CHA 2015 Peeks - New Art Ingredients!

Hi again, is it this time of the year yet?
Winter CHA Show is coming, and Prima Marketing is ready to reveal small peeks of the new coming releases - how exciting is that?
This week I was lucky to have my 2 days on Prima Blog and I'd like to share with you a small peek into the new products from me coming this season :) It is not an Art Recipe - but I hope a bunch of tips will make you forgive me this little change on the schedule of the blog :)

So, Ladies and Gentelmen, let me present:

What are in fact Art Ingredients?

Some people may say there's nothing special about them... but for me they are sources of endless possibilities and inspiration! This line was designed to support, expand and customize Art Basics Line - by simply mixing and matching, adding and combining you get wonderful, endless results of customized pastes, and gels which are both affordable and easy to do.
Why investing money in specialty paste if you need to apply it only on  a small tag or card? I'd suggest taking a base you need from Art Basics and add your favorite Ingredient into it - and stunning special effect product is ready! How cool (and easy!) is that?
Art Ingredients are also great to use just as they are - directly from the jar so you don't really need to be mixed-media focused person to use them with great results! In the end - we all  love a bit of sparkle in our life!

This season we're introducing 2 new inspiring add-ons to Art Ingredients Line: Micro Beads and Mica Powder. Let me show you the projects I've made with them now!

Colors of the scrapbook page are based on 2 products: homemade tea stain (of course!) and Mica Powder mixed with water in the sprayer bottles. Easy to do - and great, vintage- metallic effect!

Can you see small blue Micro Beads used in the corners of the composition? They look just like frosted snow - perfect effect for winter-themed projects!

Products used:

Art Ingredients: 962470 - Mica Powder - Purple, 962494 - Mica Powder - Blue, 962524 - Mica Powder - Gold, 962630 - Micro Beads - Splash, 962715 - Glass Glitter- Midnight Blue, 961374 - Art Basics - Heavy Gesso - White, 961411 - Art Basics - Modeling Paste, 961671 - Glass Beads - Crystal, 960407 - Mechanicals - Trinkets x10, 960339 - Mechanicals - 3D Roses, 960629 - Elementals - 12x12'' Resist Canvas - Dots, 577780 - Rodanthe - Neptune, 564803 - 12x12'' Stencil - Flourish

Again, the colors of the projects came mostly from Mica Powders mixed with water in sprayer bottles and a bit of Color Bloom Sprays: Iris, Pressed Petal and Tea Stain. Using Mica adds stunning shiny effect to your elements and shows beautifully details of the texture. 

Micro Beads and Glass Glitter added the finishing touches to my composition. I love how easy is to add them to to the project - with a bit of 3D Gel, Soft Gel or any glue they stay in place and look just breathtaking!

Mixing 2 sizes of Beads  makes the structures even more interesting!

Products used:

Art Ingredients: 962616 - Micro Beads - Berry, 962739 - Glass Glitter - Violet, 962715 - Glass Glitter - Midnight Blue, 962470 - Mica Powder - Purple, 962548 - Mica Powder - Rust, 962524 - Mica Powder - Gold, 962319 - Elementals - Grungy Grid Stencil, 579357 - Say It In Crystals - Bella Rouge, 580551 - Paper Flowers, 961671 - Glass Beads - Crystal, 961466 - Art Basics - Heavy Gesso - Clear, 961404 - Art Basics - Light Paste, 961435 - Art Basics - Soft Gloss Gel, 961381 - Art Basics - 3D Gloss Gel, 960605 - Elementals - 12x12 White Resist Canvas "Honeycomb"

Now it's time to share some tips and ideas - what to do with these new art ingredients?

(click for larger images)

1. Try applying them directly on the glue. Choose Art Basics Soft Gel or any kind of glue you like and gets dry after drying. Apply it in the selected places and sprinkle the Micro Beads directly on it. If you have a fine tip bottle you can get really fun effects! For more dimensional effect you can replace Soft Gel with 3D Gel or any similar gel medium! 

Extra tip: if you feel that after drying your Micro Beads are still loose - try some fixative on the top!

2. Going for super-dimensional and durable effect? Mix your Micro Beads into one of our 3D Gels (for transparent effect) or Pastes (for opaque effect). It will dry a bit longer, but the Beads will be practically irremovable!

Extra tip: how about applying this custom gel through the stencil? Effects are amazing!

3. Use them for custom jewellery: they are great for combining with adhesives, resins and glazes. Just check these effects ( detail by Georgia Heald).

Mica Powder is amazingly shiny mineral in a form of delicate, loose powder - in fact it is very similar to eye shadows! It doesn't dissolve in water or water based products - it will float in them instead, that's why it is important to shake or stir the mixture before applying!

1. Simply spray it! Put small amount of the mica into empty spray bottle, add some water, shake and spray on your project. It can be dried with heating tool of course!

Extra tip: If after drying you feel your shimmer is a bit too loose - spray it with fixative for dry pastels or similar medium :) 

2.  Mix it into our 3D Gels to create amazing, shimmering dimensional paste - great to work with texture tools and stencils! This technique will be great for any mixed-media or altered art projects including home decor and book covers - it is not only beautiful but also very durable and permanent - just like all our 3D Gels and Pastes after drying. It can be dried a bit with heating tool, for faster results!

Extra tip: why not mixing it in our Art Extravagance Sand Pastes? Or combining 3D Gel, Micro Beads and mica? Or...

3. Paint with it! Dipping your brush into Soft Gel and then ito Mica Powder you wil get a sticky custom glaze, great for finishing touches! You need more intense shimmering color? Mix Mica in the Soft Gel and then paint - so easy - and so fun!

I hope you liked today's surprise - and you are at least a bit excited about the new products...I surely am!
You just have to check this great post on Prima Blog - DT just took it by storm creating the most beautiful and creative projects with new Art Ingredients!

For more CHA peeks check the blog during the weekend... and this Friday my amazing Creative Team will have of course a new tutorial for you too!

Sending you all warm hugs