Journal pages, and an art supply haul

hey friends, how did time get away from me again??
I love art journaling, but have had a hard time doing it over the years. I tend to want everything to be perfect.
The best thing I did to get over this, was have an journal just for backgrounds. No pressure to paint anything meaningful, it was just somewhere to throw some spray down over a stencil, drip a little ink, add some torn paper, and so on. I used to hate backgrounds, but now I look forward to them. Anything goes! and I must say, Youtube is a treasure trove of ideas! it's almost hard to pry yourself away, lol!

So finally I thought I'd draw some of my quirky girls on them. For the one shown above, I used dylusions ink spray, added a bit of paint, some stamping, yellow washi tape, and on top, my own handmade moustache washi tape, lol!
I did a bunch one day, and they are super easy...put several rows of tape on a non stick craft mat, or even wax paper. Use markers, paint, or you can use rubber stamps to create your own patter. Here is a pic of some I did when I was bored one day. Most of the time they will be covered in your journal, so don't worry if they are not perfect, because mine are certainly not! I was just getting the hang of it, so these ones were my first tries, next time I will lay some white paint on the tape first.

You know what makes me want to create art? New supplies!! oh yes! you can never have enough, especially if you do mixed media work. Just when I think I need to slow down on spending,  something new shows up. I am excited to try the gelli plate, after hearing about it for months. I thought it was some sort of printing machine, but it is the easiest thing on the planet. I picked one up recently, along with a few other goodies, including some gelatos, more stencils, and some sprays. It was like Christmas again, lol!

 For anyone wondering if the Faber Castell Gelatos are worth it, I would say absolutely! I've got alot of the Caran d'ache water soluble crayons which I use regularly, so didn't think these would be any different, but after buying a set at Michaels with a coupon, and trying it out, I would say it feels like you are smooshing lipstick on a page. They are very soft, and easily blended, so if feel inclined, give them a try. They are awesome rubbed around the edge of a page, to give it a dreamy look.

For any Canadian gals out there looking for a reasonable place to order mixed media products, I would recommend The Art House Studio in Cambridge, Ontario, they ship Canada wide, and their shipping is reasonable. They also have alot of the specialty products that mixed media artists love. Until I found them, I was buying from Michaels, or Ebay, which can be quite expensive.

Are there any must have art supplies that you'd like to share? please feel free, it's one of my favorite subjects :-D

thanks for reading
betty