Shades of blue make me extremely happy! When I designed this card, I wanted to combine all the amazing inks available from Imagine and as I hoped something magical then happened. See how I create this beautifully blended background using shades of VersaMagic inks and then top it off with stamped sentiments in VersaFine Clair – a truly winning combination.
Skill: Intermediate Time: 1 hour
Directions
Step 1
Start by stenciling a pattern onto a piece of smooth white cardstock using texture paste and leave to dry.
Step 2
Once the paste is dry, start blending 3 colors of VersaMagic in Ocean Depth, Aegean Blue, Oasis Green over the design.
Step 3
Always start with your darkest color first and then add the lighter colors.
Step 4
Once you are happy with the look, add a final layer of shading over the entire piece with a light shade to blend the colors together.
Step 6
Use small stamp from your stash and stamp the words inside the pattern using VersaFine Clair Twilight.
Step 5
Stamp the “That’s All!” sentiment in VersaFine Twilight onto a piece of white scrap cardstock.
Step 7
Stamp “Thanks” on top of “That’s All” using VersaFine Warm Breeze and trim to size.
Step 8
Color two or three wooden hearts using your VersaMagic ink and leave to dry. Adhere sentiment panel and hearts to your card to finish it off.
I wanted to share a very easy and quick way to add color to flower or rose images using All-Purpose Ink. The application of the ink with the Fantastix is fast and smooth like butter. I could also build layers of ink to get the desired shadows in the flower. A tiny amount of ink goes a long way and the coverage is excellent.
The world of mixed media has exploded over the last several years. I have to admit, I have caught the bug and there’s no turning back. Have you seen an altered 3-D object or canvas with many textural elements and just wondered how the artist created it? I am always trying to pick things apart and figure out how they are made. I love the challenge of reproducing a cool effect or technique and even more, I love when unexpected results lead to something better than I couldn’t have imagined.
There are many different tools and supplies to use in this area of artistic expression. It can get overwhelming especially if you are just starting out. I’m going to break it down for you and give you a list of supplies to get started and maybe a few tried and true techniques to help your imagination take off!
Let’s break down some basic elements of Mixed Media!
Surfaces
First, you need a substrate, which is the surface on which you are going to create. It can be paper, wood, fabric, metal or canvas. Here I have a paper tag and a canvas board. There are no limits on what type of substrate you can work on—the only limit is your imagination.
Gesso
If you have a cool idea for a mixed media project, it is helpful to gesso your substrate. Gesso generally comes in clear, white or black and is used to prime the surface. It is not acrylic paint. Gesso prepares your surface so that when you spray, paint, or stamp on it later, all pigments will behave the same way every time. When you are working on different surfaces like paper, fabric, glass, chipboard, metal, resin, the best way to ensure your pigments are going to behave the way you expect is to cover everything with a layer of gesso first. It presents a neutral ground and you will have much better results.
Coat your surface with a nice layer of gesso to prepare it for texture and pigment. Don’t forget to let it dry before moving on.
Texture Paste
Texture is a wonderful aspect of creating mixed media art. Texture allows the viewer’s eye to wander to all the fine details of the project. To create texture, you will need a type of texture paste and a palette knife. To make structured texture elements, you’ll also need a stencil or two. For each of these 3 items, there is a considerable amount of variation of product to chose from. Let’s start with texture paste. I’ll break them up into two broader categories. There is a gel, which comes in different finishes (glossy, semi-gloss, matte) and thicknesses. Imagine makes a great gel paste called Creative Medium. It comes in different metallic colors, iridescent colors, and clear. Gels that have a gloss finish tend to resist pigments when dried on a surface. This can be useful when the shiny resist effect is desired. Then there is modeling paste. These tend to be good as a strong adhesive for heavier objects. It is opaque and less flexible than gel. To spread these pastes, you need some palette knives. They come in different shapes and they are usually either plastic or metal. Both types of palette knives work well and it mainly comes down to a preference of the artist and the type of stencil you are working with.
