that there is plenty of detail around the main image but they are all designed to draw the eye in rather than pull the focus away from it.

I took photos of the progress as this journal page was created, starting with the blank pages that had extra torn pieces from a book added over the top along with some texture paste. Some masking tape was also used on one side to attach a tag to the previous page.

The distressing and neutral layers of colour were built slowly and included Walnut Stain Distress Oxide, charcoal pencil and white gesso, all applied and removed in part with tissue to leave traces behind.

Rather than add brighter colour directly to the page I used a number of complimentary and contrasting Dina Wakley Media acrylic paints to pull a gel plate print on blank collage paper. Even better for this distressed look some of the paint at the edges became patchy.

Having glued a piece of this layer and some French text to the page with soft gel medium I used Dina Wakley's 'Marks' stencil and her 'Mineral' acrylic paint to add some stripes through the centre.

To add a little more design detail I stamped one of the geometric images from Dina Wakley Media's 'Be Willing' stamp set onto blank collage paper using black permanent ink.

This could then be added to the page in the desired spot with some soft gel medium. The joy of using this method is that you can have confidence in working on an uneven surface and you can also flip the image to the reverse side if it fits better with the page design.

Going back to adding more colour I again opted to use a gel plate to pull a print, this time with the stronger 'Ruby' acrylic paint teamed with the metallics.

Having mounted the printed image onto some aged paper it was then added to the centre of the journal page underneath the red panel. I also used one of the sheets in the Dina Wakley Media Collage Paper set 'Elements', applying small sections to the top and bottom of the page.

To 'knock these pieces back' I added some texture paste over the top, blending it into the white gesso and paste sections that were already on the page.

To finish I added a little hand stitching, a piece of torn lace, a stamped sentiment from Dina Wakley Media's 'Ledger Girls' stamp set and some more charcoal pencil detail. Here are a few close ups of the completed page;

That's my take on the 'De-Stress with a little distressing' theme. For even more inspiration the rest of the Design Team have come up with their own projects for this challenge so make sure you hop on over and check them out HERE.

For now, thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Products used to create this notebook are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Dina Wakley Media Stamps - 'Be Willing'

Dina Wakely Media Stamps - 'Ledger Girls'

Dina Wakley Media Stencil - Marks

Dina Wakley Media Collage Paper - 'Elements'

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Gel Medium Soft Gel

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Mineral, 1oz Bottle

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Gilt, 1ox Bottle

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Ancient, 1oz Bottle
Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Sedona, 1oz Bottle

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Ruby, 1oz Bottle

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Buff, 1oz Bottle