Day 5- 31 Days of Halloween

Welcome back, everyone! It's Day 5 of 31, and the fun is just getting started. Is everyone hanging in there with the Wicked Blogs? Are you getting tons of awesome Halloween and Day of the Dead inspiration? I know I am!

Today my art journal page touches on the belief that this whole season brings a thinning of the veil between the living and the dead. It's a time to slow down and listen to ancestors, to get in touch with your other-worldly intuition, and remember and honor your loved ones who have passed.

I was inspired by a song from Elephant Revival called "Raven Song". 

I started my page with an embroidery image called Bella Muerte Cuervo, which I printed out onto paper that I had already paint washed and let dry. To the image, I added some gold pen details and then fussy cut it.

To prepare my journal page I added layers of melted black wax mixed with gold Pearl Ex powder. This was interesting because the powder is shiny and the wax tends to harden with a muted and cloudy quality. It made a really cool effect that is not quite visible in the photos. After a few layers of wax on the page, I set down my image and covered it with the black wax as well.

Using a heat gun, I moved the wax around and smoothed it out until I was satisfied with where I wanted it, then I let it harden and cool. Then I went to work with a stylus and carved my song lyrics and designs directly into the wax on the page.

Here are a couple of different angles so hopefully you can see the carving and details in the wax.

Here's a pic of the page in the book.

The Raven Song lyrics are:

"If I was a raven, I'd fly on through the heavens. I'd fly to all my loved ones. If I was a raven. If memory's worth saving, I'd savor the feeling of knowing love and loving. I'd remember the feeling. Some say upon that mountain there is many a raven. They call out to the living from somewhere far beyond them. From those we love that have flown on. From those we love that have flown on."

I hope you enjoy this page as much as I do. One of the things I love doing is listening to music and then trying to create from that inspiration, which is why I'll be re-hosting a Rock 'N' Rolla challenge on The Horde online community starting next month. If you'd like to join in all the fun, be sure to visit The Horde! Membership is free and you get to share all your messy, alternative, gothic, grungy, and macabre mixed media and rubber stamped makes. Plus you get to chat with some pretty awesome members.

In the meantime, visit the other Wicked Blogs! Everyone is putting in great effort this whole month to bring you some amazing seasonal inspiration- you won't be disappointed! Blog roll is in my sidebar. Have a fabulous day and see you tomorrow!