Mixed Media: Cards with ColourArte

Hello everyone!  Barbara here with more mixed media fun using my ColourArte products.  Just wondering if you all are warm enough wherever you live.  It was sweltering here in the mid-South a few weeks ago, and then something wonderful happened... it cooled down a bit.  I don't know about you, but I seem to have more energy when it is not so hot.  So let's play!!

Speaking of hot, mixed media is hot right now, and that even transcends into card making, so here are two cards I made using these techniques.

Supplies used:

Silks Acrylic Iridescent Glaze

Lemondrop
Plum Blossom
Kiwi
Sea Spray
Snap Dragon

Radiant Rains Color Concentrates (Dauber)

Nutmeg

Low Tide 12x12 paper pad (Me & My Big Ideas)
Cut n' Dry Foam (Ranger)
THS 004 Stripes Stencil (Tim Holtz)
Chocolate Baroque stamp sets: Seadragon, Underwater Kingdom
V237 Lone Bird rubber stamp (Stampendous)
Crackled Texture Paste (Wendy Vecchi)
Goosebumps Clear Texture Spray (Tsukineko)
Fancy Tags die (Sizzix)
Trellis Frameworks die (Tim Holtz)
Grungeboard (Tim Holtz)
Ink Pads: Memento Luxe Nautical Blue, Rhubarb Stalk, Lilac Posies; VersaFine Smokey Gray; StazOn Spiced Chai, Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Fantastix brush tip tool
Nautical silicone mold (Mod Podge)
Creative Paperclay®
The Robin's Nest dew drops

Blue Card directions:

Cut two pieces of white chipboard (our paint chipboard white) to 4" x 5-1/4".  Set one aside for the second card.

Cut piece of cut n' dry foam and, using rubber side, spread Sea Spray Silks across chipboard, then Kiwi Silks.  Cover paper with both colors until you like it.  The rubber side does not absorb any of the paint, so it merely sits on the surface, allowing you to make swiping motions.  The colors do not actually blend but, instead, simply layer on top of each other.  I like this technique a lot.

Dab Sea Spray Silks over the top, leaving these cool "crackle" like textures.  Now that I look at it side ways, and having a beneath the sea theme in mind, I think they look like jellyfish.  What do you think?

 Next, I began stamping my mermaid and underwater plants using Memento Luxe Nautical Blue ink pad.

My mermaid did not stamp really well, so I used a Fantastix brush tip tool to add more Memento Luxe Nautical Blue to her.  You could have restamped her with a stamp positioner, but I liked having the control of adding the color and shading.

 Next, I stamped the coral and plants with Memento Luxe Rhubarb Stalk and Lilac Posies.  I discovered that if you make a mistake, the ink wipes right off using a baby wipe or damp paper towel without disturbing the Silks acrylic glaze background, thereby taking all the fear right out of the equation.  Love it!!!!

Spritz Goosebumps clear texture spray over background and let dry.  This gives the whole background a "wet" look.

Stamp "Secrets of the Deep" onto a scrap of tan card stock with StazOn Spiced Chai ink.  Sketch a design around the words to make it appear as though it is a piece of wood, rotting away underwater.

Cut it out roughly, ink edges with Vintage Photo distress ink, and adhere to card with foam dots.  I also added some blue dew drops as air bubbles.

Edge chipboard with the Nautical Blue inkpad to finish the edges off.

Cut a 4-1/4" x 6-1/4" piece of print paper from the Low Tide pad and adhere to a 4-1/2" x 6-1/2" folded blue card.  Adhere chipboard to card, aligning to the right.

 Add twisted leaves to the left side, as shown below.

 Make underwater embellishments pieces using a Mod Podge silicone mold and Creative Paperclay® air dry clay.

Paint paperclay pieces (starfish, shells, sand dollar, octopus, seahorse) with the Silks Acrylic Glazes, mixing colors and adding water to make a wash for each piece.

Sand Dollar (Radiant Rain Nutmeg mixed with Lemondrop Silks)

Octopus (Radiant Rain Nutmeg mixed with water)

Large shell (Radiant Rain Nutmeg,Plum Blossom, and Lemondrop Silks)

Small Shell (Lemondrop and Snapdragon Silks)

Starfish (Radiant Rain Nutmeg, Plum Blossom and Lemondrop Silks)

Seahorse (Kiwi and Sea Spray Silks)

 Here you can see what I mean by mixing the colors together with water to make a very light wash.

 Adhere dried Paperclay pieces to the bottom of the card, as shown.

Pink Card directions:

Cut piece of cut n' dry foam and, using foam side this time, spread Lemondrop Silks across chipboard, then Plum Blossom Silks.  Because the foam holds the paint, the two colors blend more rather than laying on top of each other.  Cover chipboard with both colors until you like it.

Use a spatula to spread crackled texture paste through Stripes stencil, let dry.

Here is a close up of those crackles after they dry.  Do not use a heat gun for this step, crackle pastes don't like heat.  For best results, be patient and let it dry on its own.

Place a dot of the Nutmeg dauber onto your craft sheet, use a wet brush to pick up the color and apply lightly to the crackle paste.  Wipe excess with baby wipe or damp paper towel.

Continue to pick up the Nutmeg color from your craft sheet with a wet brush to add color to the grunge board Trellis die cut, then adhere this to the background.

Stamp the lone bird onto a scrap of cream card stock with Smokey Gray ink.  Die cut the image with the Fancy Tags die.

Now for some fun. Did you know you can use ColourArte Silks like watercolor?  I colored the bird image by adding a bit of water to a tiny dollop of the Sea Spray Silks, and the Kiwi Silks was used to color the leaves in the same way.

Ink the edge of the die cut Fancy Tag with the Smokey Gray ink on a baby wipe.  I wanted a very pale inking.  Adhere this to the background, over the trellis, with foam dots.

Ink edges with Nautical Blue ink pad and adhere the embellished background piece to a 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" folded, olive green card.

Finally, I chose some small paper flowers that I colored with a wash of the same colors of Silks Acrylic Glaze to help them match my background.

All flowers need leaves, so I punched three leaves from a scrap of white card stock, colored both sides of the leaves with Kiwi Silks, and placed them around my flower bouquet.  (See photo above).

Well, that's about it.  I really am enjoying working with mixed media, and I have found it to be useful not only in canvas works, but as I have shown here, in everyday card making.  You could also apply these techniques in your scrapbooking and home decor projects, as well.  

Don't forget to play along with our Scavenger Hunt. There are still a few more days for  a chance to win an awesome prize.  

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Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful, creative week.

Barbara