Fun ways to Shimmer Sprays with Melinda

Hello scrappy friends, Melinda here with you today! 

First up, a big Happy Halloween if you celebrate and if not, happy Monday to you ;)

I am here with you today sharing some fun ways to use some of the beautiful, shimmery, shiny Colour Shimmer Sprays.

I go through a few different ideas in this video but if for any reason you can't/don't watch process videos, read on!!

For this process I did a couple of things before I started filming. First up I grabbed a couple of pieces of (cheap) water colour paper from my stash and cut them down to fit a card front. Then I applied a very light coat of white gesso to some white textured card stock and when that was dry I chopped that into pieces for card bases also. Lastly, I grabbed a scrap of white card and chopped that down to the same size.

I have done a very basic technique in order to see what the colours actually look like on different papers/mediums.

I sprayed (top) and then I used some plastic packaging and smooshed the colour (bottom) onto the paper and lastly I used the nozzle from the bottle to do a few sprinkles.

Here are my 3 samples all together - I have used the Leather Colour Shimmer Spray for this little experiment

I was REALLY surprised at how different all these samples look! Especially the gesso, I thought I would get a much more vibrant colour!

But here are the samples by themselves

Next up I did a little water colouring :)

I had 2 pots of water on hand - one for only clean water and the other to clean to the brushes as I went. First up, I mixed some of the Sunshine, Envy and Deep Water Colour Shimmer Sprays with a little water in a colour palette and then I used a wide flat brush on some water colour paper with plain water to apply a quick coat of water. While that was still wet I applied each colour using a wet, round number 20 brush with the colours over lapping a little so that the colours blended together a little so as not to create a solid line between colours. Be aware, that if you are doing this sort of thing it is super handy to have a basic understanding of the colour wheel so you don't mix colours that essentially make "mud" ;)

Next up I used another piece of water colour paper and again a quick coat of water using a clean brush.

Again, while that was still wet I applied my colour - this time I used the nozzle from the bottle and flicked the colour onto the wet card stock. I have used 3 colours here - Tangereen Dream, Rose Petal and Sunshine. While they were still wet I added a few splashes of water where the colour had hit an area that the 1st coat of water had already dried on.

This is a very pretty effect and I have used this before on art journal pages and it gives such an array of colours when you use more than one colour!

My next technique is very similar to this one but gives quiet a different effect!

This time I have used white card stock with a coat of gesso and rather than apply water and then colour I applied colour and then flicked water on. I used only 2 colours this time - the Tangereen Dream and the Sunshine. I started with the Sunshine, just flicking drops of colour with the hose of the nozzle and then went it with some clean water with a paintbrush and flicked over where the colour had landed. After I was happy with the Sunshine I did the exact same thing with the Tangereen Dream. I did a quick dry with my heat tool and went back in again with some splatters of the Sunshine.

And a side by side comparison of the 2 different/very similar techniques

While that dried I decided it was time to do a little more water colouring with some sprays! I quickly stamped an image on a piece of white card stock with gesso on it using versa mark ink and then applied the Bling Colour Embossing Powder and heat set. I do go more into detail about embossing with the gorgeous powders over on this video so if you haven't seen it yet feel free to pop over and check it out! Once the embossing powder was cooled I grabbed my fave water colour brush, one of my fave Colour Shimmer Spray, Envy and applied a very quick coat of colour directly over the embossed stamp image. I dried that off and decided I wanted a bit more colour so grabbed the brush again, dunked it straight into the bottle and applied a little more colour! I forgot to take progress shots of this technique and the card front has since been made into a card and given out but here is the finished card front. 

I finished it off by wiping off any excess Envy spray on the embossed sentiment with a damp baby wipe, a few enamel dots in purple, some splatters of the very pretty Violet Colour Spray and a very quick outline in purple around the edge.

Next up I decided to have a play with chipboard and some Colour Shimmer Sprays!

First up, chippy with a coat of gesso. I simply sprayed the Bling Colour Shimmer Spray straight onto the chippy and left to dry.

How pretty is that?!

Next up, some raw chippy and THIS is where the magic REALLY happened! I was totally blown away at just how shimmery and shiny the Bling Colour Shimmer Spray is on the raw chipboard!!

This photo does not do the word any justice but OMG, it was so so pretty and it got me thinking.... "If the bling looks so pretty on such a dark background, what will the other colours look like on a dark background?" Ok, 3rd piece of raw chippy and my Tangereen Dream Colour Shimmer Spray.

