Inspirational Mixed Media Cards by Amy C.

Hi everyone!

My turn up on the blog today with some mixed media cards using the inspirational Three Six Five paper collection pack designed by Tanya Froud. 

I used various papers from the 365 collection for the backgrounds, the sentiments and the butterflies!

I used some Black Heavy Gesso with the 'On Point' A6 stencil over the patterned paper as well as being stamped with the 'Life Is Tough' clear stamp set over various parts. 

To add a bit of dazzle, I applied some of the gorgeous Colour Blast 'Bling' Colour Paste through the 'That Way' A4 stencil over the background.

After I fussy cut the butterfiles from the 365 Collection I coloured them with Colour Spray in 'Grape' and 'Carribean'.

The sentiments for the cards were trimmed from the 'Untangle' range.

I also included thread and enamel dots from my stash.

Here are some close ups!

Products used.

Colour Paste - Bling

Heavy Gesso - Black

Colour Spray - Grape, Carribean

Clear Stamps - Life is Tough

Stencils - That Way - A4, On Point A6

365 Collection papers

Untangle paper collection

I hope you have been inspired - happy crafting!

Amy

In my Heart by Kristy Abela

I love these pic's of me and my Husband hamming it up for the camera at our Fiji wedding... He will always be 'In my heart'...

Anyway sentiment aside, I really wanted to have a play using the Colour Artist Inks and Colour Shimmer dusts to paint some pretty flowers. The rest of the project evolved from there.. 

I put the smallest amount into a palette and used a water brush to apply. I used a combination of Colour Artist Inks Grass, Cranberry, Sunset, Barley, Bordeaux, and Rust. I also used Colour Shimmer Dust Peacock and Duke. I created the purple quite by accident when I didn't wash out my blue properly...

I really got to play with pooling the colours as well as layering them.

Even if you don't have a project in mind its a really good way to get to know your product. Look at that Bouquet!!

I thought initially that I wanted to have a lot of negative space to showcase my flowers... 

Hmm, who was I kidding I don't do negative space!! 

So while this looked like it was going to showcase only the Colour Pastes in Envy, Singing the Blues and Lovely Lilac.. That didn't last long.

I used my Colour Spray in Violet hoping to get a vibrant background, however it paled with the use of my mister to create flow and also created some serious over spray on where I was hoping to attempt negative space... So in true Mixed Media Fashion I added another layer...

I grabbed my water mister and added moisture to the center of the page. I added Colour Spray in Caribbean and sprayed quite generously to create those awesome run lines... To cover up the over spray I brushed the Violet Colour Spray around the edges and created some fantastic watery effects... 

I sprayed a strip of Colour Spray in Road Base on my mat and dragged the edges of the layout through it. As I turned the page the colour ran into the project... I added some splatters in the same Road Base and then did the same with some Colour Blast Heavy Gesso White. A little bit of stamping with archival ink and the background was done. 

Here I added a layer of crackle paste and used my Colour Spray in Caribbean and my Colour Artist Ink in Cider to add some colour. I Painted some Chipboard with Colour Blast Heavy Gesso Black, distressed some Cheesecloth and then collaged the embellishments. Check out the close ups below...

Hope you enjoyed today's inspiration.  Make sure you pop up your Colour Play in out Facebook page Colour Blast Creative Corner

Thanks For looking!

Abela Artistry

Boys Boys Boys Layout - Chrissi Mannix

Hello Lovelies!! 

Today I have one of my favorite layouts ever to share with you. I love everything about this layout, especially the photo of my 2 crazy boys.

So the interesting thing about this layout, was that it was initially inspired by an art journal page I made. I was creating a page and was cleaning off my stamp sand inks onto a separate page. I decided to use that clean up page to create another art journal page. I loved how it turned out so much I decided to use the basis of that page as a layout.

I started with Colour Blast Artist Inks in Oasis, Calypso and Mermaid, and Colour Blast Colour Spray in Carribean. 

I tipped these colours into a paint palette so I could apply my colour to my layout with a paint brush as a watercolour.

The thing I love most about these products is that they are water reactive. So by spraying water to my layout, I was able to get some movement out of my inks and some great blending.

Once I had my colour down, now it was time to add some details to my background. I'm using Colour Blast Colour Spray in Road Base. I started by spritzing through a stancil in a few different places and then also adding splats with my colour spray aswell. I also added some stamping with a small background stamp.

My favoutite part of this layout is the 'Boys' stamping.  I really wanted this to be bold and stand out. So I decided to use Colour Blast Heavy Black Gesso instead of  Ink. It worked amazingly.

