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Great job everyone on your Text Messaging pages! We had over 70 links posted last month. It was so interesting to see how each of you interpreted the challenge. Many of you were tied to the meanings of words versus looking at them as shapes. I really enjoyed that you not only shared your work, but your thoughts about the process. As I said, you didn't need to 'finish' the page....but if you are feeling like you need to go back and add something just hang on until next month. Thanks, as always, for playing along, and for leaving your words of encouragement for fellow crusaders.

As the banner says, this month we getting messy again with paint but no brushes are allowed! You may have already tried this, but I want us to explore the grungy and textured possibilities we can achieve by layering paint. Using an old credit card or flat edged tool, we will apply paint to the page. It may take a while for you to find your groove with this one, but don't give up! The more you work on it the more you will discover.

Materials required this month: journal pages, paint (a few colors), scraping device like an old credit card or spackle blade. No brushes allowed! You may also want to have paper to cover your work surface, and a rag to wipe off your tool occassionally.

If you keep at it you will discover this scraping tool can assist you in making cool textures. You can work thin and scrape hard, or work thick and smoosh paint on with the face of the tool. Just take a few minutes in between strokes so the paint has a little time to set - otherwise you could end up with a muddy page. It might be helpful to only use one color to start with - therefore eliminating frustration that may happen when the paints mix and blend into a nothing color.

Keep at it. Try thin and thick. Getting annoyed? Walk away for a few minutes and come back and try again.

Here is how I will sometimes begin a page before adding scraped texture. Revisiting Crusade No. 25 ~ Properties of Gesso.

It may be less intimidating to begin a new process over something familiar. If you prefer to paint your page before you apply the scraping then go for it.

Feel free to leave your pages unfinished. Set aside the scraped textures and save for an upcoming crusade (C45).

Like I said, you may have already worked with this type of paint application. If so, please share your experience in a new blog post for the crusade. The thing I love about addressing a technique as a community is we all learn from each other!

If you think you have a handle on it and want to take it to another step - you might want to try scraping through a stencil or over a mask. Start a second spread and scrape the background, then add scraped elements. (Be sure to put wax paper between your spreads so they don't stick because they are heavy with paint it may take a while to fully dry. Revisit past crusades for help on shapes (C27), stencils and masks (C19).