2013 Christmas Cracker Video #3 {Painted Clusters}

Hello Everyone, Leandra here, for another Christmas Cracker of an idea

2013 Christmas Cracker Video #3 : Painted Clusters

There are so many embellishment items out there that can be added to your projects to add dimension and textural interest.
For example:

• metal charms
• embellishments (Prima Mechanicals, Finnabair Vintage Trinkets, Ideaology)
• paper and Fabric flowers
• resin cast frames, icons, birds and dimensional beads
• Buttons
• wooden die cut figures, tokens
• Vintage keys

We often use these items to add interest to photo or mirror frames, scrapbook layouts, assemblage-mixed-media 3D constructions,  journal pages, etc. Using such items doesn't have to be complicated, how about using dimensional things for a little birthday gift card or a gift-tag to accompany a bottle of wine. Or what about making a wearable item, like a brooch or vintage style hair piece for a special event.

If you go to the Prima website (they make the most striking embellishments which, of course, crafters love) you will see loads of examples from their assorted designers using lots of these kinds of embellishments. Generally it involves a lot of flowers, and gorgeous colour combinations.  

I particularly love Finnabair's take on this trend of clustering, in fact, if you go waaaay back on her blog she would use lego, wire coils, spark plugs and all manner of found objects.  Anna is certainly a cluster queen; she manages to arrange an assortment of objects so beautifully, and typically she will spray on top with dye sprays, or paint with metallic paints.

Inspired by Finn the week before Christmas I made (and blogged) a simple white heart for the wall of hearts we have in the kitchen. I thought it would be nice to show you another twist on this idea in a video. This time I'm using shades of dark pink and purple frescos (yes really!) which will be accented with Treasure Gold.

 

First I applied the tinted Grunge Paste (Spanish Mulberry) to the canvas heart that I had cut from the canvas board in the last blog post. And used a palette knife to create texture, and then used  a heavy gel to secure the embellishments while the GP was wet.

Fresco paints grab perfectly to metal, no need for gesso first like you would for most other brands of acrylic. Just apply the fresco opaques directly to the metal, glass, acrylic etc With projects like this you need to use a strong gel, leave to set for 24 hrs, then start layering the paint in and around all the nooks and crannies.

It's always interesting to see the transformation that takes place when you add fresco paint and treasure gold to dimensional objects. We have done many versions of this type of projects in recent years, many of our ArtsyCrafts projects were created using this concept. 

So check out the video to see how I use the paints to transform this heart. Don't forget, if you want to join in and try out this technique, the details are at the foot of this post.

Cracker Ingredients:
Craft Tools: Soft paint brushes for paint and Treasure Gold
Prima: Mechanicals and other embellishments
Fresco Chalk Acrylics:  Spanish Mulberry, London Night, Squid Ink, Claret, 

Cracker Method:
In today's video we are arranging some items in a simple cluster, and exploring how PaperArtsy Chalky Fresco Paints with Treasure Gold dusted over can create a soft and delicate effect.

As you know, Frescos are designed to cling to any surface, and so they are easy to apply to metal, plastic, resin, wood and even glass. The natural tooth the chalky paint has allows the Treasure Gold to easily cling to the surface, and as Treasure Gold is permanent on any surface, it will not rub off. This technique is suitable for many crafting applications, so what are you waiting for?





Play Along:
Link how you have been inspired by this technique below. Play along and you will go in the draw to win a set of Limited edition paints and a brand new 2014 PaperArtsy A5 stamp set.

Link closes 17:00 Sunday Jan 5th 2014.

Winner for Christmas Cracker Video #3 will be announced 19:00 Sunday January 5th 2014.