Crackled Rainbow

Hello, my Friends!
It's one of THE best feelings to see creative people make wonders with my products...
Today, Riikka is presenting her ATCs and oh, boy... did she have fun! :)
+ She's generously giving them away!

Oh my, oh my! I guess you have seen all the new wonderful goodies Finnabair designed and Prima launched this spring!

There’s lovely new stamps, Micro Beads and even more wonderful Mica Powders. I was so drooling over the products and was ever so grateful when a parcel containing them arrived.

So for this third post of the year I went playing with the new stuff and created some ATCs. It’s a set of six.

I started by coloring a cream colored cardstock using the new Mica Powders.

I made two cards using the same Mica colors and made three different color variants.

All the cards have the same two brown powders in them to keep the set consistent, the “Gold” and “Copper”, but there are also two other colors in each card. For the blue ones I used “Blue” and “Teal”, the red “Pink” and “Purple” and the green “Green” and “Teal”. 

Next, I added a layer of Clear Crackle on top and something wonderful happened - I didn’t expect the Crackle to draw the Mica also from the base but the end result was Mica colored the crackles – awesome looking detail, but very brittle!

So I needed a protective coating on top and used Soft Gel for that. I also ended up using the Gel as an adhesive a few times over the process.

You can see the whole process in the video I made.

Like often with my ATCs, all the cards are free for grabs! Please just send me a mail (rkovasin @ gmail.com) if you are interested. [edit: all the ATCs have already found their new homes! :) ]

I hope you have found this post inspiring and are eager to start playing with the Mica Powders and other products! Have a great day!

Riikka

Products used:

Art Recipe: I'll say no more...

Hi my darlings, I hope you are ok!
I'm again on the run: I've just came from fabulous classes in UK - what a great time we had this weekend, just perfect official start of the teaching year! I'm always so happy to see my students coming back to see me and take some more classes - this is the best reward you can get. Thank you so much for making my dream true...
I'm leaving again for a couple of days  - with a secret mission, which includes seeing my friends from Prima again. I can't tell what it is, but it will surely keep me busy. I'm also working on new classes which will be released soon (I hope - no more unexpected travels, please!) and of course getting ready for the next class - France!

Anyway, I'm here with new Art Recipe for you!
I'm in this stage when I'd be just doing journal pages over and over, but I decided to push myself a bit and create something I didn't publish for quite a while - scrapbook page.

I did my best to stay as simple as possible - focusing on delicate effects, using minimum supplies and making the whole project closer to the original meaning of the word "scrapbooking" - using scraps, pieces, found elements. And  - OMG - it was so fun and refreshing!

This page will be a great example how much you can get just playing with a piece of wood,  couple of metal elements, paper and canvas pieces and a small bunch of vintage lace. I've used just a small bit of everything - I'm sure you can find similar supplies on your table!

Colours and textures are also based on very limited set of supplies: Art Basics Light Paste to create dimensional background, watercolur pencils and finally - some of Tea Stain, my favorite brown paint :) Splashes, last element of the composition were made with 2 colours of Ecoline watercolours. Can it be simpler than that?

Here is the full Art Recipe!

1. I've started the project simply applying the Art Basics Light Paste through one of my new stencils. - The Alpha. It took me just a short moment to dry the texture with heating gun. Next I've colored small pieces of Elementals Resist Canvas with  homemade tea stain. I dried them and they were ready to be used in my composition!

2.  I've started the composition: using craft glue and stapler I layered small paper pieces, resist canvas and tags under my vintage photo.  I didn't glue it to the background yet - I've just focused on building interesting composition. In next step I added some vintage lace from my home collection, metal trinkets - Mechanicals and finally a piece of drift wood, vintage button, fabric vines. Elements such as button or wood were mounted on 3D Foam Squares (Scrapbook adhesives by 3L).

3. I removed the finished composition from the page and started adding color to the background: I used new Prima Watercolour Pencils and then Water Brushes to blend the colours and get pretty, artistic look. I've used shades of blue, green, orange and ochre. I dried the paper background and before gluing back the composition with the photo I added some loose whiter thread and a piece of veil - for extra texture and interest!

4. Finally I used more of the 3D Foams to place my photo and scraps in the middle of the page, and to blend them a bit with the background colours I took my pencils and water brushes again: simply picking a bit of colour directly from the pencil I coloured selected places of my composition: lace, canvas and paper scraps. When I was happy with the results I dried everything and cover the middle of the page with a paper towel as I planned to splash some Ecolines  to add some interesting spills, dots and splatters. I dipped my brush in turquoise watercolour paint, tapped it several times to get nice little splatters and dried them before repeating the same step with black Ecoline. This way my project was finished!

Here are the supplies I've used - all from our Mixed Media Place Shop:

I hope you like my today's project. I now it is a bit lighter than usual - but who knows, maybe it is my way of getting ready for the Spring? We are all tired with cold, wet, windy weather, I guess!

See you soon - make sure you will check the blog on Friday to seen new wonderful tutorial from my super talented Creative Team!
xxx

Mr Chillin'

Hello, dear Friends!

