Inspired By Guest Designers And Fresco Paints ....

Hi everyone, Gillian here with a project inspired by some of our featured Guest Designers projects this month and of course Mrs PaperArtsy herself doing a totes amazeballs job over on the PaperArtsy You Tube Channel. Where did January go ??? 
The PaperArtsy blog has been a hub of activity with amazing but completely different styled projects from all our designers .... Huge thanks to our Guest Designers! I hope you have enjoyed what has been shown so far! 

I have used this wooden shadow box and wooden block also from PaperArtsy which is perfect for altering with Fresco Paints

 

 I started out by applying some Ferro through a stencil using a Palette Knife to create texture.

Any excess paste can simply be scrapped off at this stage prior to heat setting.

I then added some book text as inspired by Michelle's 1st project HERE using Fresco Satin Glaze as my adhesive.

 

Next came my paint colour choices .... Mermaid and Guacamole

Start applying thin layers of Fresco Paints to build up your layers.

Before applying the really dark shades of paint to accentuate the shadows, Leandra recommends applying translucent colours in medium tones, as this builds depth on the lighter base coat, and ultimately helps makes your textured areas "pop", so at this stage I applied some Limelight.

Again continue to build up your layers. Next came South Pacific ... its a deep blue-green, can I just say I LOVE this colour and need to use it more.

Don't be scared at this point as you can always "knock" back your colour with Snowflake.

 

I have some of my fave colours watered down to use in these little Spray Bottles which gives a much softer look to your projects.  
{see Leandra's footnote at the end of this post for more info on opaque sprays}

You need to dry with a heat gun before going any further, and they will take longer to dry than paint on its own as there is more water in the mix.

Next I used more watered down Fresco colours sprayed on ... Limelight, Beach Hut and Zesty Zing. Continuing to build up the layers.

Dry well, and then I've stamped Mini 44 in Nougat.

MN44

To add some definition around the edges of the frame I have applied some Treasure Gold (Sapphire)

Then of course, once you start....you want even more Treasure Gold  so (Sapphire and Rennaissance) was also applied over the textured areas.

and I finished with Mini 44 again, this time stamping in South Pacific.

So for the inside of the frame, it's all about the wooden block which was inspired by elements of Linda's post HERE .... 
{I did at this point forget to take step by step pics duh!}

Basically I have used the same colours as above this time applied with Cut N Dry Foam, stamped Mini 44 and Mini 23 again in Nougat and South Pacific. 

The image is from LPC013 which has been stamped using Archival Ink (Jet Black). I've then added the white detail using Snowflake to accent area's of the image. I love how she appears to be "rolling her eye"s ... not going to tell you what at Mrs PaperArtsy said LOL!!

MN23

LPC013

To brighten up the image and colours I applied Fresco Gloss Glaze.  
Gloss glaze reflects light back to your eyes, so a matte colour, that looks soft, and a bit dull, suddenly looks much brighter, because that is how our eyes perceive it to be. 
So, if you want your Frescos to look brighter, then just add gloss glaze!

I've then adhered the wooden block into the centre of the wooden shadow box .... genius combination Leandra and Mark!

{Leandra says: errrr, I think you are the genius there Gillian, I had no idea the block fitted in the frame! .... must order more blocks!....}

I applied South Pacific to an Idea-ology word band highlighting the text "Embrace Imperfection" with Treasure Gold.

I hope you have enjoyed this project and remember you still have time to be inspired by Suzz projects this week to be in with a chance of winning some PaperArtsy rubber! Click HERE to link up!

Leandra comments: When we first released Fresco paints just over 2 years ago, you may distantly recall at that time, under the ArtsyCrafts banner, we also hosted Tim Holtz here in the UK for a massive 2 day consumer event. 

Almost 300 ladies went through classes with Tim or Lin Brown and I. Lin and I create a new technique using watered down Fresco snowflake as an opaque spray over the awesome Ranger Colour Wash Dye Sprays. Oh wow did the ladies make some really cool opaque stains with the vibrant dye sprays use on metal card. Of course, the colourfast dye mixes and mingles with the paint to create stunning effects, pastel shades with a matte finish. And, once dry, you have an awesome matte surface to stamp on! We also mixed the stains into the paint, added water, and tinted our papers to match in with the colour combinations.

So, along with Gillian, making paint sprays is also one of my favourite things too, and Frescos are perfect for the task! But why stop at snowflake....OMG the combinations are ENDLESS.

You can so easily make your own:

1. 2/3 fill your bottle with water
2. add the paint on top of the water (this stops the paint sticking in the base of the bottle and helps it to mix with the water more easily)
3. Shake well, and test your spray on paper towel
4. Decide if you need more water, or more paint, or the addition of another colour! (eeek - such fun)

You can make these really thick or really thin, depending on your need and the project.

You can make opaque ones with the opaque paints, or more translucent if you want some warmth but not opacity.

Add an opaque to a translucent to make a more opaque version (snowflake and limelight for example!)

You can custom-mix colours of paint together to create new colours! (hint: try 50/50 Guacamole and Sky with a hint of South Pacific for a gorgeous duck egg blue)

So a big thanks to Gillian for this fantastic end of the month round up post. I can't believe we are starting February already. So much coming up this month, starting with another video from me tomorrow. A whole bunch of new PaperArtsy products are released this month as we head to the UK's largest Craft Trade show in a couple of weeks time, and of course a new round of stunning projects from our inspirational Guest Designers. Michelle is back to kick it all off on Sunday evening.