Monday, August 29, 2022

Enchanted Moon Garden Story Board Scenes By Jenn White - August 22, 2022

Welcome to the ArtFoamies BLOG. I am so happy you are here! I am excited to be back to play & create with you! YAY!

☆I am beginning to feel the Autumn mood approaching. That usually means creating new, unique & unusual decor for my home. I wanted to work on a project that would feel like a pleasant seasonal transition from summer into Autumn.

☆I have been inspired to create dimensional storyboard scenes as illustrations for my short stories using many ArtFoamies foam stamp design images on black substrates.

It is my heartfelt wish to inspire you to see & USE your ArtFoamies in new & different ways by showing you my creative process. If you are stuck or do not know where to begin, perhaps my way of creating will work for you too. When you try this, I would love to see photos of your results. Knowing that I inspired you to create art with your ArtFoamies will make my day!

☆LET'S BEGIN! YAY!☆

☆ STEP ONE - GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES ☆

☆The supplies you will need to create along with me are:

☆Your favorite ArtFoamies foam art stamp designs. (Make sure they are all clean & dry.)
There is a list of the ArtFoamies I used including direct links to them on the ArtFoamies website near the bottom of this blog post.

☆SMOOTH black drawing paper OR SMOOTH black card stock OR SMOOTH black hot press watercolor paper.

☆A white ink pad & a bottle of white ink refill. I used *link* Moonlight White opaque whitest white artisan ink pad for mixed media and paper arts by THE MOON AND THE MAKER.

☆ PRO TIP 1 ☆

Did you know that ANY shade of the *link* Moonlight Duo Tint & Hue ink pads will show up on black paper? As long as you blend the color with the white side of the pad it will show up as a tinted color on the black paper.

☆ PRO TIP 2 ☆

The most important thing is to have a juicy ink pad to give good ink coverage on your ArtFoamies foam stamps. I used the *link* Moonlight White Tint & Hue re-inker by THE MOON & THE MAKER to freshen up my ink pad. A fresh re-inking of your ink pad can really make all the difference in how your stamped images look & turn out.

☆ PRO TIP 3 ☆

Make sure to always shake the re-inker bottle well with the lid tightly screwed on before applying it to the ink pad.

☆You will also need your favorite pair of sharp scissors for cutting paper. They will be used for trimming around & cutting out some of your stamped images to layer them over your created backgrounds to create a dimensional scene.

☆You will need your favorite adhesives to adhere papers together. Foam mounting tape is great if you have it. It can be used to give your creation a more dimensional look. I used a a package of black foam double sided adhesive squares I had in my stash to layer the stamped image designs onto my background scenes.

☆ PRO TIP 4 ☆

If you wish to change out or move your images around on your background scenes, I suggest that you choose to use a removable adhesive or a reposistional adhesive.

☆You can use these scenes as home decor, wall art, as a page in your art journal, on greeting cards, as book cover art, in a homemade children's book, in a shadow box or shoe box as a miniature stage set, a backdrop to play with paper dolls or whatever you wish to dream up or imagine. You can use my ideas or do with them as you choose.
 

☆ STEP TWO  - IMAGINATION & VISION☆

Many of my ideas for the art I create come to me while I am asleep dreaming. This short story I wrote is a dream I had that inspired the creations I am sharing with you. I have many ArtFoamies in my stash that will work perfectly to illustrate this dream on scene story boards.

VISUALIZE THIS: You are walking down a path through a fragrant flower garden on a summer night. You see the flashing lights of the fire flies. You see the far away light from our sun reflecting off of the planets & moons in our solar system. You see the other mysterious stars within our galaxy & galaxies beyond ours in the vast universe shining above you. You see Earth's moon reflecting the full glow of our solar system's sun, casting light, creating shadows & reflections. The heavily scented beds of blooms are absorbing the light of the moon causing them to glow & sparkle.

The flowers look as if they have been painted with with phosphorescent paint and sprinkled with a fine powder of twinkling iridescent glitter. A rainbow halo appears around the massive super moon. A misty cooling fog slowly creeps in, curling its way around everything including you. It coats all it touches with a thick dew. The condensation becomes so heavy, it drips down the plant's petals & leaves. The reflection of the Moonlight creates a sparkling, dew drop diamond mine. Glistening gorgeousness surrounds you.

