Ever have a canvas or a page in your art journal that just stalled out when the mojo just vanished? What can you do when that happens? Give yourself a do over. If there is any part you like, keep that and then cover over whatever you don’t like.

That’s what I did to jump start this canvas with white paint. Along the way, I surprised myself by doing crisp careful stenciling, stole letters to build the word I needed, and used the greatest art play tool ever, the baby wipe. Then overthinking struck.

Watch Do over! Fixing a Mixed Media Canvas with More Layers on YouTube.

Here’s what the play started with, lots of layers but the only part that will be “kept” is the woman.  She was created doing an image transfer with Craft Attitude and a digital image by Tangie Baxter.  She has lots of fun images. If you’ve never used Craft Attitude you can see how in this video.

Craft Attitude has a backing paper and that acted as a mask to protect her as the white paint was added.  Pure luck that as old as this piece of art play is that I still had the mask with it.  So lucky in fact, that maybe I should go buy a lotto ticket.

All that white space called for some color so in came the Art Crayon.  One nice thing about these is how creamy they are when you put them on but that in a couple of hours they will dry.

She has a story to tell with lots on her mind so the Compass stencil by Mary C. Nasser provided her a true North as a guide.

I expected  this to be a somewhat sloppy stencil job because of how much paint I used getting 2 colors on there.  Imagine my surprise when it actually stenciled crisply! And how it didn’t matter if this was done in a sloppy or neat way in the end.

The almighty baby wipe helped get the color spread around on the rest of the white areas.

What can you do if you only have part of the word you want?  Borrow letters.  The title became She Searches but the words on the Uplifting Words stencil were only she and search.

Never fear!  After stenciling search, simply stencil the E and S from the beginning of the word at the end.

The stenciling on the letters was messy and it didn’t matter because there was more color coming with another Art Crayon.  Using the side edge allowed me to write a fine line and trace over the letters adding more depth to them. And more color.  More color is always good.

What about her story? What was she searching for?  What was her journey?  Using a fine liner I scribbled journaled what she had to say.  If you’re new to fine liners you can see how they are used here.

For all that neat and crisp stenciling, you’d think I would cherish it.  Nope.  Using a Stabilo I outlined the stenciling and added more scribble journaling.

Overthinking struck at the very end as I was deciding where to put the title.  Should it be all at the bottom, at the top and bottom, centered, to the left to the right?  Choices, choices, choices!

What snapped me out of that head space was the 3 second rule.  I had to make a decision and just glue it down.  I think my muse was laughing when what I ended up doing was one of the very first ways I had positioned the words.

The 3 second rule is just one way that I keep the play going.  Want to know more ways? Check out my free workshop, Permission to Play which you probably have an inkling what it is all about.

Here are the supplies used. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and it helps keep the free tutorials coming!

You’re going on vacation and you want to bring some art supplies. But which ones?  There are 3 questions I ask myself when packing that guide me when choosing what supplies to bring. And nope, I don’t use everything I bring, but you’ll see why that doesn’t bother me a bit at the end.

1. Are they spill proof in my luggage?
2. Will it be easy to use them in different environments?
3. Do I have a variety of supplies?

Watch How to Decide What Art Supplies to Take on a Trip on YouTube.

Are they spill proof in my luggage?  I’ve had art supplies leak and that is no fun so I chose unspillable items and paint that has a screw on cap.  No more flip caps for me if I can avoid it when traveling. What if your paints are all flip caps?  Putting a piece of Saran Wrap over the opening and then putting the cap on dramatically reduces the risk of spillage.  If it can’t be fully sealed up easily, then it stays home.

Will it be easy to use them in different environments? This includes the actual supply as well as how it is packed. Whatever I bring, I want the flexibility to create in the hotel room or on location, which in this case was the beach.

Each supply goes in it’s own pouch or bag. When I run out of favorite pouches while packing, then it’s ziplock bags.  That way, when heading out for the day, it’s simple to toss only the supplies needed into a tote.  I treasure zippered pouches that have wide openings because that makes it super easy to grab what I need while creating.  Another perk is pouches that can stand upright in the sand.

The weather is never guaranteed, so I pack plenty to keep me creating if the weather is less than ideal.  A handful of Sparks of Art-spiration were my collage fodder when the rainstorms hit a few of the nights.   Those storms were a great opportunity to start a page inside, and add to it on the beach the next day.

Would you like to play with the free Sparks of Art-spiration?  They’re sent weekly, along with creative encouragement in my newsletter. Get signed up and you’ll get a Spark right away to start playing.

Do I have a variety of supplies?  Will I want to paint or watercolor or draw?  Do I want bold and big strokes or fine detailed lines?  I don’t know in advance what the muse will inspire, so I go for a variety.

For the big and bold option, paint and Art Crayons.   The Art Crayons let me have the tactile joy of the creamy crayon and the flexibility to watercolor with them since they react to water.

For finer lines or more details, I packed pens and pencils.  Watercolor pencils also does double duty as colored pencils and watercolors.  Pitt Pens gave me a vibrant fine lines for sketching. The gel pens because it was a more opaque look than the Pitt Pens.

For variety, I brought 2 different journals.  One big and blank, the other smaller and filled with gel printed pages. Gel prints as the start of an art journal page is one of the many ways to use those stacks of prints.  If you’re looking for more ways to use yours, check out this workshop.

I couldn’t leave home with out a stencil, so I brought Little Figments of Imagination which I used on this page.

Did I use everything that I brought on the trip? Nope. I packed supplies for if the sun shone the entire time and if it rained the entire time. Since those two things can’t happen on the same trip, that means something probably won’t get used.

But I don’t know which ones until the trip is over, so I pack enough so I am prepared for whatever the weather brings.  Happily, we had only some rain, so the gel pens  didn’t get used on this trip.

Next time you’re packing travel art supplies, if you have a hard time deciding what to bring, try the 3 questions.

1. Are they spill proof in my luggage?
2. Will it be easy to use them in different environments?
3. Do I have a variety of supplies?

Here’s what I brought on this vacation.  Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and it helps keep the free tutorials coming!