"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