Scrapbookingtop50oz - March Challenge - 'Sweet' by Elisa

Hi Everyone,

I hope we all had a great Easter long weekend with family and friends and perhaps getting a little crafty time in.

I managed to sneak in a layout for the awesome March Challenge over at Scrapbooking Top 50 Blog. Click on the link and head on over and check it out!
scrapbookingtop50oz.blogspot.com.au/march-challenge

The challenge is to use the word 'sweet' on your layout, I have wanted to scrap this huge photo of my youngest son with his awesomely 'sweet' smile for ages and also to use my new shimmery Daler - Rowney acrylic inks. Mixed with water they create great patterns!

Here are some close ups of the shimmery mosaic tiles that I created for my background. I wanted to keep the square pattern going from the photo, from the squares on my son's shirt and in the patterned paper on the edges of the layout. Add a rub-on and few little embellishments to finish off. I wanted to keep it fairly simple because of the size of the photo and the mosaic tiles are quite bright!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today, don't forget to leave some love and head on over to http://scrapbookingtop50oz.blogspot.com.au to check out their awesome challenges and Design Team inspiration.

A couple of Sneaky Peeks!

 

 

Hi everyone!!

 

I've been working very hard behind the scenes on a few layouts, art journal pages etc and thought i'd share a few sneak peeks before they are revealed!!

 

 

 

Stay tuned for this layout over on the http://kraftpluschallenges.blogspot.com.au/  coming soon!!

 

 

 

Stay tuned for this art journal page over on http://offtherailsscrapbooking.blogspot.com.au/  coming soon!!

 

See you over on the blogs....sorry its just a sneak peek at the moment, I can't wait to post the full projects...so excited. ART THERAPY.

Under the Sea - Porthole Canvas - By Elisa Ablett

Hi Crafters,

Elisa here again with a project created for the Colour Blast Australia Blog

 

 As you can see from the finished 'Under the Sea' Canvas that it shimmers and shines and has tones reminiscent of gems.

Apart from the chipboard sea grass, anchor, coral, sea horse, the title and fish, the rest of the embellishments were created using a toilet paper pulp technique and silicone molds, the technique is easily found on YouTube. BUT trust me this technique is amazing and you can pretty much create any embellishment using your old cake decorating moulds, mod podge or silicone moulds. A wonderful friend of mine, Lilian made most of these 'toilet paper' embellishments for me to use on this canvas and my son and I made the cute little turtle. 

The first step in creating a 'porthole' canvas is to paint your canvas with a layer of gesso then once dry, draw your circle onto your canvas, I used a dinner plate that was at hand. I then choose my spray colours, stencils and the most important thing - a masking fluid pen! The masking fluid is for use with watercolours and is a barrier, you lightly squeeze it on where you require it (in my case around the outside of my circle) and it dries to a rubber consistency, once you have finished your project you can use an eraser to rub it away or gently lift and pull the dried rubber up. The beauty of this product is that it lets you put your colours where you want them and provides a barrier to stop them leaking out! Well worth the purchase.

The Colour Blast pastes, sprays and embossing powders that I have used with this project are as follows:- Tangareen Dream, Snow White, Bling, Envy, Deep Water and Just Blue. Click on the link to take you to the Colour Blast shop!!

Next step is to place your embellishments on your canvas and work out placement so you can direct your sprays and stencilling in the way you want. 

Once you are happy with your plan, you can go ahead and spray your embellishments with your chosen colours. I also embossed the chipboard pieces with several colours to build up subtle colour layers. (I actually overheat the powder so that it becomes quite runny then tilt my chipboard from side to side to create a great multicolour effect). Use a paintbrush to brush a layer of colour paste over your embellishments. As mentioned earlier the textured sea themed pieces are actually made out of toilet paper layers thoroughly wet and pressed into wet silicone moulds, there are many YouTube videos explaining this amazing technique. I used to make my own paper when I was younger and I used a 'pulp' instead of torn layers either way you end up with amazing handmade embellishments. I gave my pieces a layer of gesso or you could use clear gesso or gel medium to seal the paper before you spray. 

