Butterfly Squad creative team inspiration: Melina
Hello everyone!
It´s Melina here today with an art journal spread to share.
There is a really emotional process behind this quite ”happy looking” spread.
Happy is not at all what I feel right now, but I have noticed that I often make colourful projects
when I need to cheer myself up.
Here is todays spread, and I will lead you through my steps below. Hope you will enjoy!
Okay, here we go...

This is what I start with. A spread in my smaller coptic binded journal that already have some leftover paint on it from other projects. I often do this. It´s great because you don´t waist your paints, and when you want to journal you can choose a spread that is already started and that sparks your creativity at that day.

Without expectations, I start to outline the geometric shapes I can find using a permanent black fineliner pen. I repeatedly stamp the word Soulsearch which is a suitable word for todays journaling. That little pink rectangle gives me inspiration how to continue.

I use the same black fineliner pen to trace a few rectangles from France´s Rectangles stencils.
I then place the Rockformation stencil over the rectangles. Over that stencil I place the Rectangle stencils again lined up with my drawed rectangles and apply Crackle paste. I leave it to air dry.

When dry I apply diluted Payne´s Gray fluid acrylic on my rectangles.
I use France´s Cirkles stencil to make some doodly dots.

Next I go in with DecoArt Fluid acrylic Quinacridone gold and add it to the crackle paste in my rectangles. Heavy at the bottom and lighter in the middle. I also dilute some of the paint and let it run down from the rectangles.
I use Primary Magenta through the numbers on the Rectangle stencil to have something pink connecting the pages.

I add some more stamping to grunge things up a bit, following that same diagonal line as my doodly dots. I use a script stamp from the London New York set and the small numbers from the Perfect Words set.

To finish my spread I choose the moth from the Creepers and Crawlers stamp set and colour it in with diluted Primary Magenta, I select my word from the Perfect Words stamp set, add some journaling and white splashes and finally draw a border to frame my spread.
Here are some close ups for you.



DecoArt Media: Crackle paste. Fluid Acrylics: Quinacridone gold, Primary Magenta, Payne´s Gray, Titanium White
Thank you so much for stopping by today!
Love, Melina
Products used:
DecoArt media: Crackle paste DecoArt Fluid Acrylics: Quinacridone gold, Primary Magenta, Payne´s Gray, Titanium White Versafine ink: Onyx black
Stamps: Illusionary Artists "Perfect Words", "London New York", "Creepers and crawlers". Click on the images to shop!
France Papillon stencils: "Circles", "Rectangles", "Rockformation". Click on the images to shop!