Dragonfly Embroidery Hoop Redux with ColourArte

Hi everyone!  Today, I want to share a mixed media project that I made a couple of years ago, but I was not really happy with how it turned out.  I just could not figure out what I needed to do to improve it.  Fast forward two years, and here is my "new and improved" redo.  Okay, I am very easily entertained, but when you see the "before" and "after", you will have to admit that it is now much more colorful.  I have also added much more texture and interest to the piece.

Here is my video tutorial where I show you what I did differently.   Mainly, I used the ColourArte Vivid Ultra Metallics, which did not even exist at the time of my first video.

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If you are interested, I have also included my first video process here.  In it, I show you how I stiffened the fabric with Paverpol, and attached it into the embroidery hoop.  You may, also, learn a few techniques and uses for some of the other ColourArte products.  

ColourArte Supplies Used:
Vivid Ultra Metallics
  Black Cherry
  Burnt Umber
  Moss Green
  Daffodil
  Bolivian Blue
  Douglas Fir
Radiant Rains Colour Concentrate (Dabbers)
  Mediterranean
  Nutmeg
  Plumeria
  Yellow Rose

Other Supplies Used:
Liquitex White Gesso
Prima Metallique Wax
  Vintage Gold
  Bronze Age
Clear Glue Pen (Paper Studio)
Gold Mini Glass Beads
Metallic Jade Glass Beads (Judi-Kins)
Beadazzles (Suze Weinberg)
  Macarena
  Jazz

Whether you prefer my redo or not, I hope you enjoyed watching the processes used, and perhaps I was able to inspire you to make a canvas using only a simple embroidery hoop and a piece of fabric.  You can pick and choose the techniques and/or products you prefer, and most importantly, you can have a blast while you do it.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you will consider subscribing to my channel so that YouTube will let me continue to bring more videos to you.

Have a wonderful and crafty day!!!

Barbara

How to Use Packaging to Make Beautiful Mixed Media Tags with ColourArte

Have you ever bought something that had pretty packaging?  Manufacturers spend lots of money on their packaging to make us want to buy their product.  Well, sometimes I just cannot bear to throw the cardboard backing or actual tag on a product.  Why not put these to use and turn them into beautiful mixed media tags to use in your art, whether it's for a card front, an addition to your art journal,  an embellishment for a canvas, a gift tag, or just to try out different mixed media techniques to keep for future reference!

I hope you can take a moment to check out my video tutorial below and perhaps fill your mind with ideas. 

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ColourArte Supplies Used:
Vivid Ultra Metallics
  True Metals Dragon Gold
  Solar Gold
Radiant Rains Color Concentrate Dabber
  Passionfruit
Primary Elements Powdered Pigments
  Hopeful Honeysuckle
  Blue Zircon
  Autumn Skies
  Vanilla Bean
  Golden Nugget
Radiant Gels 3D Acrylic Paint
  Olive Vine

Other Supplies Used:
Black Gesso (Liquitex)
Black card stock
Black medium weight chipboard
Tags from packaging
  Large tag - 4-1/2" x 7"
  Small tag - 2-1/2" x 3-3/4"
THS032 Flourish stencil (Tim Holtz)
Tim Holtz Small Talk stickers
Sizzix/Tim Holtz 658577 Eiffel Tower & French Script embossing folder
Sizzix/Tim Holtz 658556 Fleur de Lis & Eiffel Tower die
Momenta Cut & Emboss die (Fleur de Lys)
1.5" wide off white rayon ribbon (Hobby Lobby)
Foam Pods for Inking (Darice)
Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed today's project!  Have a happy and creative day!

Barbara

How to Decoupage Napkins Onto an Art Journal Page

Hi everyone!  Today I have another video creator tutorial with ColourArte for you.  If you collect pretty napkins and you're not sure what to do with them, this tutorial is for you.  I will show you how to decoupage napkin images to an art journal page, but the process would be the same for any surface.

