Watercolor Me Fun!

Hello Friends! I hope you're having a wonderful week so far. Thank you for joining me for the Club Scrap Artist Team Challenge! If you're following along the hop you should have arrived here from Pam's spectacular blog...if you missed out you can head that way or go to the Artist Team Challenge post on the Club Scrap Blog for a complete list of participants.

This month's Artist Challenge is Watercolor ~ use any medium to create a watercolor effect.  Well of course you all know how much I love to play with watercolors so I jumped in and made several different projects with a variety of mediums.

All images - Orchard Kit 09/17

The first project I made was this bookmarker. I had a strip of leftover watercolor paper from a previous project and as it turns out it was the perfect size for this!  Initially I stamped the background with a text stamp from the Orchard kit in a brown ink. I then stamped the basket directly on the book marker, I stamped the fruit on another scrap of watercolor paper.  All of the elements were then watercolored using Prima Confections watercolor paints and a brush.  

A close up look at the basket of fruit.

My next card was made using a mask and Gelatos....

I colored the gelatos directly onto the mask, 

misted it with water and pressed onto the watercolor paper.

It was then removed and I let it dry naturally.  I added a bit of penwork and Bronze irRESISTible Pico Embellisher at the center of the sunflower.

All Stamps from the Lagoon Kit 08/17

My final watercolor technique is so much fun...Color Burst + Stencils.  I used the mermaid scale stencil from the Lagoon kit - placed it over a piece of watercolor paper then sprinkled on 3 different colors of Color Burst powder, leaving the stencil in place and I misted it with water.  

The first card was the piece of watercolor paper that I actually sprinkled the Color Burst and misted with the water.  Generation #1.  I LOVE how intense the colors are and how they pooled around the stencil. You can't see it in this photo but there is glitter on some of the scales.

This card was made with a piece of regular cardstock that I had pressed over the paper/stencil above after it had been misted.  Generation #2.

This final card is a piece of regular white cardstock that I pressed the still wet stencil onto. Generation #3.  I also added a mermaid charm I made a while back just for the heck of it.  It matched the sentiment perfectly don't you think?

Thanks again for joining me...hope you're inspired to pull out your supplies and play in the watercolor!

The next stop on the hop is...

Tina

Have a great day friends!!

2017 Texture Calendar - June

Welcome Back...I was MIA last week due to business/office stuff but I got to play over the weekend so I'm excited to share!!

Today we'll pick up our Texture calendar - June page.  I don't know about where you live but June is when summer kicks into high gear here in Indiana. Fairs, Antique Tractor Shows, Hay time, etc...and most of all - SUNSHINE!  February is a dreary time of year - everything brown and grey, it feels like mother nature is taking a nap and I sorely miss the sunshine of summer which is why I chose to color this page yellow!

This month's page texture is created by ephemera... stuff you find in your everyday life (new or old).  Personally I LOVE ephemera and you'd be surprised at how much texture you can find.  Today I'm using a bit of new and a bit of old to comprise my collage of textures...wall paper bits, paper doily (from a box of chocolates), vintage store trading stamps, mesh from a bag of garlic, tissue from an invoice book.  I'm also using a few bits from pages that create a visual texture - sheet music, maps, ledger papers, dictionary pages, etc.

I started off by gluing everything down

using Shimmer Creative Medium.

Trimmed off the excess once dry.

I chose 3 different colors of Yellow Gelatos 

that I scribbled over the page.

I spread and blended the colors together with my fingers.

I don't know why but 

I'm just not satisfied with the results when I use other "tools".

I finished off the page with my calendar

and some "summery" embellishments.

St. Patrick's Day Post Cards!

Today I thought I'd share some fun mixed media St. Patrick's day postcards I've been working on.  These little gems can be sent for a fraction of what it costs to mail a card and they brighten lives along the way!  

Official stuff from the USPS - To be considered a post card they must measure no larger than 6" x 4.25" in size and be .016 thick.  About the size of regular watercolor paper or heavy cardstock.  These cards can be mailed (at the moment) in the US for $0.35 ($1.20 International).  You could also send a larger size - 11 1/2" x 6 1/8" and be .25" thick which are $0.49 to mail in the US.

