What do you do with a bunch of old gift tags some Pan Pastels and an art journal — make a background of course.
Recently I was given a box full of old gift tags. I decided to use them in a two page background spread. (Which is French for I screwed up the idea I had so I decided to make a background out of it instead!) Not sure what will go on top of it yet. 
Layers of mistakes can sometimes surprise me as an artist. I wasn’t digging the tags after I glued them on the pages – so I tried to tear them off. Nope that dang sticky stuff really stuck it. So I decided I would paint over them. Nope again. Still didn’t like it. So I grabbed an old dress pattern with lots of lines and marks on it and Matt mediumed that baby on top. Now I wasn’t as mad at it so I decided to grab my Pan Pastels. Pan Pastels are an artist grade pigment powder kind of thing. They come in little pans like this. 
They last forever and the colors are very vibrant. I bought these about ten years ago and I haven’t ever found anything that goes over crinkled up tissue paper or patterns as well.
I spray hair spray on top of them to “set” it. I use cheap make up sponges to apply it or my fingers.
Here’s a pic of the finished background spread. 
When I’m not art journaling I am creating with gears and rust so I don’t mind the darker tones. But I realize it wouldn’t work for every artist. ( you can see that stuff on my Instagram: sherritimmons_art )!
I hope you are having a good week. Be yourself and Be happy with that!!
Xoxo
Me
Art Journal Gypsy 