January Ambassadors' Spotlight

 

Hello friends,

This month host for Ambassadors' Spotlight is Riikka Kovasin with theme - try something new. It could be also a great opportunity for you - what new do you plan to try?

“Dare to play” 

Hi there! It’s January, start of a new year, a time full of new beginnings and plans for the new year. I’m drawing inspiration from all that and chose the theme for the Ambassador January post to be “try something new”. It might be a new product, a new technique, or a new way to use an old medium or a tool. Like if you use the pointy end of your paint brush to draw or scratch. Or have just seen a cool new way to use acrylic paints. Try something new and then go from there!

I tried not only one but actually two new things in these tags I made. I started by making a couple of monoprints with a gelatine printing plate. Well, that’s something I’ve done before but this time I did it differently, following the way Jackie Jimerson makes her prints - making slow layers and letting the paint dry completely between the layers before brayering a fresh layer of paint in the end and releasing the whole thing. You can see her technique for example here (link: https://youtu.be/d2bpH97kxG8). 

Once I had my two prints done, I used those as my background pieces for two tags. The other new thing was the new effect pastes. These two tags were the first ones I tried the “Mermaid” and “Pixie” on to! I went just with plain stenciling with those but even that made me realize some of their qualities – like the beautiful shine and the wide variety of different sized mica pieces and glitter in them.  

If you want to see how I assembled the tags, please see the process video I recorded for you!  

I hope you feel inspired to try something new, too! And please remember that when trying new things, you don’t have to end up with a masterpiece. You can start with the new thing, like I did, and add layers until you are happy with the finished piece! Or you can just play around, dip your fingers to a jar of paint and enjoy yourself. 

Wishing you a creative, sparkly new year 2021! 

Xoxo Riikka 

Products I have used - all the images linked to Mixed Media Place online store:

Hi there all you loVelies :-) 

Happy New Year! 

Awe Riikka Kovasin thanks sooooooo much for choosing this months Ambassador’s Spotlight theme ‘try something new’ such a fitting theme with the New Year...

Well having oodles of Finnabair’s brand new products to use I was all set and ready to create a little piece of ‘try something new’ 

And oh boy! I have a few more new favs to add to my long list of Finnabair favourite products - YeY!

The Art Alchemy Liquid Acrylic Paints have 6 new colour additions - Lime Green is stunning, you can see it’s glorious vibrancy bursting out from beneath the butterflies.  I simply rubbed a dab with my fingertips over the dried Impasto rainbow stripes - Coral is another of the brighter shades, it’s brightness is lightly tempered giving us a beautiful soft & bright chalky coral, lush...

I’m desperate to work with the other new shades especially the Crimson! 

Get ready to swoon when you try out Art Extravagance Phoenix Effect Paste & Mermaid Effect Paste - as I rubbed them over my dried paint layers they simply took my breath away.  The flakes dry flat and as the light catches them there are the most brilliant flashes of light which are surrounded by sparkles from the glitter...  The Phoenix’s colour of rich reds added an amazing depth & the Mermaid’s aqua tones created the magical touch & all with a few easy swipes with my fingertips.  BTW the new  Crushed Ice Effect Paste twinkles brilliantly too & even better for those out there that don’t like glitter mess everywhere whoop, whoop, whoop it’s glitter without wearing glitter, eating it, finding it in your car etc (you get the idea teehee) eeeeeeeeep!   Anna is truly a genius, a gem for us creatives...she knows exactly what new yummy products to invent, keeping us all excited & hooked!  

Finishing off my ‘try something new’ I poured 2 resin layers over my canvas board and WoW how perfect this thick glossy resin finish is for the various Art Alchemy paints, glitters & the new Effect Pastes. The paint colours jump right out off the board, the butterflies dancing in between the flashes of sparkly light & twinkles!  

I do truly loVe immersing myself in the rainbow of Art Alchemy, feeding my soul, my art speaks the volumes I can tend to struggle with. 

Hugs & loVe to you all (I promise you all you will fall in loVe & enjoy the new & exciting Finnabair products as much as I am) Stay well & safe my loVelies xoxoxo 

Products I have used - all the images linked to Mixed Media Place online store:

Do you sometimes use a piece of wood to create media project? 

I have recently started experimenting with it and I admit that it is fun. 

Of course, when working with wood, you have to remember that the surface must be properly protected. First, I covered raw wood with Gel Medium, then with white gesso, and only just started working on it. 

I like working with wood because it can be used to create many original projects.

In this work I mainly used waxes and liquid acrylic. The combination of matte waxes with liquid acrylicsis an interesting solution because they are completely different media. One is glossy and the other is matte... this is a very interesting combo.

Products I have used - all the images linked to Mixed Media Place online store:

Today I have a canvas for you.

This time, I was playing with the color, I used wonderful new products from Liquid and the wonderful Effect Phoenix and Dragon.

I think this expression gives you a lot of freedom and the entire Liquid palette is amazing.

The pastes give the design a unique finish, that I love!

Products I have used - all the images linked to Mixed Media Place online store:

Have a good evening!

Finnabair Team