When all else fails, experiment w/paint

This is a spread from my Moleskin journal.

I have a few of my small handmade journals that haven't sold, therefore, I thought I would use the pages for experiments with paint, embellishments, etc. I have taken 2 online classes with Nellie Wortman, 1 in person class with DJ Pettitt, and online art journal classes with Pam Carriker and Cathy Michaels. And now I get to play with paints, sprays, intense watercolor by Dr. PH Martin, and gesso.

I applied gesso to pages in the small handmade journals and on a few pages in one of my Moleskin journals (the kind with the lavender band that has paper that will take paint quite well). 

The spread below is in one of my small handmade journals. You can see the notes I made on the pages. I got the idea of adding the Dr. Ph. Martin Radiant Concentrated Colors to Mod Podge from a post by Quinn MacDonald. I think a teeny weeny drop of the concentrated watercolor to a lot of Mod Podge, or Soft Gel Medium, would have been fine for a WASH of color. On the right side of the spread, I thought I would use one of the many vintage ledger sheets I have that I will eventually sell online in my "yet to open" Etsy shop. I'm working on it, friends. I'm working on it.

The spread below has all the paints and colors I used. I painted over gesso pages in one of my small handmade journals. I used the Stewart Gill BYZANTIA metalic paint that can be used on fabrics and craft media. It covers very well. I then used Claudine Helmuth paints as indicated. I am VERY happy with the coverage of both paints straight out of the small jar. The light brown areas on the pages were sprayed with Gilmmer Mist over the gesso pages. I'm really, really liking the results. I think I'll try more of this technique.

One of the main things I learned was NOT to paint over any spray inks. I got spray happy and tried one of the spray bottles of inks before finishing the paints. NOT.

So, tell me, do you think you'll try some of these paints? Do you have a Moleskin journal that you are afraid to get "dirty" with paint? BTW, Melanie Testa introduced me to Moleskin journals way back in the day when she still lived in Flagstaff.