Peek Week {Infusions}

Hi Everyone, Leandra here

We are going a bit 'off piste' this week on the blog. I think it's called flying by the seat of your pants!

Usually at this time of year we release a bunch of products all in one week with a great big hoo haa. Well, not this week... we do have new products coming, but they will be drip drip on Saturday evenings for several weeks starting at the END of this week.

Instead, this will be a week of two halves. First up I am taking a look at some of the newer products we sell (not just our brand), and sharing a few tips and ideas and periscopes with those. Then later in the week I might share some sneaks of what is to come over the next 8 weeks! Literally that depends on what we manage to get through initial production processes early this week! ...i did say flying by the seat of my pants....

So why the change in plan? Well, Mark has turned into Bob the Builder here at PA HQ, and due to summer not really arriving in England this year, progress has been incredibly slow! So in order to try and free up time for him to crack on building to make our space bigger, we had to revise the product release system.

Usually this is our quiet(er) time of the year, so I am also hoping that even with Mr Bob hammer-banging in the background that we might get to do some periscope demos too. Courtney is home from uni, and so with any luck she can be my film buddie. (She doesn't actually know this yet!)...flying by the seat of our pants.... 

...aaaannnndddd.....having said all that we are away Monday/ Tuesday as it is her university graduation ceremony, so tomorrow we will have a quickie blog post, and then we'll be back Wednesday for a live demo.

So that's what I'm aiming for, lets see how close we get. It's a bit of a challenge, and we have to keep up with orders....

Whew, we can do this!

So tonight I wanted to talk infusions. If you haven't had a go yet, you should. They are fun, and pretty easy to cope with....

Features

• 12 Water soluble, non permanent dye stains mixed with walnut crystals.
• Easy to apply from the bottle.
• The colour dye and the walnut dissolve at different speeds. That opens all kinds of doors for FUN!
• Permanent when spritzed with gum arabic dissolved in water or when applied with a glaze (matte, satin, gloss).
• Use lots or a little of the powder for totally different effects.
• Use lots or a little water for totally different effects.
• Differing results on both sealed or sucky surfaces (smoothy/ gesso/ fresco/ watercolour paper, Yupo, Grunge paste).
• Amazing on/ into textured surfaces or on/ into gels and mediums.
• Superb on fabric.
• Fabulous with stencils, applied direct or sprinkled into mediums/ textures.

Don't forget that if you want to find out more ideas, use the search feature on this blog to discover multiple ideas with Infusions.

So below are some of my favourite Infusions posts/ tutorials that we have seen since launching the product this year, you can see load more by going to my Pinterest page too!

Infusions vs Brushos - Scrapcosy

In this video scrapcosy shows you how to get your bottles set up ready to use, and does a great comparison with Brushos, so you know the difference. It's a great starting point.

Vicky - Art Journal Flower Video

In this video, Vicky uses a PaperArtsy glaze with infusions as the starting point for her jounral page, the trick is to work fast, if you over work it you will get the walnut stain dominating, if you work fast, then there will be more colour. So much fun to play with the balance on this idea.

Vicky - Art Journal Poppies

And again, she uses more techniques with infusions, stencils and more!

Kaz Hall - Reverse Stencil

Love how simple and effective this is! Try it! Try different types of papers, sealed with paint, unsealed, watercolour, even yupo! Not only has Kaz used infusions, but there are some great PaperArtsy stamps used too...and a video, where she shows the technique so well.

Keren Baker - Infused Flowers

I love Keren's use of white Embossing Powder on this project. It really makes the colours pop, and adds some structure to what can be a messy technique.

Helen Chilton - Fabric heart

Always one to push out the boat, Helen creates a stunning mix and blend onto fabric so effortlessly.

Wanda Hentges - Fabric ATC's

Wanda is one of those crafters who simply masters every product, substrate and technique, she is a whizz! I love how simple these are, and embossing onto fabric too! Again, it gives that pop! I think white EP is key with infusions!

Emma Godfrey - Patchwork Frame

Again, embossing powder features on this one, but this time Emma used gold, and strips of differently infused papers to create this amazing piece of patchworked paper, which she arranged and then framed to be perfect interior-decor art!

Lauren Hatwell - Crooked House

Ok, so Lauren throws a zillion techniques into this little baby, so you really should take a closer look! I totally love the cracked infusions roof and frame! It's brilliant!

Keren Baker - Paper Strips

Scroll down on this post to the last card - strips, she cover a lot of ground in this post with lots of ideas, but this is great for leftovers!

Astrid McClean - Journal

Well Astrid always does amazing work, and this one really stuns with its bold colour contrasts. Do take a look for incredible detail on how she made this beautiful spread in her journal, only shown you a snippet above!

Kay Carley - Blowy Things

Kay seems to manage a subtle use of infusions so delicately here. Her stamps are fabulous, we might have more soon too!!

Ellie Knol - Patches of colour

This is such a minimalist idea, and Ellie has used Bistres, so infusions would fit the bill too!

Ruth Mescall - Tags

Ruth has done LOADS of posts on infusions, so you MUST go and check out this post and other on her blog. She has lots of happy accidents along the way too!

So there you have it, a massive reference post for you to bookmark for Infusions ideas. I was supposed to do a periscope on this tonight too, but we are meeting friends from New Zealand in London, so I am not home to film as planned! Let's aim for Wednesday!

Take care

~Leandra