These cards are the standard smaller size.

Let's make the cards!

Started off by scribbling Gelatos onto my craft mat; misted with water then pressed the paper into the mix.  Set aside to dry.

I like to make 2 cards at the same time - the first I taped down with about 1/2" strip around the edge.  I left the other card loose.

Place a stencil over the taped down card and mist with Fireworks! Spray.  

This one is Cottage Ivy.

Remove the stencil...

Flip it over and press it onto the 2nd card to make a ghost image.

Now it's time to stamp!

I used a few St. Patrick's Day stamps from JFF Stamps

as well as a few flowers from Altenew.

I press them under a piece of marble or heavy books so they are nice and flat to send.

Your postcards are ready to be signed, stamped & sent!

Supplies:

Watercolor Paper

Gelatos

Imagine Crafts - Fireworks! Spray - Ivy Cottage; Memento Inks; Delicata Gold Ink; Memento Dual Tip Markers

ClubScrap.com - Stencil

JFF Stamps - Sentiment, Shamrock, Ribbons & Rick-Rack

Altenew - Peony Bouquet

Prima Water Soluble Oil Pastels & Gelatos

If you recall yesterday I was talking a bit about Prima's Water Soluble Oil Pastels.   Well, last night in the middle of the night (of course) I was thinking about how they behaved and suddenly it occurred to me that I should compare them to Gelatos.  At the time when I was experimenting with them vs. the watercolor crayons and such I just couldn't figure out why they seemed familiar.  They seemed familiar because Gelatos are very similar in consistency and how they behave...or so I thought. 

So today I pulled out a couple Gelatos and the PWSOP's...

They do seem very similar but side by side the Prima's are still have a much more creamy, smooth and softer consistency.  They go on the paper (watercolor paper) easier and as you can see below blend better too.

Above wet, below dry.

I wanted to see how various other mediums looked over top of both so I used Memento Dye Ink to stamp the word love; Sharpie to write hello; drew a line across each color using a Prismacolor pencil; 123 with an alcohol marker and ABC with a pigment marker.  Both were very similar but I could tell a bit of a difference between the stamping - Prima's were a bit darker and more saturated.  When writing on the Gelato side (with most of the writing tools) that it felt like I was writing in wax, I did not get that sensation with the Prima side.

One issue I always have with Gelatos is that even after they have dried they leave a coating that can be easily rubbed off - which if it's on a one time use card is no biggie but if you're using it in a scrapbook album, art journal or planner it could become an issue very quickly.  The small piece of paper below the test colors was rubbed vigorously over both the Prima & Gelatos.  As you can see the Gelatos side easily smudged onto the scrap of paper.  I had to really work to get anything off of the Prima side.

Size Wise - Size isn't everything BUT I will tell you that you get far more medium with the Prima's than you do with the Gelatos.  Now to be honest I had never unscrewed the Gelatos all the way to see how much there actually is in the tube BUT I did today.  I used one of my new sticks that I hadn't yet used and the medium inside the tube measured 1 3/8" x 3/8"; the Primas measure 3 1/4" x 1/2".  So you're getting more than double with the Primas once you factor in length and width.

Finally the biggest difference between the Prima WSOP and Gelatos is price!  This is a very important factor (to me anyway).  I did some checking and the Prima Water Soluble Oil Pastels are priced anywhere from 13.00 - 20.00 for a package of 24 colors; the Gelatos on the other hand are approx. 7.50 - 12.00 per set of 4 colors (regular size - not the double stick).  That works out to about $45.00 and up for a set of 24. You can get a set of 36 Gelatos for around 50.00 - 60.00 if you look around.  I'm not sayin' the Gelatos isn't worth the money or anything but if you're looking for cheaper alternatives I'd say these Prima WSOP's are the way to go.  