From the close up below you can see the embellishments coming together.

 

While the embellishments thoroughly dry, I started with the background to my canvas with my chosen stencil and 'Bling' Colour Blast Paste. Gently spread the paste with a palette knife and keep away from your edges. I put an old book under the canvas to keep a flat surface as well.

 Next step! Once the first stencil had dried I added my second layer at the bottom using Just Blue Colour Blast Paste and once that had dried I gently sprayed close to the surface with my first layer of Colour Shimmer Sprays.

The next photo shows a few layers of the shimmer sprays, this is the part where I open the lids and use them as watercolours with a paint brush. I find that at this stage I can get greater control and intensity of  colour with this technique as an end layer.

The next step! once thoroughly dry I sprayed with a thick protective coat of fixative spray called Crystal Kote Fixable in Matte by Helmar to keep the colours vibrant and to avoid smudging. At this stage I painted the white surrounds a brilliant white acrylic paint. I then added my embellishments and the title and added another coat of the Helmar spray over the top. Then I removed the masking fluid carefully from around the circle and used a small paint brush with white acrylic paint to clear up any little spills or messes.

A close up of the intense colour and shine. 

 And lastly a photo of the canvas on my bookcase, I think it fits right in with my coloured bottles, jars and shells.

Well that's it for me today, I hope you have enjoyed watching how the canvas came together. Make sure you leave some love....

Thank you

Elisa xx 

  

A sneak peek!! - Colour Blast Australia

A SNEAK PEEK of my project created for Colour Blast Australia Blog - 6th March 2016

 

 

Stay tuned for intense colour and toilet paper embellishments.....yes toilet paper :-)

 

 

 

Wild Daisies by Elisa Ablett

Hi Crafty friends,

 

 

Elisa here again sharing a layout I created for the WOW Words or Whatever Blog called - Beautiful - featuring one of my photos of beautiful native Australian daisies:

WOW Words or Whatever Products used:

Beautiful title chipboard
Bouquet Chipboard
Flourish Altamatz
Floral scroll chipboard

 

 

 

Here are some close ups and you can definitely see the amazing shine and shimmer of the Colour Blast Australia Products on the WOW Chipboard.

 

 

In this layout I used the flourish altamatz and Colour Blast 'apple of my eye' paste to create the start of my mixed media background. I also used the 'Bling' Colour Blast Spray to create a second colour over the paste. I embossed the centres of the flowers with bling embossing powder and filled in a few spaces with a Kaszazz Morrocan background stamp. Some of the techniques I used on the chipboard include white sharpie paint pen on the flowers and title and embossing. So versatile that chipboard!!

 

 

A hint: I delved into my old rub-on stash and pulled out a few from Cherry Arte and I used them in strategic places to fill in a few gaps, a fantastic way to use a product that perhaps has been laying around for a while..

 

 

 



 

 



 

 

Well thank you so much for stopping by, we love to hear from you in the comments, you can further follow me via Facebook or Instagram

 

Elisa xx

Colour Blast Flora and Fauna Home Decor Prints by Elisa Ablett

Hi , Elisa here again, this time i'm sharing with you my step by step technique tutorial that I completed recently as part of the Design Team for Colour Blast. I am so excited to show you what these amazing Australian products can do!

I decided to make a set of four home décor pieces using the Colour Blast Sprays, Colour Pastes and Colour Embossing Powder in a resist watercolour technique and four 7x7 frames. I used a smooth watercolour paper as my base and made use of the frame matting as well. Here is the finished product, simply so colourful and full of shimmery goodness.

