Hello! I’m Robyn Wood, one of the new members of the Helmar Creative Team! I’m really looking forward to inspiring you in the coming months! For my first project, I’d like to share an art journal page that I’ve created in a very interesting type of journal.
The Dina Wakley journal has a mix of page types - watercolour, craft, canvas & burlap. I thought it would be good to use a pair of my favourite adhesives and test out one that is new to me, Helmar Fabric Glue, as I’d like to see how it works with the burlap surface. Of course, you can use any surface you have available and I’ve given you some project alternatives at the end.
Supplies:
- Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive
- Helmar Fabric Glue
- Helmar Professional Acid Free Glue
- Dina Wakley art journal
- Viva Crackling Colour, white
- Heidi Swapp Color Shine, primrose
- Prima Art Alchemy acrylic paint, metallique royal red
- Sheet music
- Scrapbook paper, I used Prima Love Clippings Collection
- Chipboard dress mannequin, bustier & heart shapes
- Paper doyley, cheesecloth, white pearls & twine
- Brown ink for sponging
- Printed quote, I did my own using the computer
- Small hole punch, scissors
N.B. Each stage of painting and gluing requires drying, either allow to dry naturally or carefully speed up the process with a heat gun.
Tear a piece of sheet music to approx. 25cm wide by roughly the length of the skirt.
Spray sheet music with Heidi Swapp Colour Shine and while it is still wet, sprinkle parts of the paper with Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magicals. The red Magicals deepen the colour of the shimmer spray and adds patches of extra shine.
Cover chipboard hearts with patterned paper using Helmar Professional Acid Free Glue. I find it perfect for covering chipboard shapes as it rarely wrinkles and dries quickly. Once dry, sponge edges with brown ink.
Using scissors, cut chipboard bustier shape in half vertically.
Paint chipboard dress mannequin and bustier with Prima metallic red paint, remembering to also paint the chipboard edges.
Once bustier is dry, paint over with a thin layer of white Viva Crackling Colour.
Allow to dry and punch with five small holes either side of the midline.
With the two pieces of bustier, side-by-side and face up, use the twine to lace them together. (I only had a pale cream twine so I gave it a little colour with Heidi Swapp Color Shine first.)
With dress mannequin lying face up, place sheet music across the waistline and carefully gather the paper around the shape by alternately tucking and folding. Aim to have even folds radiating from the centre and the outside edges folded over. Level off the waistline by small tears if needed and check that the shape will fit its intended spot. Perhaps try on a sheet of scrap to practice first.
Once the paper is folded to your liking, adhere to mannequin shape using Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.
Adhere laced bustier using Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive. It will need to sit so that it just covers the top of the torn paper skirt.
Add some small pearls to the mannequin, just below the bustier. I always use Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to ensure they stay in place.
Layer pattered paper shapes and paper doyley onto burlap art journal page so that they make an off-centre background layer for the dress mannequin. I have used a larger piece, approx. 13cm x 20cm and a smaller piece approx. 9cm x 13cm (right hand edge torn). But it will depend on the size of your page so alter to suit.
Attach paper pieces using Helmar Fabric Glue. Protect the next page from bleed through of adhesive with some baking paper. (If your page is not burlap/fabric, then the usual Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive will suit.) Adhere paper doyley.
Attach mannequin to page using Helmar Fabric Glue.
Attach both hearts and cheesecloth to the page using Helmar Fabric Glue. Off set them slightly for a bit of interest.
Attach printed quote onto some scrap patterned paper using Helmar Professional Acid Free Glue. The quote is then attached over the two hearts and the author piece is attached to the bottom, right hand corner. I always like to include the author details where I can as a mark of respect.
The final finish is a trio of clear gem stones attached to the edge of one of the hearts using Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.
The burlap pages in the Dina Wakley art journal are a fabulous visual surface to work on, but they can be a little challenging to adhere elements to. The Helmar Fabric Glue came to the rescue! Happily, it had very little bleed through onto the next page and dried quickly with a strong bond.
I hope you have enjoyed learning how to recreate this project. I think it would look perfect on a scrapbook page, large A5 sized card or on a canvas. The options are endless if you change out the colours and papers and perhaps add different embellishments. I look forward to sharing with you next time.