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ColourArte Supplies Used:

Silks Acrylic Glazes
  Pixie Pink
  Sunflower
  Carmen

Radiant Rains Dauber
  Passionfruit
  Solar Gold

Twinkling H20s
  Siam White
  Sky Blue
  Dreamsicle
  Sweet Lavender

Other Supplies Used:
Brea Reese Titanium White texture paste
DecoArt Matte Medium
Golden Retarder
Dylusions 5x8 stencil - Alphabet Border Small
Magnolia/butterfly printed napkins
Tim Holtz CMS060 Slight Alterations rubber stamp set
Tim Holtz Quote Chips
Black Soot Distress Ink
Jet Black Archival Ink
Black Fine Sharpie Pen
Uniball Black Vision Elite roller ball pen
Blending tool (Ranger)
Assorted Brushes

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and have been inspired to give these techniques a try.  Thanks for watching, and have a wonderful, crafty week!

Barbara

Altered Embroidery Hoop with ColourArte and Paverpol

Happy Friday, everyone!  I hope you are ready for a wonderful weekend.  In fact, just to get you started, I want to share this fun video tutorial using the amazing ColourArte products and Paverpol, a fabric hardener product that is new to me.  I enjoyed experimenting with it, and I hope you get some ideas and inspiration to give them both a try.

SUPPLIES USED:

ColourArte Radiant Rains Shimmering Mists

Apple Blossom

Teal Zircon

Seafoam

Honeydew

Elderberry

ColourArte Silks Acrylic Glaze

Oyster

ColourArte Radiant Rain Daubers

Mallard Green

Nutmeg

ColourArte Primary Elements

Sea Glass

Summer Breeze

Lemongrass

Black Orchid

Rusted Bloom

Pear Blossom

Bolivian Blue

ColourArte The Solution Acrylic Medium "Wash"

Paverpol Fabric Hardener - Transparent

The Crafter's Workshop 12x12 Stencil - TCW566 Winged Exploration (Gabrielle Pollacco)

Liquitex white gesso

Finnabair Art Basics 3D Gloss Gel - Transparent

DecoArt Soft Touch Varnish ?

8" wooden embroidery hoop

Muslin square

Prima Flowers

Sizzix 658232 Originals Medium Die - Leaves & Vine

Pearl bead strand

Assorted brushes

Spatula

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful, creative weekend!  Don't forget to PLAY!

Barbara

Art Journal: Christmas Butterflies with ColourArte

Hi all!  Barbara here with another project for the ColourArte design team.  I thought I would work in my art journal today.  I love quotes, and sometimes, well, most of the time, that is my inspiration for a project.  Today's inspiration is...

"Snowflakes are Winter's butterflies!"

Spread white crackle paste through holly stencil on lower right and lower left of each art journal page.   Let dry.

Spread light molding paste through festive stencil at top right of page.  

Reverse stencil and do the same at top left.  Use post-it notes (or tape) to cover areas of the stencil you do not want to use.  Let dry.

Your pages should look something like this.  I later added another holly berry stem at the lower center of the page for balance.

Spread light molding paste through flurries stencil randomly in the open areas of the pages.  Let dry.

Randomly paint splotches of white gesso over background, let dry.

Dab Radiant Rains Daubers in Mediterranean Blue and Nutmeg over journal pages.  

Spritz with water and move colors around with a paint brush, adding and blending colors until you like the background.  I used a heat tool to dry the colors as I worked.

Paint stenciled fir branches, holly, and berries with Silks Moss Green, Emerald, and Coral Berry, respectively.  Paint pinecones, branches and stems with Silks Chestnut Brown, let dry.  I realigned the stencil over the paste to help keep the paint where I wanted it.

I painted the holly, berries and stems with the same colors as used above.  

These pages look lighter than the photos of the finished project because I continued to dab the Radiant Rains Daubers in Mediterranean Blue and Nutmeg with lots of water over the background as I worked in the book. The Radiant Rains daubers are waterbased, highly pigmented colors and make beautiful watercolor washes.   The Silks Acrylic Glazes dry permanent, so I can continue to add water based washes over my background without disturbing the botanicals that I painstakingly (not really) colored. 

Stamp script stamp around page with black archival ink so it would dry permanently and allow be to continue adding washes of color.

I added white gesso over the stenciled snowflakes to bring them out more and give a bit of a shabby chic look.

I also wanted to bring more of the coral color used on the berries into the background, so I simply used my finger to dab the Silks Coral Berry onto a clear stamp and randomly stamped around the background.  

In the photo below, you can see the snowflakes coming to life, and the bits of coral color showing up.

Die cut three butterflies from grunge paper, emboss each with matching embossing folder.  

Paint both sides of each butterfly with white gesso, let dry.  Paint both sides of each butterfly with Silks Oyster, let dry.

