Art Journal Jonesing

Hey there! Well, while I was doing my new stamps organizing, I got a wild hair to art journal and since it has been awhile, I decided to indulge once it was break time. Process shots follow, as I pretty much put paint on paper in 3 different journals but nothing finished.

I found this page where I'd done acrylic layers and ragged off. I saw that Art Journal Journey's May theme is "J-o-u-r-n-e-y-s" and I had a quote from a Chatterbox sticker sheet that I'd been saving for oh, 10 years? It's a quote that I didn't quite agree with, but nevertheless was compelled to keep it. Lately, I've realized that I just did not understand fully and now I see the meaning, so I'm using it. That means I played in my Little Book of Wisdom quote journal.

Did not really have a game plan beyond the quote and a short list of what it means to me, so I decided just to get hunches and go with them. Chose a 6x6 TCW City Grid stencil and some eggplant colored paint.

Then this TCW 6x6 Chevron Arrows stencil called out to me, along with orange paint.

This was as far as I felt like going for now, except that I got out my 12x12 TCW Arrows, some deli paper and a teeny bit of some Dylusions spray ink I'd saved from mixing two colors. I added some gel medium to it, stenciled the arrows and then hung up to dry. Thinking about cutting them out and then writing my list items on them.

But then I had leftover orange and purple paint, so I got out 2 of my other journals. I stenciled the TCW 4x4 Layered Flower above and added some to the layers. Then I painted the page below in a different journal and off-printed the orange Chevron Arrows stencil.

I take the Dawn DeVries Sokol approach to art journaling - I add a little at a time until I call it done. I do not recall ever completely a page in one sitting, or even 3. I like leaving it and then returning, leaving, returning, adding some each time. It's my kind of fun, lol.

So, the journey page is close to done so I will share with you soon. However, I must get some cards made first. I'll leave you with a very important tip I discovered while cleaning the Dylusions off my hands and the acrylic off my stencils. If you've used Dylusions and gotten it on your skin, you know it can sometimes take weeks to wear off.

Well, buy some Lava Hand Soap at the grocery store and try it. Applied with a nail brush, it works wonders for me. And I have to laugh because when I was growing up, it was advertised on television all the time as the manly soap to clean grease, tar, all the messes guys got into back then...when men could and did work on their own cars, lawn mowers, appliances. Also, it apparently cleans up paint and dyes! Pretty funny how something so Old Skool does the trick! (And how many of you still keep some Comet or Barkeepers Friend under the sink? haha winkwink)

Hope this week is shaping up to be a good one for you! xoxo