Hello there, I've been looking at blog challenges again, and found
This one. As it's a no rules challenge, I've been tinkering in the bears' art journal. I do love to ex'bear'iment in this, as anything goes, and if I make a mistake, why, I just pretend it was meant to be that way!
Now, I don't know about you, but here at The House of Bears, along with sacks of fan mail, we receive a lot of junk mail through the letterbox. Usually Wilbear recycles it quicker than you can say beary breakfast, but since we decided to start an art journal, we've been stalking the postbear, in the hope of finding something that may come in useful. Some of the junk mail has interesting artwork which can easily be incorporated into a journal project, or altered in some way.
Being a bit of an excitable and impatient bear, I forgot to take a furry photograph of the junk mail in its original state, but remembered once I had begun inking over it on my art page.
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_785.jpg)
As you see, this was an advert for a well known communications company, I cut around the text at the top of the ad, glued the ad to the page, and tried to blend it in using distress inks to depict a red sky at night, with some black soot ink to introduce the theme of fear. I then wished I hadn't cut the text from the top of the ad, as I had a bearbrainwave for the text at the bottom. 'bear' with me (fnar fnar).
Remember my textured tale of woe? Well I thought I'd have another go, so out came the texture paste
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_786.jpg)
And Horace's chopped credit card
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_787.jpg)
And some glimmer mists, which I mixed into some paste on a piece of scrap card
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_789.jpg)
To produce a brick (ish) colour.
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_790.jpg)
Which I spread over the stone mask, courtesy of the ubiquitous credit card!
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_791.jpg)
I wasn't pleased with the overall colour, so I masked off the rest of the project and resprayed the stone in a more rusty colour.
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_792.jpg)
To replicate a path
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_793.jpg)
I needed to let the pasty piece dry overnight, so settled down for a long sleep. Zzzzzzz
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_794.jpg)
In the morning, once I'd had a small breakfast of bacon, egg, sausage, tomatoes, toast, cereal, porridge..... I had a rummage through the stamps box, to find some appropriate images that matched my page.
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_795.jpg)
I used the tried and tested method to stamp the images onto the page, sit on the stamp block, lots of pressure applied this way!!,
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_797.jpg)
Next I had a little 'paws' for refreshment. Ahh, that's better.
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_798.jpg)
Now, I was ready to add the finishing touch, and glued my die cut image (Tim Holtz, Alterations, Umbrella man die) and adhered him to the page. Goodness, I know some very big words, I ate through the As in the dictionary in a fit of hunger.
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_799.jpg)
Here is my finished art journal page. The stamps are a little subtle, apart from the word danger, which I've used to depict a sinister element to the page. I also stamped the phrase 'fatal attraction' but this doesn't show well on the photo. The moon was made by cutting a small circle with Nestabilities circle dies, and then recutting the circle off centre of the die, to produce a moon shape. There are also some birds flying overhead, you know our fear of birds, so they added to the scary effect.
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_800.jpg)
![](http://photo.blogpressapp.com/photos/12/07/19/s_801.jpg)
Ttfn (to to find nosh!)
With love from the bears 🐻