A silly conversation happened while playing in my art journal. It wasn’t about how I decide when to stop adding layers or the fancy close the page technique- although both of these are in the video.

It had to do with how I started painting the buildings on the page and why that triggered that good old perfectionistic voice in my head.

The bubble wrap isn’t just for packing, it’s for playing too.

You can use stencils in more than one way. In the video, you see how I used my Linked stencil like a stamp by getting it all inky with Art Spray and then plopping it on the page.

Below are the backgrounds for future play that were created getting the stencil loaded up with the black. Not a drop ever has to be wasted!

Here you can see the black lines from the Linked stencil as I’m adding some writing using a fine tipped bottle. These bottles come empty and you can fill them with any color you like. If it can squeeze out the tip, then you can put it in there! At the end of this post, I’ve got a full supply list for you too.

Why were so many layers added to this page? Because it was fun! That’s the number one way I decide if I should add more.

The paint was sprinkled directly onto the page and then spread around using the brayer.

This is the point in the play when the silliness began in my head. I didn’t draw this out ahead of time and I was using black paint. That meant, if it didn’t go “right” there was no going back.

My response was a bit ornery to that voice because it seemed to want this to be architecturally accurate. I never signed a contract saying I would make my art journal page true to the zoning regulations of building codes.

So I intentionally created a weird elevator shaft and apartment balancing on top of it. That would never be approved by the building commission.

An O.O.P.S. happened here. I just didn’t like the white pen there. It was an Outstanding Opportunity Presenting Suddenly.

I just painted over it with black but I had to wait for it to dry. That gave me the time to do some scribble journaling about my impatience.

That impatience helped me decide on the 3 little words for the title from my Are We There Yet stencil.

Art Crayons added some color to those words with a bit of smudging because the paint wasn’t fully dry yet. But why wait patiently when you’re an impatient person!

The glow of the words are almost like a neon sign in the big city. A city made of architecturally imperfect buildings!

If you’re still reading here, you’ve probably enjoy playing with your art supplies so you might want to check out my free workshop, Permission to Play where we let go and make a cardboard art journal.

The start of a new year brings the tradition of choosing a word to guide the year. But just one? That was just too tough this year, so I picked a dozen of them. Since I don’t like rules, I love getting around them on a technicality. See how I rationalized it in the video.

When doing a lot of stenciling, say like letters for words, using a foam roller makes it go extremely quickly. On a piece of paper, I can get 2 sets of the alphabet using the Alpha Jumble stencil from StencilGirl.

There are 2 reasons why I did multiples. First, I had no idea which words or how many I would be creating so I wanted to be sure I had enough.

In the end, I had way more than I needed but that just means I have them ready for the next time.

Second, foam rollers can hold a lot of paint to clean out of it so to reduce waste, once the roller is loaded with paint I do a lot.

After cutting out the letters, Art Spray was the fastest way to get color on them. I’m spraying them on a blank art journal page so that not at drop of that wonderful blue gets wasted.

Once this is dry, the letters will be used and the page left behind is now the start of a future art journal page.

While flipping through pages in my journal, I found a background that called to me. This black and white page was from who knows when but it was just what I needed today.

It was made using stencils and black Art Spray, in the supplies at the bottom of this post, I’ve got them all listed for you.

How do you clean a spray nozzle to prevent clogging? I’ve got a video showing you how I do it and not waste a drop of color.

It had quite a bit of white space on it, so out came the Aqua Inks to add a pop of the rainbow. These are a watercolor ink so they can cover an area quickly with color.

Quickly seems to be very important to me right now, it seems my impatience is flaring up.

When this page began as a way to explore what word I wanted for the upcoming year. As you can see, it wasn’t just one work, but a dozen of them!

Adventure is the “umbrella” word for the year, the others are all in support of it. Notice how I technically have one word but managed to add in eleven more. Not a big fan of rules.

Next to each word the journaling is all about how that word will support the adventures waiting in the new year.

My list of words was due in a big way to all the members of my Facebook group, Rediscovering Your Creativity Looking through a list of words is inspiring, and so much so this year that one wasn’t enough!

This group continues to be a place to ask a question, find inspiration for your play, and join others caring women on a mixed media journey. If you like encouraging groups like that on Facebook, then check us out!

Here are the supplies used. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. For example, I’m an Amazon Associate & I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and you get a really good feeling knowing that you are helping keep the free tutorials coming!