I’ve always thought it would be fun to find a message in a bottle while walking on the beach.  Although it’s never happened to me, I made up a pretend story and told it on this journal page.  After all, an art journal is a great place to live out a dream or fantasy!

I started this background with a coat of white acrylic paint, followed by blue acrylic paint applied through a stencil.  I collaged the page title (“Message in a Bottle” using words cut from a magazine.  The floral image on the right is a sticker surrounded by pink washi tape, which I also included on the left side of the page.  I applied the green postage stamp on the left page to tie in with the greens on the right side of the page.  To create a soft pink “glow” on both sides of the page, I applied Perfect Pearls to the page using a soft brush.  The Perfect Pearls powder stuck to the somewhat-tacky acrylic paint, giving it a slight sheen.  Lastly, I journaled a story around the edge of the page.

In art journaling, we give ourselves permission to explore all things real and imagined, as well as to try new techniques.  There are no rules, so we don’t have to worry about breaking them.  It’s a very freeing experience.