Add Silks Coral Berry to a makeup sponge and color each butterfly.  Do not blend the color.  Add Radiant Rains Egyptian Gold dabber to makeup sponge and blend over the butterflies, let dry.  

Use Tree Branch archival ink to highlight the embossing on each butterfly, then use a makeup sponge to pick up black archival ink and add shading around the edges.  You can see how this effect turned out in the close up photos below.

Use fingertip to dab Silks Coral Berry over Prima clear stamp and stamp image randomly over background.  This will help solidify the colors on the butterflies.

Glue centers of butterflies to the pages, with a pop dot beneath each wing to give them a proper lift.

Glue a plastic snowflake button to the center of each butterfly and add a bit of the Radiant Rains Dauber color in Mediterranean Blue and Nutmeg, just enough to knock down the bright white.

Print sentiment onto parchment paper.  Cut words apart, distress edges, and adhere to journal pages.

And here are a few closeups of the finished pages.

ColourArte Supplies used:  

Radiant Rains Daubers:  Mediterranean Blue, Nutmeg, Egyptian Gold

Silks Acrylic Glaze:  Moss Green, Emerald, Coral Berry, Chestnut Brown

Other Supplies used:

The Crafter's Workshop TCW164s mini Flurries

Tim Holtz THS029 Festive Layering Stencil

Tim Holtz THS015 Holly Bough Layering Stencil

Tim Holtz grunge paper

Cuttlebug Cut & Emboss die:  Butterfly 

Paper Artsy (Ink the Dog) Clocks 1 Rubber Stamp set (script)

Prima 960902 clear stamp

Golden Light Molding Paste

DecoArt White Crackle Paste

Liquitex white gesso

Ranger Archival black ink 

Thanks so much for hanging in there with me.  I do hope you enjoyed the project, and that you are inspired by how easy the ColourArte paints are to use.  They blend beautifully, and rather than making "mud", they simply make another color.  How cool is that?

One more thing before I sign off, and that is to let you know that today is SCAVENGER HUNT DAY!  Be sure to check the ColourArte Facebook page for more information and your chance to win some fabulous ColourArte products!

Have a wonderful  and creative week!

Barbara

Mixed Media: Composition Book Remake with ColourArte

Hello everyone, and welcome.   Lately, I have been re-purposing, or up-cycling, as some would say.  I don't know about you, but I love note books.  I collect them like some people collect shoes. Anyway, before computers, I used to take notes, lots of notes, and I guess I still do.  It works for me. So, today I want to share a fun little notebook, using an inexpensive composition book.  You can spiffy up the outside in no time and keep for yourself or give as a nice gift.

I have prepared a short video tutorial to take you through the process.  Of course, I am using my beautiful ColourArte perfect paints for this, as well as my favorite lasercut chipboard from Gina's Designs.

ColourArte Supplies Used:

Radiant Rains Shimmering Mists:  Autumn Leaf, Seafoam, Butternut, Apple Blossom
Radiant Rains Daubers:  Wine & Roses, Mediterranean Blue, Mallard Green
Silks Acrylic Glazes:  Coral Berry, Apricot Nectar, Carmen, Fuzzy Peach, Orange Peel, Clear Glaze Medium

Other supplies used:

Composition Book
Gina's Designs Lasercut Chipboard: Texture Sheets Sampler (checkerboard), Flourish Frames Evie (oval), Peacock Feathers
Liquitex White Gesso
Prima 960810 clear stamp
Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue
Liquitex splatter tool (or paintbrush)
Flowers:  Recollections (Michaels) and Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby)

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and were inspired to give this project a try.  It is so easy and turns something plain into a "masterpiece".

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful, creative weekend!!!

Barbara

Mixed Media Canvas: Halloween Haunted Graveyard

Hello everyone, and welcome.  I am so excited to share one more Halloween project using ColourArte before my final Halloween post tomorrow.  My inspiration for this piece was this haunted house scrapbook paper.  It set the scene perfectly.

Spread heavy white gesso over 10"x10" wood board with spatula.

Try to spread unevenly for a cool texture like this.  It will pay off when you start adding your paints.

Fussy cut haunted house and adhere to board with a  piece of torn corrugated card board, as shown.

Spread uneven coat of white crackle paste over corrugated card board and let dry.

Using a paint brush, spread a light coat of water over the background and pick up Blue Flame Silks, blending with Periwinkle Silks.

