"Craft Alive Logan" by Melissa Struhs

Morning Everyone! As I write this a week before you all get to see this on the blog.... It is now the day after Craft Alive in Logan, Brisbane. I am currently bleary eyed, tired and sore and in the post funk show blues. After all of the organisation of packing and planning, the adrenaline and general hype of the show, it can sometimes a flat day afterwards. Instead of my usual project, I thought it might be nice to do a wrap up of all the hard work the team puts into the event.

Three fun filled days in the Colour Blast stand always begins with the initial set up and Tenisha and I are ever thankful that we have that down to a fine art and can achieve all of that in under 4 hours. Think partitions, tablecloths, tiered shelving and demo table all in black and then this massive array of our colourful products. It certainly is eye catching and as you wander the aisles it really does have massive impact. 

One element of our show experience for the customers is the chance to sit and watch the on hand demo's. It gives everyone a chance to ask all of the burning questions they have, as well as new techniques and get to know how some our Design Team Members (past and present) like to play with the Colour Blast products. We are so blessed to have had Tina Connolly, Sue Plumb and Amanda Hartmann as our Demo guru's this past weekend. These girls rocked it and had some fabulous ideas and inspiration to share on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

No doubt, the highlight of the show was the buzz around the Colour Artist Inks.

Visitors to our stand saw the girls experimenting with them, creating stunning hand coloured stamped images, art journal pages and fabulous one of a kind tags. The colour combinations were surprising and unexpected at times, and I am certain what started out as my favourites changed several times over the 3 days. 

By far my favourite part of the show was getting to chat with everyone about the products and all of that they can be used for. Whether it was people we knew well or customers who had never seen our mixed media products before, I hope that they left us happy, inspired and excited to experiment straight away.

And finally, Tenisha, Tina, Sue and Amanda you are just so incredibly giving and a complete riot. We always learn something new about each other and I am eternally grateful to work with you all. xox

Have a colourful weekend,

Til next time

Mel.

Thank You & Goodbye

Hi Colour Blast Fans!

Today is a sad day for us as we say ''Goodbye" to some of our talented and valuable Design Team Members who will be departing our team at the end of Janaury 2017.  We feel very blessed to have had them come on board and promote our products in so many different platforms. These ladies have demonstrated some amazing projects on our blog and You Tube Channel, had their work in major publications and showcased our Colour Blast products at retreats and shows - we are extremely thankful to these ladies for this.

We know these talented designers will continue to amaze us all with their creations in the scrapping community and we wish them the best of luck with their future endeavors.

The Colour Blast Team
xxxxx

You've been framed! by Tina Connolly

At this time of the year it can sometimes be hard to find or make masculine gifts.  I created this frame with  the intention to use with some camping or Four Wheel driving photos. 

First sand the frame and work out where you want your embellishments. 

Next I applied Stormy Weather  Colour Paste through a number of stencils onto my upcycled frame.

I stamped both into the paste while still wet,  and also stamped with the paste to create a relief effect.  I love the contrast of the script with the other grungy elements.

Colour embellishments using a variety of Colour Pastes, I used Deep Water, Tangerine Dream, Fire Engine, and Bling.  Attach embellishments using strong glue or gel medium.  Using lighter coloured pastes on the raised areas with create an illusion of more depth.

Smear Just Blue and Deep Water Colour pastes to highlight various areas.  

Spray Deep Water and Just Blue  Colour Shimmer Spray onto some of the stencilled areas. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful Christmas, filled with love and laughter.

Happy scrapping,

Tina

Colourblasted Christmas Cards by Tina Connolly

Hello everybody, with Christmas just around the corner I thought I'd share these mixed media cards I created.  They are fun and quick and allow you to test out some different techniques - don't be afraid to play and experiment!

I mixed Wisteria  Colour Mica Powder with some heavy Gel Medium and applied through a Stencil Hut stencil.  Then I added Passion  Colour Shimmer Dust to the mix and applied it on my second card.  The excess was smeared onto my die cuts, and then  Snow White Colour  Embossing Powder was sprinkled on top and heated with a heat gun until melted.

I sprayed some other diecuts with Love  Colour Spray, then added Fire Engine  Colour Paste to the edges,  Snow White Colour Embossing Powder was used to add extra sparkle. 

 Backgrounds were sprayed with a mixture of Singing The Blues  Colour Shimmer Spray. Lagoon and Carribean Colour Sprays.  Peacock Colour Shimmer Dust was sprinkled onto some of the cards whilst still wet.  

Adhere all the elements once dry and you're done!

Happy Scrapping. 

Tina

Colour that Canvas by Tina Connolly

Hi everyone, 

I thought I'd play with a canvas art pad and some of my Colour Blast products. and I'm loving the result. The vibrant colour and that stunning shimmer always makes an impact!

After sketching my face (I'm still practicing) I spritzed Love Colour Spray through a stencil to the edge of my canvas.   Then I sprinkled some Candy Colour Shimmer Dust to create her hair, and misted with water to activate it.

Once dry I applied Just Blue and Bling  Colour Paste through stencils to create even more layers.

I added a layer of texture paste (you could also use White Heavy Gesso) to contrast with the shimmer.

Add some stamping using Stazon ink. Paint her features using the Colour Sprays as a watercolour (I used Sapphire with some water added for her eyes, and Love on her lips)

And some close-ups...

Thanks for stopping by,

Beautiful by Tina Connolly

Hi everyone, Tina here with a layout using lots of different Colour Blast products.... Had lots of fun creating this!   

I used texture paste through a stencil and allowed to dry.  

Then sprinkled complimentary Colour Shimmer Dusts, I used Peacock, Passion, Cobalt, Lollipop and Duke. 

Next I spritzed the page with water.

And moved the colour around the page

Look at that gorgeous sparkle!

 Paint parts of the chipboard white, so the colour is brighter when heat embossing. 

Heat emboss with various colours to create the illusion of shadow. I  used Colour Embossing Powder in Snow White, Just Blue and Singin' the Blues

 To change the metal embellishments to match the project I rubbed Deep Water and Leather Colour Paste over them.

Flowers were coloured using Deep Water Colour Shimmer Sprays.

Diecuts were heat embossed with Colour Embossing Powder to add some beautiful shimmer. For the title I used Just Blue and Snow White for the leaves.

And for the Butterfly I used a combination of Lovely Lilac and Lipstick

And heres the end result

Thanks for visiting our blog. Hope you find time to get creative today!

Happy scrapping,

Tina