PaperArtsy 2016 Topic 2: Hearts

The second PaperArtsy topic of this year is about Hearts. I was struggling with this theme for some reason [maybe because I won the last challenge and wasn't motivated enough...]. I created several versions and this one made the final cut:

I always feel bad when I'm sharing something I'm not completely happy about. Sometimes you need to embrace your art even though you want to rip it out of the journal and redo it. But I did that and it didn't really help [insert a hysterical laughter here...]

This particular page was inspired by Liz Borer's piece. I took out my Gelatos and painted two backgrounds - one on a piece of cardstock (for the background), the other on a sheet of deli paper.

There is a reason my Gelatos rot in a box. I repeatedly want to give them another chance but I think I should throw them away. No matter how hard I try, I just hate them.
I took the background sheet and added some pattern using a flower stencil (Roses by Dutch Doobadoo). Looks so much better now the Gelatos are covered...

I glued crumpled pieces of the deli paper on some hearts. The bigger ones are the PaperArtsy "Tall Heart" die, the small ones are just hand-cut.

Next, I stencilled some small hearts using a fine structure paste. While the paste was wet, I sprinkled it with embossing powder. I melted the powder with my heat-gun, letting it bubble a bit.

Next, I glued down the hearts and outlined them with dark crayons. Way too dark, I'm afraid...

Finally, I added some quotes from Emma Godfrey's 15th set. I thought they were appropriate...

I'm using a ring-bound kraft journal this year. I really like the split layout with the kraft edges.