I've been selected to be part of Colourarte's new Video Design Team! YAYY!
I'll be sharing more videos for Colourarte in the future so do stay tuned to my process video!
Click on the Colourarte logo below to view other DT members!
For today's post, I'm sharing something I did for Colourarte's Challenge #2: Textures. I love how wide this theme covers, there isn't much restrictions on the rules of the challenge, so do take part in it! You can view more details by clicking the picture below!
Here are the close-up shots I did for this challenge. I chose to the leftover holder for Prima's trim as an ATC.
Hi Guys!
I'm back again with a Mixed Media Canvas piece for Off the Rails Scrapbooking DT project.
This canvas was inspired by Scraps N Pieces Challenge Blog's moodboard.
I love how dreamy this galactic theme is! Hence I chose blue and purple as my main colours.
I first primed by 5.5 x 7 inches canvas board with white gesso. I pulled out my Tim Holtz blending tool as well as Peacock Feathers and Seedless Preserve ink pads. I randomly brushed on those inks using my blending tool onto stencils from Crafter's Workshop and Dylusions. Since the inks are water soluble, I actually sprayed water to allow the inks to flow slightly.
See the white patches? I create the effect by 'stamping' gesso using my palette knife. I just thought that the colours are slightly too vivid and wanted to tone down my colours slightly. So by creating this white patches, I can not only tone down my colours, I can also create some additional interest and effects.
As my canvas was inspired by galactic theme, I wanted something sparkly and dimensional for my canvas. I applied heavy matte medium from Liquitex over my Dina Wakley stencil and poured a mixture of Black Sparkle and Silver Tinsel embossing powder from Ranger. As the matte medium was still wet, it managed to capture those embossing powder. The trick to this technique is to wait till the medium is completely dried before you heat-set the embossing powder to prevent the medium from bubbling.
So this is the final look after embellishments. The papers are from 7 Dots Studio Soulmates Collection and my sentiment is actually a sticker from Mambi. I used Thailand's Mulberry flowers for my canvas, but you can actually purchase these flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.
I used 13arts pastel mists in Lavender and Cobalt to highlight my centerpiece. I actually dipped my brush into the mist bottles and colour it around my centrepiece.
See those texture over there? I actually mixed Glass Microspheres from 13arts with my Clear Gesso. I chose to use Clear Gesso instead of matte medium was that my matte medium will act as a resist to watercolours unlike clear gesso. So I randomly swipe this mixture onto my canvas and also sprinkle some Platinum Glass Glitter from Prima Finnabair line. I also gently brushed on white gesso as highlight after everything dried.
And who say stamens can only be used at the center of flowers? I layered stamens underneath my flower composition so that it looks like they are bursting around the flowers.
My little thought on sketch challenge is that I only remember the main components of the sketch so I can produce something that is similar to the sketch and yet it's unique instead of copying wholesale and fail to stand out from the rest.
So in the back of my mind, I remembered that on the sketch, there're details on the top and bottom left of the layout. Hence, I torn some Prima Marketing papers from Finnabair Collection and adhered it to my 12x12 inches Basic Grey Lexicon patterned paper.
To be honest, I had actually told my friend that I thought this month's Scrap Around the World moodboard was tedious. The colours are very vibrant and attractive, but I just cannot find inspiration. After looking at it a couple more times, I decided that I really like the left side of the moodboard which was the burning dandelion and the sunset. So I actually chose yellow as my main colour as well as hints of pink and purple as my secondary colour. I am somehow captivated by the flames of the burning dandelion that produces those pretty hues of pink and purple.
I sprayed on Dylusion Spray in Pure Sunshine as well as Tim Holtz's Distress Stain Spray in Tattered Rose. I then randomly draw some circles with my ball point pen lying on the side of my desk. Like I mentioned, remember the main component of the sketch. In this case, I remembered there're some circles around the centre piece, which was why I drew those circles even though they are a lot more than the sketch.
I applied some modelling paste over the Dina Wakley stencil as well as Prima Damask stencil. After everything dried, I used a piece of transparency (you can replace this with a piece of plastic packaging etc), watered down my paints, then smush it on the layout. The key to this technique is that your paint much be liquidy enough to move around, otherwise the blops of colours will not be pretty and natural. I actually used Colourarte Silks in Snap Dragon and Rustic Rose.
After all the modelling paste and vibrant colours, I decided that my circles are not outstanding, hence I used black gesso to redraw them with a thin brush.
I also used Colourarte Silks Guatemalan Green to outline the layout. As inspired by the moodboard from SATW, I think it's necessary to incorporate some green in my layout, besides it's a nice contrasting colour as compared to the purple and yellow.
This is the final look of the layout after embellishment!
I diecut some leaves from Prima Marketing's Leaves Dies as well as fussy cut some flowers from Maggie Holmes patterned papers. I also used some mulberry flowers I got from Thailand but you can order them from Wild Orchid Crafts. The stickers sentiments are from Tim Holtz and my layering papers are from Crate Papers.
I'm back again with a layout I did for Off the Rails Scrapbooking!
