​Today I am giving you some ideas, art tips and inspiration for art journal techniques on using texture in your art journals in order to create textured art journaling pages and canvas art. 

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which means I may get a small commission if you purchase through my links.

​Last week I was featured on The Craft Show channel - an online craft show (which is basically like a tv show, but online). I was in the 5 minute quickie craft section.  Be sure to subscribe to them and watch from 12 noon on Thursday's

• ​The Craft Show

You can see in the video below a simple and quick art tutorial on using tissue paper, masking tape, art stencils, modelling/texture paste and adding salt to watercolour in order to add interest and variety to your pages.

Masking tape layered on to your page is a great way to create texture to your journals. You can then paint over it with acrylic paint or add modelling paste or heavy texture paste over it first. Vary how you layer it and scrunch it up for even more texture. I then added a scrapbook embellishment to set the page off. I love the pastel colours within this page.

Decoupage with tissue paper is a great way to add texture to your art work. I used a Matt Meduim Gel  and started by sticking different things down with it, then adding a layer of the gel on top. You can scratch away at it so that it shows through the paint or leave as it is. It is great to add tissue paper to a page or a torn sheet from a book and really adds interest and depth to your page. If you scrunch it up it really adds texture when you paint over it with acrylic paint. You can also use one layer of a patterned serviette for the same effect.  

Here I used a canvas layered with tissue paper, gauze, buttons and an embellishment. It really builds the texture on the canvas.

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Thank you for reading, I hope that it has inspired you to get some textures onto those pages,
​Kerry xx

Last week I bought a  Colourcraft Crystal Colours Brusho set and today I got to try it. Oh my word, it didn't let me down... such a beautiful set and so many possibilities when using it in art work and Art Journal spreads and general Mixed Media.

​I got the set of 8, which is mainly nature colours, lots of greens, yellows, browns and and reds. The colours are so intense and I literally only used a sprinkling (as you will see in the video process tutorial below). I can't wait to start using it to create page background, papers and journaling / ATC cards.

If you do try out my tutorial, remember to tag me on social media and use the hashtag #kmmam - You can also post in my art journaling group - Kerrymay Makes a Mess

Take Care in the snow,
​Kerry xx

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Another thing you can add to a painted page is collage. This can be from magazines, a paid subscription such as through Patreon or from die cuts or ephemera / printables. It really doesn't need to cost you anything and you can print whatever takes your fancy. Experiment with tearing sheets, layering, adding pen over the top or mixing elements up. All the collage elements in this page were free from magazines and collage sheets I found on Pinterest.
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Inspiration and Printables on my Ephemera boards on Pinterest:

• ​Craft Printables
• Vintage Lady Printables
• Collage Sheets

A page with a bit of doodling looks great in your art journals. I love to doodle and it looks great when directly on an old book page. You could paint the page first with a thin layer of white paint (or gesso if you really want to). A mix of doodles and words can really make a page stand out and it is so easy to do. This was actually my first ever go at art journaling.

Speaks for itself. You will never develop your pages if you compare to others. Keep at it, an artist is always growing. Remember the art is for YOU and no one else.

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​My name is Hannah and I am 32 years old. I am a working mum with an addiction to planning in the attempt to be more organised.  The reality is I’ve developed a sticker obsession and love making my planner look pretty!  Therefore I do spend a small fortune on stickers each month, and have recently started getting monthly subscriptions too; all of which I will happily blog or post on Instagram about.

I discovered many years ago that as much as I, like many others, have become more and more reliant on technology, I can’t tear myself away from paper planners.  I had always loved filofaxes and writing things down.  Then I became of the UK Planner Addict facebook group (UKPA) my obsession just got worse!  I discovered stickers and page decorating and slowly began to see my pennies go on stickers… I now can’t imagine a plain page in my diary.

Vist Hannah's blog: planwithhannah.wordpress.com

I started out using thick watercolour paper from a pad in Wilkos. I drew around a project life card for sizing (3x4 or 4x6 inches) and then marked it out in pencil. I then cut them to size with my paper trimmer - then came the creative part.

I used a variety of different watercolour techniques first to create the backgrounds including a galaxy style, faded washes, blended and ombre. I waited for these to try then got creative using inspirational quotes in a variety of different pens including chalk board pens, a white uniball signo pen and sharpies.

​Finally I either left it as it is or created a border using the pens, then used a corner rounder on the edges.

You made it - woo hoo and a Christmas theme to boot!  Tutorial 4 in the Art Journaling Mini Series is covering wax resist and rubbing alcohol using watercolour. In this tutorial I am using watercolour brush pens and an aqua watercolour brush, but you can use any watercolour paint and brushes for these techniques.

Grab some watercolour paper - this is a must, it just doesn't work as well on any other paper. 

​You then need some watercolour paint or watercolour friendly brush pens, a white wax crayon and rubbing alcohol 70 or 90% (you can skip this step if you just want the wax resist  bit).

​There is a video tutorial below if you are more of a visual tutorial follower.

