Xmas 2014 #3UP {Cracks}

Hi everyone Leandra here, curating day 2 of a fabulous week of #3UP posts. 

3UP is a feature we run at the conclusion of each semester. We highlight the creativity of our followers.They volunteer blind, are given a brief, and this time they were asked to show us their favourite techniques. 

Tonight is all about cracks.  This is apt, texture and cracks in particular have been a big part of mixed media art in 2014. There are so many ways to create crafty cracks. You can buy pastes that slowly crack overnight or even over days, there are 2 part paints that react to each other, there are one-step paints that slowly shrink and crack, glazes that shine and even crackle stamps. Let's see what the 3 people up tonight suggest you could do. Enjoy!

First up it's Sarah Baldwin. (@SarahBald2014) You can easily see from Sarah's blog she is addicted to the PaperArtsy Crackle Glaze, and that is what she's going to show you tonight. The top tip from me is it is all about the top coat, a generous layer is required, and the magic happens in minutes!

Step One:

As soon as I read Leandra’s post I immediately knew I wanted to use Crackle Glaze. Why?
Well, it never fails to work and the effect can be subtle or not depending on your colour choices – consider pale top coat over dark base colour or vice versa…. black over gold…. colour over natural wood ….

The main thing to remember when using crackle glaze is to be prepared when you come to apply the top colour.  Have enough paint ready and apply in bold stokes across the surface of your project.  Do not go back over and over one area as Fresco paint dries so fast the cracks will start to appear almost immediately and you’ll be danger of filling them in with fresh paint. 

Step One:

For my project I’ve taken a small canvas and randomly painted it with Sky, Spanish Mulberry, Pansy and Tinned Peas. To add interest I glued down a piece of die cut trellis. 

Step Two:
I then applied crackle glaze to the canvas and left it to dry overnight. The next stage was to apply and top coat of Nougat and sit back and watch the magic happen.

Step Three:
I glued lace to a wooden heart and trimmed it. This was also painted in Nougat. To highlight the lace texture I’ve very lightly applied Sky Fresco with a sponge.

Step Four:
To add more texture I then added some tinted grunge paste through JOFY stencil PS007 This and the trellis were enhanced with a touch of embossing powder. The finishing touches are some Tilda die cuts I won recently, they matched my colour choices perfectly.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous 2015 full of craftiness.
Sarah

Next we have Margaret Iddon. (@MaggieVSOC) Margaret is going to show you the PVA crackle technique that many people have been using this year .... The only thing you need to be aware of with this technique is that PVA is not an archival quality product. No doubt you all are aware how PVA over time turns yellow and goes brittle. So if you use this technique for a piece of art to go on the wall, it could eventually be adversely affected by UV light. However, for general short-term crafting projects, it is fine. Always nice to have another trick up your sleeve!

Hi everyone, here's my take on PVA crackle...

I decided to do a ‘pretty’ grungy Heart Hanging with my version of a PVA Crackle effect. This effect varies depending upon the paint used and the thickness of the PVA. I don’t use ‘neat’ PVA as it is a bit too thick for this effect, I use a mixture of 1/3 water and 2/3 PVA mixed together and stored in a small bottle.

Step One: 

I painted my Heart Shape with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paint in Mulberry and let it dry. I then painted on the PVA and Water mixture, only on parts of the Heart Shape and let that dry too. DO NOT USE A HEAT GUN AT THIS STAGE, just let it dry normally.

Step Two:

Once the glue solution had dried I over-painted the whole heart shape with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paint in Chalk. I left it for a minute or two and then USED THE HEAT GUN over the areas where the PVA solution was painted. You should start to see the PVA bubble under the surface and the top layer of paint will crack. The darker paint will show through and the top layer looks like a layer of weathered painted wood.

Step Three:
I wanted a more sedate cracking on the main wood shape. I used the same colours on a piece of card and used a thicker layer of the PVA solution and you will see that this gives a more distinct crack. I then stamped my sentiment in Black Archival Ink, (from PaperArtsy stamp set EDY10) onto part of this card and cut it out using a die, then edged it with gold powder, heat embossed.

Finally...
The large heart was then toned down in some areas using Distress Inks to give it a less ‘bright’ finish and then I stamped some images, again from EDY10, in Versamark and embossed them using a gold embossing powder. I then coloured the flowers using the same Mulberry paint that I used for the base coat of the heart. The small verse image and the flying birds were stamped in a contrasting colour.

I added some stencilling to the background using Milled Lavender Distress Ink and some paper roses edged with the Milled Lavender.

I really enjoyed doing this project and I hope that you like it.

Margaret 

Our final contributor tonight is Deb Wainwright. (@lilacsparkles) 
Deb is an avid crafter, and uses lots of different textures and mediums in her work, from fabric to paint, pencils, sprays, pigments and beyond. A master of trying anything, her journalling backgrounds and pages that she shows us regularly on twitter have been a joy to see. Tonight she is showing us cracks.... her way....

Happy Christmas everyone, Debs here to share a very non Christmassy project using a technique I love, which is crackle paste through a stencil.


Step One: 
I chose an old wooden box that I picked up in a charity shop and gave it one coat of Chalk Fresco finish Acrylic. I chose a Lin Brown stencil ELB 005 and then added the paste.

Step Two:
Once completely dry I started to paint the flowers and leaves with watered down PaperArtsy Fresco paints in Eggplant, Rose and Hey Pesto. I built the colours up in layers as I had watered it down.

Finally... 
Once I had achieved the depth of colour I liked I let it dry thoroughly. I then used a watered down Lilac to add a distressed look to the edges. Next I added two coats of PaperArtsy satin glaze. This gave it a nice sheen.

And the finished project bye for now!

What a fantastic evening, we hope you get a chance to enjoy these ideas, and perhaps have a go yourself too, the best way to learn is to do, and for many of us, once the rush of Christmas is over, I hope you find time to play!

See you again tomorrow night.

Leandra

We would love you to go in our challenge draw for a prize from PaperArtsy, a voucher to spend in our online shop. Link up your creativity HERE. All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. This link will close 17:00 (London Time) December 31st 2014, the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00, Dec 31st, 2014.