"New do", by Amanda H.

Hi all,

Today I am sharing a soft and pretty layout of my oldest daughter.  Here's a sneak......

Now let's look at how I created it!

I wanted a painted background. I know I could buy every colour of acrylic paint in the world, but really all I need is some Gesso and Colour Artist Inks! Seriously, it is so easy to mix your own paints, to create your own colours to match any layout.

I took some White Heavy Gesso and mixed two colours - using Colour Artist Inks in Marine and Berry. I only used a few drops of each, wanted to keep soft colours for my layout.

Using an old credit card, I swiped the Marine paint mix down the page.

Then, I swiped the soft Berry paint mix across the page.

Once the paint was dry, I added some Colour Paste in Singin the Blues through a stencil.

I wanted to add some layers under the photo. I found some white tissue paper and sprayed it generously with Colour Shimmer Spray in Blush.

Look at the lovely shine once it was dried! 

I sprayed another piece of tissue paper, this time using Colour Shimmer Spray in Singin the Blues.

Next I coloured a Charms Creations DIY banner. These are made of white calico and are so easy to colour with Colour Blast products. I sprayed it with water first and then hit it with a few sprays of Colour Shimmer Spray in Blush.

While the Colour Shimmer Spray in Blush was out, I made some splatters with a paintbrush on the background.

I used a Shimmer Brush Marker in Clear to paint some sparkles on the circular die cut frame I was using.

Lastly, I painted the white sticker word "do" for the title using Colour Artist Ink in Marine.

Let's look at how my page came together..

Close up of the Charms Creation banner, amongst flowers and butterflies!

Love the colours and layers of the background.

The layers of tissue paper add depth and texture!

Thanks for looking today!

Amanda

"FLOURISH" by Anita Enright

Hi Everyone

For my share today I've stepped outside my normal comfort zone of white backgrounds.  It is so easy to manipulate the white with colours so I decided to go the total opposite and use a black as my base for my scrapbooking page.

I prepared my cardstock by applying the Heavy Black Gesso. Once dry I softened the background using the Colour Shimmer Spray in Snow White.  I did this twice, the second time once the first spray had dried.  I have to apologise as I did forget to take a photo of the cardstock once I had sprayed it with the Colour Shimmer spray.

Next I applied some of the Heavy White Gesso through a couple of stencils.  I really love this gesso as it dries quite quickly, which is great as I am an impatient crafter.  I have learnt that by leaving your gesso open (without the lid) it helps thicken it up.  Mine obviously isn't as thick as I really want it as it bled a little underneath my large stencil.  You couldn't really notice it in the finished page so all turned out for the best :)

When the stenciling was dry I felt that it was like it was going to jump off the page and grab me around the throat so to soften it I decided to throw in a bit of pink.  Using some more of the Colour Shimmer Spray in Blush I sprayed over the gesso stenciling and dabbed off the excess with a paper towel.

My last bit of prep work was covering both my wood veneer title and chipboard accent with some white gesso.  For the title I added some Colour Paste in Snow White and for the chipboard accent I dabbed the Colour Paste in Punch over it with my finger.

Once I was happy with the background for my layout and title and chippie I added my photo, ephemera and other embellishments to the page. Oh, and a huge shout out to Jodi from Corbett Creations for my special wood veneer word.

To finish I used one of the new Shimmer Brush Markers in  
Clear over some of my ephemera pieces to add a little bit of bling without being obvious. These pens are great and also come in gold and silver. 

Check out a few closeups of the finished page.

Thank you for popping on by.  

Don't forget to keep the craft alive.... and find at least a little time in your busy week to have a bit of a play.

Anita

xx

"Say Yes to New Adventures" by Sue Plumb

Hi everyone!

Sue Plumb here to share my latest design team project with you. Today I am sharing a fun, whimsical style art journal spread I created in my altered book journal using an old favourite product - Colour Shimmer Cubes; along with Colour Paste, and some of the new release stamps and stencils designed by Michelle Grant.

Unfortunately, the Colour Shimmer Cubes are now a retired product (although you may still find them available from selected retailers); but there are still many of you with them in your stash and they need to be used! If you don't have any cubes, you could still create a project such as this using an alternative product, such as Colour Shimmer Dust, Colour Shimmer Spray or even Colour Artist Inks.

Now, onto my process.

I began my spread by adding a coat of white heavy gesso to my pages using a brush. I chose to use a brush this time as I wasn't concerned about getting a thin, even coverage. If I was working on a scrapbook layout I would usually apply it with an old gift card, but I am less fussy in my journal, so a brush it was.

