"Happiness is a place between too little and too much." Finish proverb.
I happened upon this quote while browsing through some quotation websites. I love looking for quotes. I keep a little notebook of them. I love when good ones really speak to you where you are and give you an a-ha kind of moment. This one did. I am seeking happiness. I suppose we all are, but after some rough spots in life, I am truly seeking more happiness in life and trying to teach myself to find it more where I am. Too little happiness really leaves us hungry, too much makes us suffocate. I want to be there right smack in the middle, not too little and definitely not too much. I created this page for my art journal to mark and remember that a-ha moment that quote gave me and to remind me to strive for the center, the just right spot in the middle.
My base page has super small printed dots on it. It is one of the precut pages that came in my binder. I placed the Crafter's Workshop Daisy Doodle over the page and sprayed Adirondak Color Wash (Butterscotch, Sunset Orange, and Red Pepper) over the surface. I applied three colors in stripes across the page going from light to dark so that the color would blend in a gradient pattern.
I used PhotoShop and some favorite fonts to create a piece of word art for the phrase. I then created a stamp from the word art using the Teresa Collins Stampmaker. The fonts I used were distressed style fonts. I am still tinkering and playing with what kinds of fonts and sizes I think work best for making the stamps. I kind of like the effect of them although it kind of makes it look they they weren't stamped well. Next time I think I will use a more solid font to compare.
I really love these fun circle stamps from Art Gone Wild's Suzanne Carillo collection. I love the freehand look of the circles and that with the multiple rings on each circle, it fit perfectly into my theme. I used a Letraset Promarker to add yellow to the stars and used a silver gell pen to accent the rings.
I also stamped some stars on the piece. I filled in the smaller center star with the yellow marker and filled in the larger outer star with silver gel pen.
After I was finished with stamping and coloring, I added Black Soot Distress Ink to the outer edges of the page. I feel like it gives it a nice finished look and kind adds to the symbolism in the page that it is brighter and happier in the center.
This page was a pretty quick and simple page. I tend to get wrapped up in thinking that projects have to be complicated and full of technique to be interesting. I think this page proves that thinking wrong because I really love it and love the thought that went into. I love the bold color and crisp lines and the whimsy in the fun circles. It is simple and happy and that, I think, is a very good thing!
----------Supplies----------
- stamps: Art Gone Wild Suzanne Carillo Collection- Happy Birthday Yummy; phrase stamp created with Teresa Collins Stampmaker
- stencil: Crafter's Workshop Daisy Doodle
- Ranger Adirondack Color Wash: Red Pepper, Sunset Orange, Butterscotch
- ink: Black Soot Distess Ink, Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink
- markers: Letraset Pro Marker Lemon; Gelly Roll Silver Gel Pen
