Making a mess is all about discovering what can happen.  Sometimes, it’s more mess.  Sometimes, it’s something I love.  The fun is I never know which it will be when I start playing.

This wood panel began with layers of texture.  No goal, no plan, no direction – just a mess of textures.  Those mica flakes from USArtQuest attached with glue through my Arched Aqueduct stencil was the only part of this I liked.  I really didn’t like the dark color or anything else on it, but that keeps the mystery alive since I never know what just one layer will do to it.

When I added the white paint using my Alternating Diamonds stencil from StencilGirl, suddenly I loved it.  So much so that I added another layer in blue right on top of the textures along with a little white washing on the bottom.  

Just one layer and what was yuck was transformed to something I wanted to put on my wall. Thanks to serendipity, there was just the right amount of space for the title of this, Discover using the Now is the Time stencil.

A bit of scribble journaling to capture the feelings of this play with a Pico embellisher completed it.

The adventure of going from ugly to something I want to hang on the wall is one of the many reasons I love mixed media play.  So next time you have an ugly layer, just know that you may be only one layer away from something  you love.

Here are the supplies I used. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and you are helping me keep this blog and my videos ad free! Thank you- I don’t like ads any more than you do!

InLinkz.com

Jane Davenport’s new media line called to me like a siren to a sailor as I walked by the display at Michaels.  Washi tape, Mermaid Markers, how could I resist?   I picked up a few of them and took them for a ride in my art journal to see if they were as wonderful as I hoped.  Hint…YES!

Watch Trying Out Jane Davenport’s Mixed Media Supplies on YouTube.

The gel print was chosen on purpose.  It has areas of naked paper, areas of paint, areas that are smooth and areas that are highly textured.  I wanted a variety of surfaces to see how these supplies performed.

The Mermaid Markers worked beautifully and I loved the ability to do little fine details by using the tip or coving larger areas with the sides of the brush tip. Another joy of water pens is that I control how much ink is on the tip based on how much I squeeze the pen.

The washi tape created a rainbow fashion show across my page.  By cutting the women apart, it was a breeze to create a curve along the page.  Since washi tape can be repositioned, there was zero pressure to get the spacing “right” the first time and that is the only reason the woman in the yellow dress fit.

I saved the biggest challenge for the end of this page – scribble journaling.  Jane’s opaque Paint Over Pens were actually opaque, including the white.  Can you tell I’ve bought other pens over the years that say they are opaque and weren’t?  The traumas I have endured art journaling lol.

The Inkcredible Pen, a fountain pen, had to write over a bumpy textured painted area and do it smoothly without snagging the tip.  Smooth as butter, the pen was magnificent.

If I was grading Jane’s new products, they would get an A+ from me! Now I’m off for more play!