Scoop some of the texture paste, in this case Creative Medium, out of it’s container with a palette knife. Spread it over the stencil on to your surface ike you are icing a cake. You don’t need to cover your entire surface or use the entire stencil, just spread it where you want it. Lift off the stencil and let dry before moving forward.
Pigments
Finally, you get to add color! You have prepped your substrate and now it is ready to receive the colors and inks to create a theme and mood. Whether it is paint or ink, the pigments and colorants come in all types of mediums such as water-based, solvent-based or oil-based. Tsukineko and Imagine offer a variety of inks that work wonderfully with mixed media art. Imagine has Fireworks and Walnut ink sprays, irRESISTible colored texture sprays, and Pico embellishers. Tsukineko’s All-Purpose Ink is a rich dense pigment ink that can be used as a wonderful colorant. Depending on what you are creating and what effect you are trying to achieve there are many colorants to get your desired effect.
Now that your surface is prepped and textured, you get to add color—my favorite part. Have fun!
Check out more of Kassy’s awesome mixed media projects on YouTube!
Summer is the perfect time to be outdoors, throw a BBQ party or to show off your patriotism with the Fourth of July! Luckily, Joy Clair has a perfect stamp set when it comes to American Flag themes. In this quick and easy crafting project, I used their 4 x 6-inch Grungy Flag background stamp paired with Memento Luxe ink to create this amazing looking banner.
Skill: Intermediate Time: 1 – 2 hours
Directions
Step 1
Tear cotton or linen material into 4” x 8” pieces. The number of pieces will depend on how long you would like your finished banner.
Step 2
Place a strip of fabric on a stamp positioner at the 1” mark. Put the stamp directly over the area to be stamped. Close the positioner to affix the stamp to the lid.
Step 3
Ink the star area with Memento Luxe in Danube Blue and the stripe area of the stamp with Memento Luxe in Love Letter.
Step 4
Close the positioner and press the inked stamp onto the material. I wanted a vintage feel to my banner so I stamped the image once. For brighter, solid colors, reposition the material, re-ink the image and stamp a second time. Stamp each additional panel in the same fashion.
Step 5
Iron each stamped piece of material to set the inks. Once you heat set Memento Luxe it is permanent on the fabric!
Step 6
Adhere each stamped flag to a length of string or ribbon. Hang it up outdoors and enjoy!
This month’s color theme is Sea Breeze. This color theme reminds me of water, vacations, cruises, and time at the beach. With this ocean theme in mind, I created a fun card that could be given to someone heading on vacation, or perhaps someone heading towards retirement. By mixing and matching embellishments you can create a wide assortment of cards.
Skill: Intermediate Time: 1 hour
Directions
Step 1
Ink embossing folder with Kaleidacolor Blue Breeze. Place white cardstock in the inked folder and emboss.
Step 2
Mat embossed panel with kraft cardstock. Adhere panel to a blue card with foam adhesives.
Step 3
Ink canvas tag with Kaleidacolor Blue Breeze ink by dabbing different colors on the tag. Also, ink the twine.
Step 4
Stamp the phrase on white cardstock with VersaFine Nocturne ink. Die cut with an oval die and mat with a larger blue die.
Step 5
Create a ship’s wheel from Makin’s tan clay with a pirate mold. Ink with Brilliance in Pearlescent Chocolate Ink. Alternatively, you can create the ship’s wheel with brown clay.
Step 6
Add elements to the card with On Point Glue, letting the tag twine flow freely across the card.
By definition and design, background stamps are usually the foundation of a piece, not the focus. In this project, I show a way to highlight an amazingly detailed Mandala style background stamp from Joy Clair with embossing and ink blending to create a simply beautiful card with the look of a rich textile. Choosing a pattern stamp with fine details and plenty of open spaces is key to this particular technique, but experiment and see what works for you.
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