Inspired by Circles

Only a few days left to enter the Country View Challenge where the theme is Circles. If you haven't entered yet, maybe my second dose of inspiration will galvanize you into action!

Did you notice how neatly stars fit in circles? The thought just tickled me and this was the inspiration for this panel.
I got so involved in the art making that I forgot to take pictures until my background was well underway... So here's a quick recap:

I started with a thick recycled cardstock panel and covered it with a piece of scrapbook paper (Docrafts, Gorjuss collection) thereby avoiding the blank canvas syndrome!
As I wanted to use wet mediums on top of the paper, I used DecoArt Ultra matte varnish to protect the paper and provide some tooth for the paints (use clear Gesso if you have it).
I stencilled circles with Textured Paste Transparent Matte (Ranger) in 2 corners, and used the Pixelated stencil (DecoArt) in the opposite corners adding Frantage embossing powder.

After drying and embossing, I applied 3 colours of acrylic inks, using a spray bottle to make it move and drip a bit. Some areas were too dark and too bright so I knocked them back with a little bit of gesso.
The photo shows the 2 texture stamps (Andy Skinner for Stampendous) I used with white pigment and black dye ink to add interest to the background.
For fun, I used this found object for additional stamping:




Those with youngsters will recognise the ammo for a toy gun.... it gives a lovely hole reinforcers (washers) impression.
For my focal point I used a text stamp (Da Vinci by Rubber Dance) on a die-cut circle stencilled with blue Distress ink (Scribbles by DecoArt). The bottom mat is a die-cut (Nellie Snellen) I found in my scraps, already coloured, embossed and generally interfered with, colour matched to my project with Gelatos.
I selected embellishments for their circle shape and chose some accordion flowers which I sprayed with pink mists.

And since my quote is about stars, I made a bottle cap embellishment with a stamped and embossed star (Crafty Individuals).

I felt there was something missing so I retrieved 2 scraps of papers and a die set (Spellbinders) and got to work:





















On the left is an offcut of a home printed photo and on the right a scrap of a failed Brushos experiment. Once cut they suddenly look more interesting don't you think? Anyway, from this set I chose 2 to include in my project and assembled with a ruler die-cut out of stiffened fabric.

If you'd rather attempt something quicker for the Circles challenge, have a look at my previous make here.

Thanks for coming by,
I am also entering the SSS Monday, We Love To Create, Stamplorations MM & Stencil, Stamplorations Theme& Sketch, SSS Wednesday and WOW Embossing powders challenges