You look on, gasping in disbelief as the bees, moths, butterflies, dragonflies, fireflies & hummingbirds transform into pixies & fairies flying all around you. They sip the dewy nectar from the flowers. It cools & refreshes them, quenching their thirst. Ghosts of sentient beings float amongst the fairies, haunting the garden paths. They seem to be enjoying this blissfully surreal sight right along with you. A fairy flutters close, then whispers in your ear, "they are your guardians, the spirits of lost loved ones, do not fear them, they mean you no harm."

Suddenly mushrooms & toadstools begin magically rising up from the Earth. Expanding & unfurling to serve as tables & chairs for the fairies. Providing them a place to rest, play & create. Their own miniature art studio. They happily work together tediously & carefully choosing blossoms & greenery for their creations. Just before the rise of the light the fairies present you with a glorious crown of flowers they created especially for you. Flying around the crown they lift it and place it upon your head. They thank you for creating, planting & caring for such a beautiful flower garden fueling station for all of the pollinators. Especially the monarch butterflies on their way south at this time. As soon as the dawn begins to colorfully light the atmosphere they change back into bees, moths, butterflies, dragonflies & hummingbirds & the guardian spirits can no longer be seen. You are so thankful for a new day & more time to live, you whistle along with the cardinal birds that are announcing the beginning of a brand new day.

Copyright by-JENN WHITE-2022
My stories come from my deep sleep dreams.

What story or stories do you want to tell with your ArtFoamies creation? You can be inspired by my dream story or create your own.

☆ STEP THREE - MIXING & MATCHING ☆

Spread out all of your ArtFoamies on your bed, table, desk, bench, couch, counter, floor. Wherever you have enough space to sort & group them for your scenes. Which ones look best together? Which ones compliment each other? Which ones are your favorites? I usually sort my piles of ArtFoamies by what looks realistic, what looks both realistic & whimsical, what looks whimsical & cartoonish & by patterns, shapes & so on.

If there are some ArtFoamies you need & want to add to your collection or stash, get online & order them. Direct shopping links to the ArtFoamies I used are below.

☆ PRO TIP 5☆

YOUR ARTFOAMIES ARE TWO SIDED! YES! YOU CAN STAMP THEM ON THE B SIDE TOO! Check your ArtFoamies to see which ones would look great stamped on the B side! Some allow you left & right symmetrical stamping & some come in left & right symmetrical sets so you can color the smooth side then stamp it as the background then stamp over it with the outline design side! YAY!

☆ PRO TIP 6 ☆

I have several duplicates of my favorite ArtFoamies that I use most often so I can easily use one with dark ink & one with white ink without having to constantly clean them, wash them & dry them. I have spoiled my white ink pads so many times by inking up an ArtFoamies Stamp that has black ink on it & I did not know it. You cannot see black ink on a black ArtFoamies foam stamp. MAKE SURE YOUR ARTFOAMIES ARE ALL CLEAN & DRY PRIOR TO INKING. This will save you lots of time & frustration.
 

☆ STEP FOUR - INKING & AUDITIONING ☆

Ink up your ArtFoamies foam art stamps with the Moonlight White ink pad & stamp them down onto the black papers.

I like to hold the ink pad in my right hand & lightly pounce the ink pad down onto the ArtFoamies stamp I am holding in my left hand. I make sure to cover the ArtFoamies foam art stamp heavily & evenly with the Moonlight White ink until I can no longer see any black on the RAISED line design of the Art Foamies stamp. Some ArtFoamies are smooth without a line design. Make sure the smooth black surface on them is completely covered smooth & even with the Moonlight White ink.
Press the inked ArtFoamies foam stamp down onto the black paper. I like to hold it down on the paper for at least 30 seconds while lightly pressing on it all over very thoroughly to make sure all the ink transfers onto the paper.

☆ PRO TIP 7 ☆

There are a few super fine detailed script, font & continuous fine line drawn ArtFoamies foam art stamp designs that I will not press down on to stamp like this. I am not using any of those ArtFoamies for this project though. A light touch must be used with those ArtFoamies designs.

Grip the side edges of of the ArtFoamies foam art stamp with your thumb & fingers (or with both hands depending on the size) without moving the stamp around on the paper. Slowly lift the stamp STRAIGHT UPWARD. Repeat this as many times as you wish with that same stamp or others, freshly inking up the ArtFoamies foam art stamps each & every time you stamp them down on the paper so your stamped images will have equal coverage & color quality. I like to fill many sheets of paper with duplicates of the same stamped image since I will be cutting them out by hand to add to my stamped background scenes. I use any extras that remain on greeting cards, in my art journals, in my planners, as gift tags on packages & for many other creations.




☆ STEP FIVE - BACKGROUNDS ☆

If you are using a rectangular shaped paper substrate you need to decide if you want it to be situated in portrait or landscape format.
 