The colour looks alot more flat on the screen on than it does IRL but this totally opened up my mind to what can I try next!!

I hadn't yet tried the Colour Shimmer Sprays on black cardstock (the idea hadn't even occurred to me if truth be told!!) so I grabbed some scrap black card stock and started spraying away!

I started with the lighter colours - Bling, Sunshine and Snow White

Ahhhh! Look at that that shimmery, shiny goodness!!! Oh my stars!! Ok, so that worked a treat! I wonder what happens with the other colours!!

Here you go:

Some of the colours change quiet a bit on the black while others stay very true to their actual colour so if you haven't already discovered this magic grab your sprays and some black cardstock!!

I did have some other fun ideas of how to use the sprays but got so side tracked by the effect on the darker surfaces that I thought I would stop here otherwise the blog post and video would be WAY too long!!

I hope I have inspired you to maybe use your Colour Shimmer Sprays in a way you perhaps hadn't thought of before and if you do please come over to our FB group here and share away all of your beautiful Colour Blast projects!!

Have a fabulous day!

Melinda

#shine - be yourself by Elisa Ablett

Hi Crafters,

Happy Sunday :-) 

Elisa here from the design team with a mixed media layout I created featuring Midnight Colour Shimmer Dust, Leather Colour Shimmer Spray and Apple of my Eye Colour Paste to name a few!

All the Colour Blast products can be found here in the Colour Blast Shop.

I wanted to share with you an interesting technique i thought of using the Shimmer Dust to create a grungy linear background.

To start the layout, I matched the photo (which was an unusual colour) with the different shades of Colour Blast, I ended up adding Leather and Apple of my Eye to the layout as well to achieve the closest match to the photo.

Next step grab a black waterproof pen and a ruler and draw lines as shown below across your page.

Add water to your Midnight Colour Shimmer Dust in an Artist's palette and grab a paintbrush with a nice fine tip. Spray water using a water spray bottle onto your lines and then using a ruler and a nice wet paintbrush (with your activated dust) draw over the top of the lines letting the colour bleed with the water on the page. Wipe the ruler after each pass over the page.

Now while your background dries lets move onto your feathers, spray each feather with a light coat of a combination of Colour Shimmer Sprays and then dry thoroughly. Once the feathers are dry using a sepia toned ink pad and a stamp stamp over the bottom of your feathers like the below photo.

Once the stamping has dried, using a paint brush, screw the lid off your Roadbase Colour Spray and paint the top of your feather and the very bottom tips.

 Next step! while the feathers are drying you can go back to your background and add Colour Shimmer Sprays in Leather, Steel and Apple of My Eye. Also add splatters of each colour in the centre of your layout just above the top and bottom line. Once dry, using some word and texture stamps stamp in both black and sepia colours onto your background.

I also added some circle stamps in black ink and then using a white gel pen, trace around the circles in various places around your layout. 

Once dry, using a palette knife scrap Leather and Apple of My Eye Colour Paste across your chosen stencil on either side of where your photo will sit.

Time to assemble your layout once the Paste has dried. Add some netting under your photo and using 3D mounting tape mount your photo into the middle of your layout. Add your title to the photo and stick it all down.

Time for some close ups of the feathers, stone and shells. Wrap natural twine around the base of feathers and attach twine to your page crossing it over in the middle. Tie your feathers to the stone (which i found on a beach, it had a handy hole already in it) adding your charm. Then glue your shells onto your page at the end.

And here is your finished layout! 

That's it from me today, hope you have enjoyed the tutorial, make sure you leave some love in the comments below!!

Elisa xx

Live a Life Full of Laughter by Ree Peace

Hi all! Straight up I owe you all an apology...I have had a camera glitch this past week or so and have lost my original pics for this post. I will aim to do my best with a written instruct for this piece, but will also attempt to do a follow up 'LIVE' facebook post =)

This is a canvas I have created for my daughter.

It is built up with a generous layer of gesso that I painted on. I laid a diecut piece on the gesso to create texture. Before the gesso dried I sprinkled many Colour Shimmer Dusts down the first third line (rule of thirds). With a dry brush I spread the shimmer dust in a gentle strokes across the canvas, moving from the third line to the right and then the third line to the left.

 There are often sneaky sprinkles as the shimmer dust is so fine, these make for a great balance on the canvas. 

With a mix of fonts and a large rub on I laid the phrase down.

