Try, try, try again...

This week my Documented Life page was quite a long journey to get to the end. I wasn't sure whether I should share the whole journey but decided it may help some people. The prompt this week was words with friends and the art challenge writing.

 I started my page with 3 colors that appealed to me. Turquoise, magenta and pale pink. They seemed like pretty colors for a page about my friends. I randomly applied them with a brush.

 

Next I used a rubber brayer to spread more of those colors on the page and blend the paint that was already there. At this stage I could have left it and used the background like this but I wanted to use a bit more of the light color.

I added more pale pink then thought it was too much so I spread more of the other colors around too. Again the page could be left like this and finished off but I decided my images and writing wouldn't stand out on this busy background. 

I covered a lot of the page with the green and left just a little of the other colors peeking through. I decided to leave this overnight to dry and see if I liked it better in the morning. 

In the morning I decided the background was too dark so I covered the whole page with a little white paint using my brayer. I was thought that was it now.  I got out some scraps of paper to do the paper piecing and when I put them on the background they didn't stand out at all. I needed a dark background for the paler colors of my paper.

 I went through my stash and found this container of Moon Shadow Ink. It has been open for a while and the ink had evaporated into a really thick brown goo. Perfect! I spread it over  the page and then splashed on a few drips of water. The water lifted the ink in spots so I blotted them off and finally was happy with the background.

Looking back I can see that the colors I chose at the beginning did not work with the papers I had for the cups so that is probably why I didn't think the background was right. Lesson learned - to trust my instincts!

 The finished page. I sketched some cups, cut them out of paper scraps and glued them to the page. I added some black and white pen details. I wrote the quote out to look like stripes across the background. It was quite a journey but the finished page pleases me and reminds me of many cuppas shared with wonderful people I love to call friends.

In this photo you can see the metallic pigments of the ink. When I turn the page in my journal it catches the light.

  

 My handwriting for this week is another idea from the Creative Lettering book. I used my own writing and added the little flowers like the example in the book.

Each month I am also doing an extra page of watercolor paper. I will add 4 images to about that month. For me that means summer and Australia Day.