Continue using water to spread a coat of Orange Peel Silks around the house for an eerie glow.  Continue adding Orange Peel with a dabbing motion until you like the look.  Allow to dry.

Put canvas in a "spray" box , cover top portion of canvas, and spray the corrugated, crackled section with Radiant Rains Butternut and Autumn Leaf.  Let dry.

Dab Radiant Rains Wine & Roses dauber around perimeter of Orange Peel painted section.

Then spritz with lots of water and allow the colors to run.

Dab Radiant Rains Rich Cobalt and a tiny bit of Nutmeg dauber around the outer areas, spritz with water and allow those colors to run.  Let dry.

Spritz background with water droplets and let those dry for a mottled effect.  Here are a few closeups of those areas.

Use a damp paintbrush to pick up Chestnut Brown Primary Elements (PE) and brush over corrugated card board.  Add water to spread it, continuing to add the Chestnut Brown until you achieve the darkness and coverage you desire.

Die cut fence pieces from black chipboard.  Mix white gesso with PE China Black to make shades of grey and dry brush over fence pieces to age them, adding lighter grey to areas where the moonlight might be hitting the posts.  (TIP: Add more gesso and less PE to obtain lighter shade of grey).

Die cut graveyard from black chipboard.  Mix white gesso with PE China Black to make shades of grey and dry brush over tombstones to age them, adding lighter grey to areas where the moonlight might be hitting them.

Adhere graveyard chipboard to lower right hand side of canvas, as shown.

Pick up what's left of the gesso/China Black PE and base coat Haunted chipboard.

Add Ancient Coin PE to the mixture and coat the word again.

Mix Ancient Coin PE with Clear Glaze Medium and paint Haunted chipboard, let dry.

Mix Chestnut Brown and Nutty Oak PE with white gesso and coat branches with color mixture.

Mix some of the China Black PE in and add shading to the lower parts of the branches to give depth and form shadows.

Adhere branch above Haunted chipboard word.  While that is drying, spread Clear Distress Crackle Paint through Shattered layering stencil and let dry.

After crackle paint dries, it will look like this.  As you can see, it dries clear, allowing the colors beneath it to show through.

To bring out the cracks, mix PE China Black with water and go over the area with this "wash" of black.  As you can see, it seeps down into the cracks and brings them to the surface.

Adhere second branch along lower left side of canvas, forming a tree.  Adhere fence pieces along bottom of canvas, bending them outward and clamp down while glue dries.

Stamp distressed crows and spider with black archival ink.

Stamp owl onto scrap of Haunted paper with black archival ink and fussy cut.

Add owl eyes and glue to top tree branch.  Glue a metal skull and crossbones embellishment, as shown.

Stamp Undertaker sign with black archival ink.  Center tag die over stamp and cut out.

Add a piece of chipboard behind the tag for stability.

Adhere to canvas with foam tape.  Adhere spider over crackled spider web portion.

Mix PE China Black with Clear Glaze Medium and paint the scaredy cat.  

Add some animal eyes and adhere scaredy cat to center of fence.  Add berry garland along fence.

And here it is, all finished and ready to decorate your home, hang on the wall or place in an easel.

And a few more close-ups to show the dimension achieved by shaping the chipboard pieces.

ColourArte Supplies Used:

Silks Acrylic Glaze:  Periwinkle, Blue Flame, Orange Peel
Radiant Rains Shimmering Mist:  Butternut, Autumn Leaf
Radiant Rains Color Daubers: Nutmeg, Wine & Roses, Rich Cobalt
Primary Elements:  Chestnut Brown, Ancient Coin, China Black

Other Supplies Used:

My Mind's Eye Haunted 12x12 paper pad
Black chipboard
White Gesso (Liquitex)
Heavy Gesso (Liquitex)
Tim Holtz Rubber Stamps: CMS 139 Halloween Cutouts (owl), CMS240 Undertaker (spider)
Tim Holtz Shatter layering stencil
Tim Holtz dies: On the Fence, Graveyard, Bird Branch
Fancy Tags 2 (Spellbinders)
Distress Clear Crackle Paint (Ranger)
Memory Box F1394 Distressed Crows
Black Archival ink pad

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  In honor of those we know who have battled with this disease, please be sure to make a generous donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Thanks so much for joining me today, and I hope you have a very safe and Happy Halloween!

Barbara