Just FYI - both the Gelatos and Primas can be used very similarly for many techniques - they can be chopped up and mixed with various mediums (gesso, modeling paste, etc.) to create colored mediums,  they can both be colored directly onto stamps,  used as a watercolor paint directly from the tube/stick, etc.  

Are you up for a challenge?

A Technique challenge that is!  As you know last month was the inaugural month for Club Scrap new Artist Team.  Well, we were all having so much fun that I suggested we host a technique challenge each month on the Club Scrap blog (cause you all know how much I love techniques AND challenges!).  Well it was posted today and here's a peek at my cards....

March Club Scrap Artist Team Technique Challenge

It's a trio or techniques from a video that Tricia shared back in 2012 featuring 3 different "faux" watercolor techniques (link to the video is on the Club Scrap post above).  To enter the challenge you can try your hand at one or more of these fun techniques.  They are as follows:

Technique #1 - Inking the stamp with an ink pad and spritzing with water (Hydrangea & Lace card)

Technique #2 - Coloring stamp with Gelatos, misting then stamp (Love card)

Technique #3 - Coloring the image with markers, huff to moisten the ink & stamp. (Art card)

If you decide to take up the challenge be sure to go over to the Club Scrap blog and post a link to your creation!

Supplies Used: 

Club Scrap - Stamps & Papers - Kits Fire & Ice (top), Wisteria (left), Hydrangea (right)

IMAGINE Crafts/Tsukineko - Memento Inks, Memento Markers, Tuxedo Black Pico Embellisher 

Gelatos

Lace

Gelatos - I adore you!

It's been a REALLY long week at work this week so I decided to pull out lots of goodies and play.  Art therapy you know...it's always good for the soul ;)  

So I started off with a bit of DecoArts Modeling Paste over a MFT hearts stencil.  I applied the paste to just one side of the card panel...  Of course I heated it to speed up the drying.

Then I pull out lots of different colors of Gelatos and scribbled away!

Then I initially blended with my waterbrush to get the Gelatos into a more willing state of mind to move about then I tilted and spritzed it with more water.  As I tilted the card I had my heat tool ready to freeze action on some of the drips.

Next I took a baby wipe and wiped the Gelatos off of the pasted hearts.

I then stamped some flowers (Stampendous!) off to the side with London Fog Memento Ink.

While I was at it I also stamped this fun open dot pattern (JFF) using bronze & copper Delicata ink over various parts of the card.

Next I colored the flowers in with Memento Markers...

Stamped my sentiment (Avery Elle) onto a die-cut...

Added it to the card, and finished it off with a few dots of Tuxedo Black Pico Embellisher!

Ahhhh, I feel better already!

Have you had a chance to revive yourself with art lately?

If not you really should...helps take away the stress of the day :)

Stay Inky My Friends!!

Winter CHA 2015 - Must Haves?

Well this years Winter CHA Convention is over - there are sneak peeks, revealing photos and lots and lots of talk all over the web.   What have you heard about or seen that is a must have in your book?

I was excited to see more colors offered in the Gelatos line by Faber-Castell.  They now offer them in sets of 15 (Brights, Pastels & Metallics) which are really nice if you're just starting your Gelatos collection.  I did a bit of checking and it looks like there are 3-4 new colors in each set.  I'm not sure if they are all new colors or if there are some old colors that have just been renamed.

They are offering new sets of "Designer" colors which are based off of fashion & color trends.  They are Bali (also in the Brights set); Macaroon (in the Pastels set) and Manhattan (2 are new colors in the Metallics set).

Faber-Castell is also offering several new metallic texture pastes...  it says you can blend them with any color of Gelato to make a whole new color!  Sounds like lots fun to experiment with!

Of course there are beautiful new papers from Graphic45

TONS of new stamps from all over the place, DecoArt has some great new products, and of course I'll be sharing lots of fun new products from IMAGINE Crafts in the near future including...

Studio Glaze...

Amplify!...

New Metallic Inks - Bronze & Copper

Plus lots of other fun stuff :)

What about you?  See anything you can't craft without?