On your watercolour paper write or draw anything at all in your white wax crayon. You could just doodle and create random patterns or write a message.  I have gone with Christmas and Ho Ho Ho. Again this can be done with children as a fun 'art play' session, it's so easy and they will love it.
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​Then using your watercolour paint or watercolour brush pens paint over the page liberally. The watercolour will not go over the wax crayon creating the 'resist effect' - pretty cool eh? You can use two or more colours if you wish to create a more blended effect, the brush pens I used do this perfectly.

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Take Care, Kerry xx

Open up a new page in your journal or use a canvas or mixed media paper and apply a few thick blobs (love that word) of acrylic paint.  Here I have used three colours placed evenly at the top of the page: an electric blue, then white and bright pink.

Get an old credit or gift card and starting at the top of the page where the paint is simply scrape the card down the page spreading the paint.  Technically you could leave it there, or you may want to use a make up sponge (see tutorial 2) to mix and blend the paint slightly.  Continue scraping the paint until you get the desired effect. Have a play around with lots of different colours and even have a go with watercolour or try melting wax crayons using a heat tool or hairdryer to drip the crayon down the page (there are lots of tutorials on Pinterest on this and it is something I NEED to try).

You could continue here by adding some brayer rolling into the mix... but you don't have to of course.

I got this brayer roller very cheaply off Amazon for around £3.00. Simply add another small blob of paint and begin rolling the paint around the page or canvas... that's it, yes really! You can mix things up by combining several colours, changing the direction of the rolling and adding textured paste or matte medium to it to create additional texture.

So today's offering in the art journaling series is all about art techniques and tutorials to get you started in your creative art journal.  I will look at using distress inks with make up sponges, adding salt to create effects in watercolour, adding talc to thicken acrylic paint and how to make your own spray inks/paint.

Watercolour Paint, Acrylic Paint, Salt, An Ink Pad of your choice, A Paintbrush, Watercolour Brush (not a necessity), Rubbing Alcohol (Ideally 90% - I used 70% but it isn't quite strong enough) and Talc. You can View Part 1 here.
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Please note the final piece in the video is not a finished product, I wasn't creating anything in particular, just using the pages to show you the techniques, they don't all need to be applied at once.

Related Posts:
View the entire series here - Art Journal Series  
Scraping techniques and Brayer rollers
​You Tube Channel

I always get asked a lot of questions about my mixed media art work and art journaling and see a lot of posts on social media asking for tips, art techniques and what tools they need to buy in order to start art journaling. When I started out I was asking the same questions myself, so thought I would do a mini series on art journaling tips and tricks. This article goes through my favourite tips and  equipment and resources you need to get started.

​The simple answer NO you don't. I have never used it and have never seen the need. An art teacher at the school I teach told me it's a waste of money and time and I agree.​ You might need to use gesso if using overly thin paper such as Moleskine Cahier when there is a chance of bleed through, but a coat of white acrylic might be all you need to use as a base.

Again the answer is NO, you can make your own very easily. You can search on You Tube and you will find several videos showing you how to make modge podge, all you need is a cheap pva glue and mix it with a little water, that's it. This can be used as glue to attach newspaper/tissue by applying a layer on the page, then another layer on top of the tissue paper.
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Alternatively you can use matt gel, which also can be used for creating texture with stencils then painting over it. I use matt/gloss gel for all sorts of decoupage on paper and canvas as well as giving texture to a page. I got mine cheaply off Amazon, no need for expensive ones.

​Obviously you need some paint brushes. I get mine from The Works or Hobbycraft online, I have found that the Poundshop ones are not as good, so you do need to pay more for brushes, but sets can be picked up for less than £5. A watercolour brush is a must as it is much easier than having to keep topping up the water. I bought a 3 pack of  Pentel Aquash Water Brush Pens from Amazon.
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Other tools to have are old credit cards for scraping the paint, excellent when you want a rainbow effect (see image). An old hairdryer is useful too so that you can speed up the drying time before moving on to your next layer. In the Eye of the Beholder Image I have used chalkpens from Amazon, they give a really vivid colour when writing over acrylic and are easy to write with. 

​Good paint pens are a good investment for mixed media, Posca Uniball do some great ones with all different nib widths. I also couldn't live without my Pentel Hybrid uniball gel pen in white and gold for extra detailing. Stamps and ink pads are also great for distressing pages and adding a bit of detailing such as in the image below.  More on this in my next tutorial.

On to the next in the mini series - CREATING DIFFERENT ART EFFECTS:
Click above for the next blog post in the series which gives you hands on tips to try in your art work and art journaling with video tutorials on:

• ​ADDING SALT TO WATERCOLOUR
• ADDING TALC TO ACRYLIC PAINT
• ​ADDING RUBBING ALCOHOL TO WATERCOLOUR
• ​CREATING YOUR OWN SPRAY INKS
• USING MAKE UP SPONGES TO DISTRESS A PAGE WITH INK PADS