Simple embellishments of washi, vellum, foam diecuts, sequins and a flair were enough for this piece.

Again sorry for the lack of visual instructions! Try to pop along to our Creative Corner to find live videos of me working of different projects including colouring a chipboard peacock feather with some Colour Mica Powders.

Enjoy getting messy and colourful,

Ree x

"2 Man Journey" by Melissa Struhs

Happy Friday Colour Blast Fans!

I am such a huge fan of unusual combinations usually consisting of 3 or 4 colours and today's project is no different. The layout is very simple to construct and my tutorial is more about creating all the elements.

I began with Peach Nectar Colour Mica Powder mixed with a gel medium to create my own variation for using with the Lipstick Colour Paste through a Mandala style stencil. I created two small blobs on my non stick craft mat and picked up a little of both colours with my palette knife.

The Peach Nectar and Lipstick blended together beautifully, however, the more times you scrape back over the stencil, the more you mix them together.

I like to make no more than two passes, this is enough to bring the colours together without creating a mash.

As gorgeous as the pattern looks, there are times where you may need to disguise any imperfections and I am certainly one of those people!

While the stencilled image was drying, Lipstick Colour Shimmer Spray was flicked all over the white cardstock.

Another use of the Peach Nectar Colour Mica Powder, it was mixed with a little water and some glossy accents.

This is my little recipe for creating a binding quality to the mica products and creates a more intense shimmer than the lipstick because of the amount of powder I added.. When it pools on top of the pastes, it really changes the look of the mandala too.

After almost a year of working with Colour Blast products, I still get asked about the Colour Embossing Powders and what inks work best. And sometimes seeing a comparison helps people decide for themselves. The following stamped images were stamped onto textured white cardstock, embossed with 1 coat of Singin' the Blues and Lipstick Colour Embossing Powders and then fussy cut.

These floral images were inked with Versamark, it creates a light finish...

here they are as a finished embellishment on the right hand side of the title.

The exact same images were then stamped again with a coloured chalk ink close to the embossing powder colours. If I am after a more intense colour, these are my go to products...

Again, used in a cluster on the left hand side of my photo. But having made two versions, one light and one dark, they both add dimension to the project and totally worth the effort to experiment a little!

And last but not least is a close up of the finished mandala centre. I had a leftover piece of laser cut chipboard just waiting to be used, it was the perfect finish to a really intricate stencil. It was inked with a blue chalk ink and the tips were embossed with Singin the Blues.

Hope you have a little time to create this weekend, I planning a massive sort out in my work space instead. Hopefully it won't take too long

Shine, by Amanda Hartmann

Hi again Colour Blasters!

Hope you are having a great month!

I was lucky enough to go on a Scrap retreat this month and it is fair to say that my friends and I got our Colour Blast on! Everyone's favourite thing to use for the weekend.

I had such fun with the Colour Shimmer Dusts, that I decided to do some hand painting!

Here is my page:

And here are the steps I took to create it:

First I gesso'd my white cardstock background:

Next, I sprayed some water into my paint tray and added a small amount of the Colour Shimmer Dust to each, in the colours I needed for my layout.

Then I took the plunge and started painting rough outlines of flowers and stems with the colours I had created with my Colour Shimmer Dust.

For the flowers I used these Colour Shimmer Dust colours: Lollipop (pink), Cobalt (blue), Peacock (light blue).

For the stems, I used Colour Shimmer Dust in Paris (green).

  

Once it had dried, I doodled the flower shapes on each flower and stem.

I did some rough stamping next, then also used some Colour Spray (in Rainforest) for the ground. I sprayed directly onto the layout and then used a baby wipe to swipe the colour along the bottom of the layout.

Next, I added another layer, this time with some Colour Paste (in Deep Water) through a spotty stencil.

I also added a bit more water to my paint tray, to the Colour Shimmer Dust pot of Lollipop, and used this water paint to flick some splatters onto the layout.

My background was now ready for me to finish with the photo and embellishments.

 

 

In these close ups, you can see where I have used Colour Blast products to finish the different embellishments.

 I used Colour Paste (in Deep Water) to paint a wood veneer cloud.

I used Colour Embossing Powder (in Deep Water and Dusty Charcoal) to emboss the chipboard person and butterfly.

I also Colour Embossing Powder (in Dusty Charcoal) to emboss the wood veneer word title.

And this is how it all came together:

     

Thanks for looking today!

Amanda