Guest Artist Dina Wakley: “Be Kind to Yourself” Tag

Join me in welcoming the extraordinarily talented Dina Wakley to Somerset Place. Dina has been featured in Art Journaling, Somerset Apprentice, and Take Ten, just to name a few. Today she has graciously taken the time to walk us through the steps of creating a stunningly beautiful tag in a very special Somerset Place exclusive tutorial.

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I’m excited to show you a stamped tag, made with materials from my new Dina Wakley Media line by Ranger. I have new acrylic paints in all of my favorite colors, gel medium, gesso (white and black), paint brushes, a palette knife, stamps, and stencils. I love using the new line and I can’t wait to see what you do with it!

 “Be Kind to Yourself” Tag Supplies:

• 2 size 10 manila tags
• Black Archival ink pad by Ranger
• Dina Wakley Media Line paints: Turquoise, Sky Blue, Magenta, Night
• Dina Wakley Media Line stamps: Face in the Crowd
• Dina Wakley Media Line Masks & Stencils: Affirmations and Birds
• Neocolor II crayons
• Dina Wakley Media Line brushes
• Dina Wakley Media Soft Gel Medium
• Book page
• Dina Wakley Media line palette knife
• Glue
• Stabilo All pencil
• Black journaling pen

“Be Kind to Yourself” Tag Tutorial:

1. Paint the tag with some Sky Blue paint. I always like to use a dry brush when I paint.

2. Add some Turquoise paint to the tag.

3. Tear up a book page and use a palette knife and soft gel medium to glue some pieces to the tag. I like to make a river of paper.

4. Use Night paint and the Birds stencil to stencil a few flying birds onto the tag. Use a dry brush and just a small amount of paint to ensure you won’t get seepage under the stencil. You need just a tiny bit of paint. You can always add more, but it’s hard to take it away once it’s seeped under the stencil.

5. Use Magenta paint and the Affirmations stencil to add some text to the tag. I like to add
stenciling in three areas at a time.

6. Stamp one of the women from the Face in the Crowd stamp set onto a second manila tag
and cut her out.

7. Glue the woman onto the tag, and use a Stabilo All pencil to pencil in her body and add
any other details you want to the figure. I added more ruffles to her collar.

8. Add some color to the woman with Necolor II crayons. I added pink to her cheeks and lips, green to her eyes, brown to her hair, and orange to her dress. Use a damp paintbrush to dissolve some of the crayon and give it a watercolor look.

10. Journal in the woman’s body with a black journaling pen.

11. Stamp a phrase from the stamp set onto the second tag and cut out the phrase. Glue it to the front of your tag.

12. Ink the edges of the tag with the Archival black ink pad.

Thank you so much, Dina, for giving us this creative and colorful tutorial.  If you’re interested in learning more about Dina Wakley or seeing more of her work visit her blog, Pondering.