☆ PRO TIP 8 ☆

If you are using the background in a frame, shadow box or shoe box theater, it is a VERY good idea to already have the paper precut & situated to the correct size & format to fit your project BEFORE you start stamping the layered background scenes. Decide if you want a moon stamped on the background & where you would like it's placement to be. 

When stamping the night background scenes I like to stamp the moon & sky features first & maybe even do a star speckle splatter with a splatter brush tool. It doesn't always work out that way though, especially when one of your practice background scenes you stamped turns out to be your visual Masterpiece & you want to use it in your creation. In this case, it really is okay to stamp the moons separately & cut them out by hand, then add them in at the end. Especially if you are worried about messing up your favorite background by accidentally mis-stamping the moon on the scene after the fact. There is usually a way to fix or camouflage a moon stamping oopsy. You can make the moon larger or cover any stamping errors with the stamped images you cut out by hand.

I usually create many layered background stampings before I decide which stamps I want to use together & which scenes I like most. I find that it is time to stop stamping the background when it starts to become visually pleasing to my eyes.
 
If you don't like how yours turned out or if you feel that your stamping errors cannot be covered or touched up, remember, it is only paper & ink, they will make more, it's not the end of the world. Keep trying again & again because it is fun to play. The more you experiment & practice the better you will get.

When attempting to create a dimensional optical illusion, the larger, wider, closer images get stamped in the front & the smaller, skinnier, far away looking images get stamped in the back for the look of layered depth & distance. Choose & arrange your ArtFoamies designs & stamp them with this in mind.





☆ STEP SIX - LAYERING ☆


☆Sometimes less is more when adding & adhering in your cut out images to the background scenes. Too many things going on can be visually over stimulating. You will see what I mean when you start auditioning, adding & adhering the stamped images you cut out for layering. Remember to use a removable & repositionable adhesive if you want to be able to move & change up or change out your layered images. I used sheets of black double sided adhesive foam mounting tape squares to permanently adhere the cut & layered stamped images I chose for my story board scenes.







☆ STEP 7 - ADDED TOUCHES ☆

Feel free to embellish your creation by using things like glitter or metallic gel pens, glitter pastes, glitter glues dimensional drops, gems, sequins, confetti, trims, etc., whatever is pleasing to your eyes.

To create the look of the fog I applied ink from the Moonlight White ink pad to my right index finger & rubbed it onto the black paper in a sweeping circular motion.

☆ CLOSING THOUGHTS ☆

I hope you have many fun, peaceful, therapeutic & creative experiences with ArtFoamies foam art stamps. I know I do!

As always, if you have any questions or comments for me please leave them in the comment box below. Thank you for your time. HUGS! YOU ARE LOVED! - Jenn White

Here are the direct links to the ArtFoamies I auditioned & used for my story board illustration scenes. You can find all of these ArtFoamies foam art stamp designs & more at artfoamies.com

ArtFomies Designed By Kae Pea

ArtFoamies Designed By Maxi Moon

ArtFoamies Designed By Donna Downey

ArtFoamies Designed By Red Tin Roof

ArtFoamies Designed By Emily Roelofse

ArtFoamies Designed By Candy Rosenberg

ArtFoamies Designed By Jone Hallmark

ArtFoamies Designed By Gale Nation


If you would like to see more of my creations using ArtFoamies foam art stamp designs, you can find them @jenns_joys on instagram.

I hope you are inspired to mix & match your collected stash of ArtFoamies foam art stamp designs in layered dimensional scenes too. Get them out & play with them today. It is so much fun! YAY!

There are so many ArtFoamies to choose from! Whether you are just beginning your collection or adding to your vast stash. More new designs are added nearly every week so be sure to visit the ArtFoamies website to see all of the new releases every Friday. Join Kae Pea for tips, tricks & inspiration on ArtFoamies Fun Friday at 5 PM central. YAY!

FOR EVEN MORE ARTFOAMIES INSPIRATION JOIN KAE PEA on her Patreon channel. For as little as $5 per month you can join in all the fun. There are many patreon patron levels to choose from depending on the extras & discounts you desire. Be inspired, learn new techniques & have fun with others who like what you like.

I appreciate you choosing to trade with & support a small, American woman owned family business that supports other woman artists & for purchasing products made in the U.S.A.. THANK YOU!

Thank you Powers Family & Nancy Sheads for all you do & for making this blog post possible. I appreciate you!

HUGS! YOU ARE LOVED! -Jenn White
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