Here is a close up photo of the gorgeous Colour Blast products that I used to complete the project;

 

 

and they can be found here - Colour Blast Australia Online Shop

 

I thought I would post each frame separately first and then post the techniques used underneath -

 

 

 

To start my project I picked four of my favourite stamps (in flora and fauna designs) and a few different stencils. I traced around the inside square of the matting (using it as a template to show the area I had to work within) on my special smooth watercolour paper, I stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with Snow White embossing powder, repeat for each frame with your favourite stamp in the theme of your choice. Warning!! the Mica from the powders can remain on your page, so I used a paint brush to clean off the areas where it shouldn't be. Also I used a static stamp pad over my paper prior to stamping to clear off dust, dirt etc. I also stamped on the mat and embossed the mat as well, as you can see from the close ups below.

 

 

 

I then used Snow White Colour Paste through a stencil (using a palette knife) on each mat that came with the frame. Just a few small patches on each of the frames, another way to create texture and add interest to your piece, it also is another way to create a resist technique. Dry each mat thoroughly.

 

Once dry choose the Colour Shimmer sprays you want for each frame, for the above mat I chose two of my fav colours, Envy and Deep Water, also have a spray bottle with water handy as well. Spray quite closely to your project, layering each colour by drying in between. Pay particular attention to where you applied your Colour Paste, that way you get a lovely patch of intense colour and shimmer. Use the water to disperse the colour and tilt your project to create drips and patches of colour.

 

In the photo below you see the embossed stamped image ready for the next step which is using the Shimmer Sprays as watercolours. Use a tray to separate the your colours (take the lid off each and tip a small amount in the tray or use a pipette or dropper to move your colours to the tray). To start I spray quite close to the embossed image with my water mister then I use a brush to introduce the lighter colour (Rose Petal) to the background of the flower, tapping my brush here and there to create a few splats and drips. Dry each layer thoroughly.

 

I then introduced the darker colour - Royalty, loading my brush with the colour and tracing around the petals of the flower with the intense colour making the colour pool around the edges of the embossing powdered image. This is your 2nd watercolour resist technique, the first was the Colour paste and spray on the mats.

 

 

 

 You can see the intense colour and shine in the above photo, the sprays make a great alternative to metallic watercolours and by using the resist technique you can achieve many different effects with the one product. You can use a lighter embossing powder  to achieve a subtle print like I did, you can use the same colour embossing powder as a complimentary colour or use a contrasting colour to make your image really stand out amongst your watercolours. Once dry I used a sepia toned stamp pad and a textured background stamp, covered my main image with spare paper (a mask) and stamped randomly over the edges to give more depth.

 

Here are some close ups of each project -

 

 

 

and here is a great chart that shows the amazing colours available, each colour has a corresponding Paste, Powder and Spray.

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the techniques that I shared with you and thank you so much for stopping by the blog, make sure you leave some love....

 

 

Elisa xx

 

 

 

Kraft Plus February Challenge - Going Postal - DT Reveal

 

Hi Crafty friends,

 

Elisa here again sharing my first ever Art Journal two page spread that I completed as part of the DT for Kraft Plus Challenge Blog - February Challenge.

 

Here is the amazing challenge board, Kraft base plus Lots of Postage Stamps.

 

 

 

and here is my Art Journal pages:

 

 

 

 

The idea for these pages came from a postcard that I saw in a shop that had a caption on it that said 'from where you would rather be' with a picture of a man surfing at a beautiful beach. I immediately thought of completing a page about me dreaming of a holiday or perhaps 'my happy place' which is in the sun at the beach surrounded by my family and my camera. I used loads of postage stamps in the background for the beach and in the sun as well as I cut up a few stamps to add depth to the pages hence you will see Santa surfing, a crab, a plane, someone swimming and the Opera House. All the stamps were handpicked by me and all feature photos of Australian places, plants or animals, all places and things I would love to see in a mammoth trip around Australia one day.

Make sure you click on the link above and head on over to the Challenge site to view the design teams amazing reveal, lots of wonderful inspiration.

 

Thanks for stopping by ....