Last Saturday, I proudly presented two new superbly talented members of my Creative Team.

Today, I'd like you to meet another new friend of ours. :) This cute little guy was created by Marta's incredible imagination. I promise you will be amazed by how she turned ordinary objects into magic...

Hello everyone.

Today I would love to share with you my mixed media assemblage work.
Have you ever heard of the term: assemblage art ? Assemblage is an artistic process. In the visual arts, it's making three-dimensional or two-dimensional artistic compositions by putting together found objects.
I remember seeing assemblage creations for the first time... it was love at first sight.
I adore the idea of putting together found objects. You can create any sort of dimentional pieces. You can mix metal, wood, plastic and more.

I created a mini assemblage canvas with Mr Chillin (name given by my friend) :)

Usually assemblage creations are left bare, no added colours. I decided to add my own touch to this technique and add some colours. :)

If you take a closer look, you will see some interesting objects there - screwdrivers, tiny goggles or earphones.

You can mix and match many different elements to create your composition.

If you would like to see my creative process, please check out my video tutorial.
I hope you'll feel inspired to look around your house and maybe create a little assemblage friend yourselves! :)
Love, Marta x



Materials used:

Welcome New Art Friends!

Hello, my Friends!

I have a very special post for you today! :)
I have the pleasure to introduce two very special Ladies who will be joining my Creative Team in March!
Please, give them a loud cheer and a very warm welcome and get ready to be seeing some breathtaking Art coming soon...

First, I'd like you to meet Gayle - a wonderful lady from Australia with whose art works I have been seriously in love for a very long time...

She has a unique sense of color and every time she shows a new piece, I am blown away with all the deep meanings and messages enchanted in such beautiful forms...

Just to give you an idea and to make you fall in love, too - we'd like to show you two pieces created by Gayle that she says are very true to her and that represent her wonderful style:

Now you know what I mean, don't you? :)
Wanna know more? Here's a short interview:

Gayle Price

1. From: South Australia

2. Always on my work table: pretty much always a mess. Amongst it: gesso, gel medium, sharp scissors, cutting knife, patterned papers and napkins, stencils and stamps

3. Favorite color palette: I love all color as long as it’s rich and deep, but I guess I’m drawn more to cool colors - blues, greens, teal and turquoise

4. Favorite creations: journal pages, tags, (but not cards), layouts, canvases and working on wooden blocks

5. I am inspired by: many things… Other artists like Finnabair (of course), Dina Wakley, Flora Bowley. Nature, song lyrics and passages from books, and magazine pages also inspire me

6. When I see a blank page/canvas: I have to firstly add colour to it and secondly add pattern to it and I’ll work the rest out later

7. Cats or dogs? Cats

8. Tea or coffee? Tea and coffee, depending on time of day

9. Simple or messy? Messy

10. I'm dreaming about: A perfect world

Make sure you follow Gayle's blog and her facebook page. You can also find her on flickr and instagram.

And now - my second new wonderful Creative Team member - Olga.

I have known Olga for a while, her being a Polish girl, our paths had to cross. ;) But I'm so happy she agreed to join the Team and share her unique talent.

Olga's works are so close to my heart as I have a feeling she is a story teller just like me.

And the way she tells her stories is just exquisite!

Just take a look - here's a canvas Olga prepared for us and - of course - there is a story behind it. :)

Olga wrote: "This canvas is titled 'Poison Maiden' and depicts a bit vicious but still irresistable young lady. 

An alchemist’s workshop, a sorcerer’s cave or a chemical laboratory – aren’t these places tempting and full of mystery? For me, they certainly are.

As fate would have it, I don’t spend my days surrounded by stained retorts and dusty volumes but my passion for them still burns inside. So, my weakness for roots of chemistry and pharmacy took form in my very first canvas as a member of the team."

Isn't she just amazing?!

Our Creative Team "tradition" - a short interview:

Olga Siedlecka

1. From: western Poland
2. Always on my work table: in this kingdom of chaos one may find books, cups, toys, stains, gesso, glue, paints and journals
3. Favorite color palette: colors of a sunset sky, spilled on the horizon: cobalt blue, venetian pink, salmon, teal and vermilion as well as burnt vintage with its rusty tones and all fifty shades of grey :)
4. Favorite creations: mixed media canvases, collages, art journaling, upcycling and altered art
5. I'm inspired by: nature, fine art, literature, children's illustration, memories, reflections and found objects
6. When I see a blank page/canvas: I want to tell a story, not necessarily a fairy-tale
7. Cats or dogs? May I choose dinosaurs?
8. Tea or coffee? Both, sweet with milk
9. Simple or messy? Messy, simply
10. I'm dreaming about: a lot of light, no clouds

Olga's blog is THE place to observe! You can also make friends on facebook.

So now I hope you will leave a kind comment and welcome these two exceptional Artists in my Creative Team.

I think that you can't wait - just like me - to see their Art here soon!

Lots of hugs!