Last week I found this image I’d printed ages ago…I knew immediately that it would become a focal point in an upcoming journal page.

Since I’ve been using the term “mop up paper” quite often lately I thought I’d share a bit of a process post to give visuals to my words.

This is where my page started. A sheet of blue copy paper 8.5 x 11 inches. I used a glue stick to adhere it to some lightweight card stock.

After the glue was dry I cut it down to my desired size of 7 x 7 inches. Next I got out craft paints and used my favorite tool…my fingers…to spread several colors of paint over the page.

Some of the colors are more transparent than others allowing the original color and marks to show through.

Look at that yummy texture…  I decided to let this air dry overnight instead of drying it with the heat gun.

Of course this is where my process failed…I totally forgot about the fact that I was taking photos step by step.

I used rubber stamps to create some background texture. The black ink harlequin was super subtle…I felt I needed a bit more color and shape. Since most of my stamp pads are pigment ink I used clear embossed powder to set the ink.

I also took the completed background to my sewing machine to stitch a funky border in black to contain everything.

Next I created some layers with paper and fabric to give an anchor to my image.

Last but not least was the words of wisdom to a little girl learning to tie shoes with her daddy’s shoes. I love that they are on the wrong feet too.

Not only am I linking up with Words to live by on Art Journal Journey guest hosted by yours truly….

but I am also linking up with Try it on Tuesday for Make a Mark.