2015 #15 Paua Shell Effect {a video by Lin Brown}

Topic 15: Gels and Mediums

Hello Bloggers, Leandra here

Tonight I have a video for you from Lin Brown explaining a technique she discovered earlier this year when demoing at the Version Scrap Show in Paris. It totally reminds me of New Zealand Paua shells which are deep turquoise blue (similar thing is Abalone or Mother of Pearl - but those versions tend to be creamy pale). Here are some NZ Paua shells below. I have one sitting on my desk at work!

Paua is commonly made into jewellery in New Zealand, but now you also see it incorporated into tile designs and all sorts of other interior design accents, it is so pretty and eye catching.

Clever Lin has found a way to re-create this effect with gel and mica sprays. With this technique, you create that paua effect in whatever colours you like depending on the colour of the mica dye spray you choose to use! Fabulous! So bring on pink, orange and beyond!

In the last 2 years, as mixed media as a trend has taken hold of crafters,  we have seen a lot of Heavy Gloss Gels being widely used as a highly textured resist. Sprays sit on top beautifully due to the high gloss finish adding depth to the shiny mica effect.

However, taking it to another level....there are quite surprising results when you follow this process on top of PaperArtsy's Crunchy Paper! Crunchy is a beautifully smooth waxed kraft paper, so it naturally resists water/ sprays. In a pack you get 20 x A5 sheets for £2.95 (incl VAT), so it's pretty cheap. Crunchy is a great product to crumple and paint with Fresco Acrylics, plus, and if you ever have a problem getting paper out of your intricate dies, run through a sheet of this between the die and the paper, and your paper will release beautifully! 

Right, so now you know all about crunchy, check out Lin's video to see the results of her experiments with Gloss Gel and more!

Product Links:

Crunchy

Golden Gels
Stencils

Smoothy

Grunge Paste

Treasure Gold

Lindy's Stamp Gang Sprays

Wishing you all good experimenty fun with your gels this week! Don't hold back!
Leandra

We would love you to join in with challenge #15: Gels If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over the fortnight, then please join in and 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. The Gels link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Aug 23rd winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.