This month marks the official start of my term of duty at Off the Rails Scrapbooking as a designer (YAYY!). I have been participating in their challenges for some time and I'm glad to have an opportunity to be part of the family.
This is one special month with 2 mood boards to choose from!
I have chosen the second mood board to work with for I love how soft and sweet the colours are and I tried to achieve that result for my layout.
I first pulled out this piece of Kaisercraft's speciality paper from the Oh So Lovely collection. I really love this piece of patterned paper and regretted not getting more of it. The glossy pattern at the picture below are actually embossed and have a resist effect on water-based paints. Meaning that when I applied water-based paint on top of this piece of paper, the glossy part will not absorb the paint.
I used Tim Holtz's Distress Stain Spray in Tattered Rose as well as Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist in Silver Sugar to create this soft look. I sprayed the mists directly onto the paper and then gently manoeuvre the paints to where I want them. In this case, my focus its the triangle on the left of the page, however I would need something to balance out the 'weight' of the layout, which was why I decided to work on the top right triangle as well.
Notice that the roses pattern from the glossy part stood out now?
Since my spray mists are all water-based, it will not stick onto the glossy part and flowed around it.
Initially I was worried that I might soak the paper beyond repair since I just kept spraying, but I was quite surprise at the quality of this speciality paper. It didn't warp much despite the amount of liquid I sprayed.
I decided that I need more contrast for the glossy pattern to stood up, so I actually watered down my black gesso and randomly applied it over the places where my centrepiece will be. I think it also attracts viewers attention towards the centrepiece.
I layered my photos with scraps from my previous projects from Teresa Collins, Crate Paper etc. I'm not really going for a very precise look, hence I'm just randomly tearing my scraps to layer my photos so there's some edges that are torn and some edges that are straight. I think it added some interesting details to it, don't you think?
Another diecut embellishment from Kaisercraft, though I have to apologise that I have forgotten which collection it came from. I also added a coat of watered down black gesso so that the diecut can stand out.
And after all the embellishments, this is the final look!
I REALLY love how sweet it looks. The colours matches the moodboard perfectly as well as the theme of the layout.
I added Prima Marketing's flowers as well as some mulberry flowers from my own stash. I added some threads and twines for details and I love how the dew drops and sequins add to the detailing.
Sentiment sticker from Heidi Swapp. Did you see the black border that's super eye catching? I did not do anything addition except to brush on some watered down black gesso over. I love how it pulls everything together and the layout looks just like what I envisioned.
I really want to find another piece of this speciality paper and perhaps this time round, I will use dark colours after seeing how pretty the border is.
That's all for today.
Do let me know if you have any queries, I'll be happy to answer them if I can.
Excited, nervous, busy and lacked of sleep was what I was feeling the past week.
Apart from getting too excited when I received the Colourarte DT invitation half the time, I spent most of my free time planning out what to do for this application. As I am working in the day, I can only start on my craft projects at night and feeling ambitious, I decided to make a process video of a canvas as well as a photo tutorial for my altered frames! Be warned that this is going to be an intense blog post with loads of techniques and pictures!
Before I start, you can find more information about the DT call HERE!
First up! I made a canvas out of chipboard and laces! Keep scrolling down for the process video!
That's all for the first project! Proceed to the 2nd project (or should I say 2nd and 3rd? Haha)!
Started out with these 4x4 inches kraft frames I got from local art store, Art Friend. These are really inexpensive and the possibility of altering these are endless, which was why I chose these to showcase Colourarte products.
I first prepped the entire frames with black gesso.
See how the black gesso stands out after I haphazardly smack on some white crackle paint?
The thing I learnt about using crackle mediums are that you have to be VERY patient. Trust me when on this, if you want to get great crackle, not only do you have to layer a thick coat of crackle paint, the key also lies on the drying time. The best effect would definitely be leaving it to dry naturally and come back to your projects hours later. I wouldn't suggest using heat tool as the high heat will cause the crackle to not crack properly and it also creates bubbling.
So after everything dried, I decided that I need more texture on the frames. So I mixed some 13 arts' micro glass beads with matte medium and white glitter powder.
I did these in 2 different consistencies. One with more matte medium than beads, and another with more beads than matte medium. The differences between these two are that the one with more medium will be easier to swipe on, and also it'll be flatter. The one with more beads are actually the ones that clustered together forming peaks, making the whole texture much more interesting to touch.
I also pulled out some chipboards from Sa Crafters and brushed on a coat of white gesso.
Time to colour the frames!
The reason why I'm going heavy with the textures are that I am using Colourarte Silks. Silks is an acrylic glaze medium that's super shimmery. By applying them on uneven surfaces, you can see them shine in difference directions. They are sheer so you can keep layering them without them covering the things you had underneath. In this case, I'm applying silks on top of my glass beads as well as the cracked surface, it makes everything so much more interesting with the bright and shimmery colours!
Here's the final looks after embellishments!
I actually filled up the tiny glass bottles with glass glitter. I think they make cool embellishment. You can shake and see them move too! :)
I used Prima's chalk edger..
...and Art Anthology's Sand stone for the chipboards.
