Paint Spraying in my Art Journal tutorial

Paint is fun.  Remember being in grade school and just being able to create whatever you wanted?  Or fingerpainting?  Or even stenciling?  I love using paint on my scrapbook pages and other projects.  I wanted to try doing some paint spraying on my art journal to see how it would turn out.

Paint spraying is a little bit different than spray painting.  My paint spraying was inspired by Donna Downey who uses the little plastic spray bottles to spritz paint onto her pages.  I've filled mine with half water and half paint, or you can even make a smaller batch by using 1/4 of the bottle each with paint and water, and then just shaking them up when I want to use them.

I bought these in the travel section at the store for less than a dollar apiece.  They're just the thing for a burst of color on this gloomy, rainy day.

These are simple 5 inch french doilies from Cash and Carry.  I put them on a 12x12 scrapbook paper so I can use the sprayed paper once they're done.

 I spritzed over the top of them, getting them pretty saturated.  Then I let them sit for about ten minutes before taking them off.  Don't let them dry on the paper or they'll start to stick.

Here's the paper with the doilies off.  The photo's a bit out of focus, but I think it will do nicely for a future project.

I spritzed the pages of my journal with white, aqua, and orange paint.  I tested them on scrap paper first, since you can see that each of the nozzles has a different spray pattern.  Then I butted up a piece of scrap paper to the edges of the book so I wouldn't get any overspray on the cover.

I flipped the doilies over to show just a tinge of the aqua instead of the saturated side.  I like that look.

 

I finished off the page with a quote printed on regular printer paper and cut into strips, then edged with a little ink.  The circles are chipboard covered with patterned paper.  I just wanted a pop of orange, and decided on something bigger than buttons.

Then I used the stencil as a guide for a little bit of journaling.  Again, no doodling and nothing crazy, just a quick page to continue on my One Little Word journey.

I'm linking up here:

Art Journal

I have realized that I'm even grumpier than usual when I don't get to dabble in creating once in a while.  My family might say that they can't tell the difference between grumpy me and not quite as grumpy me, but there is a difference.

I mentioned in my last post that I've started an Art Journal.  I've had this particular journal kicking around for a few years, made from an old book and a kit that I bought from Teresa McFayden that had some gorgeous old  Autumn Leaves papers and watercolor paper as the inside pages.

This book is covered in some of my favorite things:  damask print, gold, red, scallops, and book print.  The clips are just there to hold the pages open flat for working.

This page was meant to be a jumping off point for my One Little Word: Thrive.  I didn't overthink the pages (obviously), and it took me just 15-20 minutes plus dry time, but I knew that I wanted to use this saying:

I Can Do Hard Things

Gray and aqua is a favorite color combination of mine right now, and the pops of pink added a little warmth to the coldness of it all.  I added some simple stamping and just a little bit of doodling.  (maybe could have added more doodling, but like I said, I didn't want to overthink or spend too much time on this.)

My journaling reads: 

With a new year comes new goals and resolutions.  But change is hard.  Stepping out of my comfort zone is hard.  Stretching beyond my limits is hard.  But...

 I Can Do Hard Things