Whilst the gesso was drying, I chose the Colour Shimmer Cubes I wanted to use and gave the surface of each one a spray of water, then set them aside for a few minutes to moisten. I then grabbed a medium rounded brush and a cup of water and began applying my first colour - 'Sunshine', using a dabbing motion. As I applied the watercolour, I kept dipping my brush into the water to ensure that it was nice and wet going onto the page, allowing me to move the paint around.

After I had the Sunshine on the page, I then repeated the process with 'Singin' the Blues'; 'Envy' and finally, 'Lipstick'. (It is important to remember that the shimmer cubes, like all watercolour paints, will re-activate each time they are wet, so take care when applying one colour over another to ensure you don't make "mud".)

After I had all the colours dried, I decided that a couple of areas weren't quite as vibrant as I would have liked, so I added a little extra colour over the top before drying again.

The next step was to apply some stamping, so I reached for the new August release Colour Blast stamp set and used some of the stamps to add extra interest to my page.

After the stamping was complete, it was time for some texture and shine. The gorgeous golden 'Bling' Colour Paste fit the bill perfectly, and I used it with another of the August new release products -  a stencil. I used the dot section of the stencil along the top portion of my page, applying the paste using a palette knife, and then wiping off the excess paste randomly along the bottom edge of my pages.

I then added the focal points of my spread - some digital collage elements sourced from Mischief Circus that I had printed out and fussy cut. I used a liquid adhesive to adhere them to the page.

At this point my collage pieces were looking a little flat on the page and were in need of something to give them some depth and to help them pop. The answer? My trusty Stabilo All pencil. I added a rough outline around each of the pieces and then  used a water brush to blend the lines out. (These pencils are water soluble.) I also used the pencil to add some outlines to the stamped stars, some small crosses, and a few random scribbles. (I left these lines untouched though.)

Now my all my spread needed was some text. Enter yet another new August release Colour Blast stencil - this one with a fabulous quote. I used a permanent ink and a sponge dauber to apply the ink through the stencil. (Confession time - I actually changed my mind after I took this photo and began sponging the title and switched to black ink.)

To finish off, I used a fine white paint pen to add some detail to the inked letters.

Let's take a closer look at the details...

Adding the shadows around the outlines of the collage pieces makes a big difference in helping to bring them to the foreground.

Close up you can see the different layers and how they all work together to give depth to the page.

Wiping off the excess Colour Paste from the palette knife roughly onto the page gives a great textured result. And look at that pretty shine too! 

And who doesn't love a bit of bling, right?

Thanks for stopping by today so I could share this with you. If you have some Colour Shimmer Cubes in your stash I hope I have inspired you to get them out and use them. If not, why not try creating a similar style project with an alternative Colour Blast product?

I will be back again in a couple of weeks with another project to share. Until then, happy scrapping!

Genuine by Kristy Abela

Hi Friends... 

I have one for the boys here.. I wanted to capture the grunt of the car in this so I have gone with some grungy elements. This is my youngest and his Step Dad. Chris went all out asking a friend to get him one of the toughest cars on the professional show circuit for his farewell.. The grunt of this beast!

 I'll let you check out the close ups and then show you how I created the cogs and the matt for the photo with Colour Pastes and Colour Shimmer Dust.

 With this one I used the White Heavy Gesso and glad wrap technique where I painted a layer onto the wrap, misted and then dabbed the page to create a cloudy type of stamp. I needed this lighter layer so I could have some definition for my stamps. I then used two Kaiser Craft stamps to frame the background of where I wanted my focal point to go. 

Next up I used a reverse stamping technique with the Colour Shimmer Dust. This is so much fun! 
I sprinkled on the water colour paper ALL the blue shades (Duke, Navy, Peacock and Cobalt) and a bit of Midnight as well to give it some contrast I was aiming for oil on water.

Then I got my stamp and sprayed some water on it (NOT the page) and began activating the powders with the water from the stamp. I kept stamping until I was happy with result. You can do this several times over without it running. Once dry I brushed off the excess and the Mica still clung to the paper in areas giving it two ways to shine.

I was a little bit naughty here and used some of my Colour Shimmer pots. I used Leather, Stormy and Envy and created a rusted effect. You can also use the pastes to do this - just water them down slightly and it improves the consistency for dabbing the product on. 

I gave all the chipboard a coat of Colour Blast Black Heavy Gesso. I applied a layer of Leather, then Envy and some stormy on top... Kind of pushing the Envy into the background a bit.

I had some noise in the background of this pic so I brushed on some Heavy Black Gesso to fade it out.. 

I used the mica pigment from the Colour Embossing Powder to highlight the chains. I wanted something to contrast. I used my finger to rub it into the Heavy Black Gesso (once dry of course)..

From there it was simply a matter of creating a collage from all the pieces to create the effect of an engine block hanging from a hoist. 

Thanks for Looking 

Abela Artistry