I had some left over cheesecloth that I had dyed with Road Base Colour Spray. I added that to my background. I love using cheesecloth to add texture to my layout.

Then it was time to add my photo. I adore this photo of my boys, its just so them. I kept all my embellishing simple, and focused on my background being the main focus of my layout, and I used the background stamping as my title. I love how it all comes together.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you liked my layout. Stop by soon for more inspiration from the awesome Design Team.

Bono U2 by Kristy Abela

Hi Everyone...

 I have a Celebrity Spread for you today. This was a chance encounter with Bono from U2 when I was working at Seaworld on the Gold Coast. I popped the full story on the blog in some tags I used on the layout. 

I loved doing this layout it was bright and fresh and really quick. I usually take forever to pull a project together. Using Colour Blast makes it so easy. 

I used Colour Spray in Carribean and Colour Shimmer Dust in Navy to create this cross hatch effect. I used a wide nylon brush to brush vertically and horizontally crossing in the bottom left corner. 

I love the way it created little rays of sunshine in the colour. I had some left over on my craft mat so I diluted it a bit further and added some platters. I love the way the overall effect looks like a puddle and some splashes. 

I added some stamping to create emphasis along the lines. If you look closely you can see I burnt the page... OOPS!! Ill cover that up later...

Being a star studded layout I used a star stencil with some Colour Paste in Snow. I didn't want to detract from the layout so made this effect subtle.

Check out the shimmer in that paste!! I really love the way it dries translucent. All the work I created on the background wasn't covered up.

  

I use some Colour Embossing Powder in Dusty Charcoal and Sunshine on my chipboard. I didn't end up using the arrows in the end.  

Knocked up a few tags and added the story for you all to have a peek. I also used these to cover up my burn mark... Shh...

To create the title I used some Thickers that I had lying around and customised the colour to match the layout with some Colour Mica Powder in Lemon Zing.

I needed another pop of colour... but like the stars I didn't want to cover up the background. I rummaged through my stash and found some Vellum!! I used my colour artist ink SPARINGLY and spread it across the page. (I put the first layer on too heavily and it warped and buckled). I ran it through the cuttlebug to create the stars. 

I added a bit of string and some enamel dots and my final title. Done and dusted!!

Thanks for looking and if you try out any of these techniques make sure you pop it up on the Facebook page Colour Blast Creative Corner so I can share the love back. 

Happy Scrapping!!

Abela Artistry

"I have loved the stars" Art Journal Page- Chrissi M

Hello Lovelies!!! 

I have an Art Journal page for you today, and it would have to be one of my faves atm. I cant believe how perfectly this galaxy style page came together with my Colour Blast Colour Sprays.

So you may know, I'm an art journaler at heart. It's my favourite way to get creative. I tend to use my art journal as a mix of play, experimentation, therapy and just plain old colour. This page uses one of my favourite quotes- "I have loved the stars too fondly, to ever be fearful of the night", and for someone that has experienced grief and depression over the past few years, it means a lot to me. 

I started with a technique I've been wanting to try out- Gesso Resist. Basically, the gesso on the page, in this case through a stencil, will resist the colour spray you apply over the top. It gives an amazing result I have to admit.

So I applied my Colour Blast Heavy Gesso in White through a star stencil I had on hand. Then I dried it really well- very important.

Then it was time to add my colour. So I grabbed the colours I felt with give me a nice starry sky/galaxy background. This was, without a doubt the easiest galaxy background I have ever made. I was able to use my Colour Blast Colour Sprays in Caribbean, Sapphire, Indigo (yummy-boss lady, please send more), and Road Base and the way they just blended together worked perfectly.

I had originaly only intended to do a single page in my journal, but I had over spray on the left hand side, so I just continued to add colour to it, and on a whim this page turned into a double. As I was adding the colour to my left hand side, it turned into the perfect place to add my quote.

I wanted my black to be bolder than the Road Base had turned out, so I grabbed some Colour Blast Gesso in Black and painted a journaling space over the Road Base Colour Spray.

Whats a starry page without some white splatters for tiny stars. The best way to get bold white stars, is to use some white gesso. I try not to water it down too much other wise I don't get the desired effect of that bold crisp white. Just enough water to make it splatter.

The to add my quote, I used a good old white paint pen. I went for a very messy style of writing. I was intending to add some more stencilling over my quote, and using it as just a background layer, but I ended up liking the page just as it was too much to change it lol.

And that's my page. I hope you go experiment with some of your mediums, and have some fun playing with colour. 

Chrissi xxx