I recently finished a mixed-media journal spread inspired by Alice in Wonderland — featuring the Mad Hatter, a neon-inspired Alice,
and a bold sunburst background full of colour and texture. Along the way, I put several of my favourite supplies to the test. Here's my honest take on how they performed, in case you're considering adding them to your own creative stash.
This was definitely the star of the project. Lunar Paste has the thick, buttery consistency you'd expect from a texture paste, but the neon range takes it to another level. Once dry, it has a soft, slightly iridescent glow that catches the light beautifully and photographs exceptionally well.
I worked with five colours: Mood Ring (a vibrant magenta-purple), Prom Queen (hot pink), Yellowjacket (golden yellow), Charming (a cool violet), and Mugshot (burnt orange).
A few observations from using it:
Coverage: A little goes a long way. I applied it with a palette knife in thick, textured swipes for the sunburst rays, and it held its shape beautifully without sagging or flattening.
Blendability: The colours are highly pigmented and vibrant on their own, but they also blend nicely at the edges while wet, making it easy to create smooth gradients and transitions.
Dry Time: Because it was applied quite heavily, it needed a reasonable amount of drying time before I could continue layering. If you're impatient and start too soon, you may drag colour into areas where you don't want it.
Value for Money: The jars are a little pricier than standard acrylic paints, but the combination of texture, colour intensity, and visual impact makes them well worth it. I see them as a feature product rather than something I'd use to cover an entire background.
For the supporting colour palette, I reached for Malachite, Lime, and Radical. These colours worked perfectly for the foliage stencil details framing the page.
The paints have a lovely matte finish, flow smoothly from the bottle, and layer beautifully over dried Lunar Paste. While they don't provide the heavy texture of the paste, they're ideal for stencilling, splattering, and adding finer details throughout a project.
This is where the page really came together. I used Peacock, Sunshine, Tangerine, Stoked, and Lime to lightly mist over the finished collage, helping to unify all the colours while adding a subtle glossy sheen.
A few practical notes:
The sprays produce a fine, even mist. Because they're tinted gloss mediums rather than traditional spray inks, they add a soft wash of colour over the surface. It's worth testing them on a scrap piece first if you want to preserve your original colours exactly.
They make a fantastic finishing layer, adding shine without flattening the texture and dimension underneath.
The Base: Repurposed Cardboard
Not technically a purchased supply, but definitely worth mentioning. This entire journal page was built on layered cardboard cut with ordinary household scissors.
Cardboard is surprisingly sturdy once it's allowed to dry between layers of wet media. It handled texture paste, acrylic paint, and multiple spray applications without any issues. Best of all, it's budget-friendly and readily available.
If you're experimenting with a new paste, paint, or spray product for the first time, I'd highly recommend testing it on cardboard scraps before committing to your favourite journal or canvas.
Final Thoughts
If I had to recommend just one product from this project, it would be the Neon Lunar Paste. It's responsible for the majority of the visual impact and offers a look that's difficult to replicate with other products in my collection.
The Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints and Gloss Sprays continue to be reliable favourites that perform beautifully every time I use them, and this project simply reinforced why they remain staples on my craft table.
Have you tried Lunar Paste or the Dina Wakley Gloss Sprays? I'd love to hear which colours you've used and the techniques you've experimented with.
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