Instructions 

Get ready to dive headfirst into a delightful mess of color and texture! This tutorial is all about letting loose and having a blast as you build up gorgeous layers on your journal page, proving that "Be Willing to Play" is the secret ingredient to creating art you'll adore.

Step 1: Using a palette knife or scraper tool, spread some white gesso over a page in your journal and let it dry. 

Step 2: Once the gesso has dried, add various glosses to the page using the dropper tool, the sprayer, or both.  Let the colors swirl around on the page and spread them by spraying water or using a wet paintbrush. Here, a combination of Lemon, Cheddar, Blushing, and Stoked were used.

Step 3: Add some stenciling to the page with a mini blending tool and acrylic paints. Here, Papaya, Sunshine, Taffy, and Lavender were used. 

Step 4: One of the things Dina taught during her class at Ranger was stamping on tissue paper. Here I used black archival ink and the Bold Botanicals stamp set to make fun collage fodder. 

Step 5: Rip up some of the paper and adhere it to the page in your journal with Gel Medium. The black of the ink tones down some of the busy background and helps to ground it. 

Step 6: Continue to add layers to the background by spraying the page with a neutral color gloss. Feel free to skip this step if you're already happy with your page. 

Step 7: Add some focal stenciling in contrasting colors to your background. Here the Branches Redux stencil was used to continue the botanical theme. 

Step 8: Doodle or trace around the branches with a white Posca pen, then add a focal word or phrase using Media Glue. Finally, splatter with your favorite gloss!

 Hello! My name is Laura Dame, and I have been a mixed media artist for 9 years now. I love to play and experiment in my art journals, and also enjoy dabbling in abstract, collage, and floral artworks. My family and I currently live in Austin, TX, and you can often find us out camping or enjoying nature. You can find me on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram at @lauramixedmedia. Check out my website for more information and artwork.