2016 #3 Gelatos Notebook {by Anneke de Clerck}

 2016 Topic 3: Wax

Hello everyone Anneke here.

I'm happy to be back here tonight with a blog post about Faber-Castell Gelatos.

In case you're not familiar with the Gelatos, these are creamy sticks infused with brilliant and rich colors. You can blend them smoothly without water, just by using your fingers, that's how soft and creamy they are! 

I love working with Faber-Castell Gelatos. They come in lots of awesome colors and they are very versatile, perfect to use on backgrounds, to color images, to stamp with...The fact that they are water-soluble makes them ideal for all kinds of techniques such as drippage, water coloring, reverse stenciling...The possibilities are endless. Because of their tiny size they are suitable for art-on-the-go as well. If you never worked with Gelatos you definitely have to try them if you get the opportunity. 

This evening I'll show you how I made a notebook using those cute creamy sticks. 

Let's get started.

I did all the coloring on the booklet with Gelatos. I used Lime, Green Tea and Spearmint for the grass, Cotton Candy, Acqua Dolce and Blueberry for the sky, Blood Orange, Bubble Gum, Tangerine and Guava for the flower and Squid Ink & Coconut for the shading.

For the covers I used 2 pieces of PaperArtsy heavy grey/white board, tag 9 size (17,8 x 9 cm). As I had the intention to bind the little book with my Zutter Bind-It-All I decided to punch the holes first. To start I applied an uneven layer of gesso on the covers with a flat brush. Priming with gesso creates a super blend-able surface for the Gelatos and the gesso 'marks' provide a nice texture once colored.

Next I started the coloring. I first made some scribbles at the bottom with the lightest green color and blended this immediately with my fingers. I continued by adding darker green colors on top, starting from the right hand side (as I wanted the shadow on that side).  For the sky I started with Acqua Dolce, then added darker colors. Gelatos blend perfectly by using your fingers or some tissue paper. A damp brush works well too but the water takes away some of the color. As I love bold colors I prefer the dry method. It is easy to create an ombré look by using different shades of the same color.

Gelatos do react with water so they are perfect for what I call the "take off technique" = creating patterns by taking off color through stencils instead of adding color.

I've layered the Tim Holtz Layering Stencil Schoolhouse over the covers and used a baby wipe to remove some of the color. This technique works so well with Gelatos. When peeling back the stencil I'm always surprised.

Next I added some stamping by using the spiral stamp from the EEG07 set. 

I did the stamping with Versamark and heat embossed the stamped images with WOW embossing powder 'Opaque Bright White'.

Another advantage of the Gelatos: you can stamp with them. Here I used Blackberry to add text from the EEG14 set. The small dots are from the same stamp set and were stamped with Archival Ink 'Cornflower Blue' and overstamped with Snowflake.

I stamped the smallest flower from the EEG14 set 4 times with Archival Ink 'Jet Black'.

I did the stamping on gesso-ed paper. I colored one of the flowers with Gelatos, did the blending with a nearly dry brush. I again started with the lightest color and continued building up layers and shading with darker colors. To finish the flower off I added some white accents with a Sharpie.

I arranged the flowers on top of the front cover as shown. 

I layered the orange flower on top of a white one, made the white one slightly larger by cutting it in half.

For the inside pages I used cream colored cardstock.

I did the binding with my Zutter Bind-It-All machine using 1/2 inch black wires.

 

I decorated the inside of both the front and back cover with green handmade paper.

This notebook fits in my handbag easily, I'll carry it with me wherever I go :)

I'm fond of making small books for all sorts of purposes. I will use this one to write down ideas, quotes, to do lists....I do love the size of the heavy grey/white board, it's perfect for a notebook. The board is sturdy so very suitable to be used as covers.

When making books I'm always working on both covers at the same time. This helps me to end up with two approximately equal-looking covers.

To bind single sheets of paper this kind of spiral binding is ideal. If you don't own a Bind-It-All, ask a friend if you can use hers. Or you can easily replace the binding by using metal rings or ribbon.

If you never made a book before you certainly have to try it, this one is so easy to do! Or dig up those Gelatos and start scribbling, I would love to see what you come up with :)

Have fun creating!

Anneke
somefiddlingonthekitchentable.blogspot.com
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I think the first time I saw your work you were using gelatos, so I always, in the back of my mind, associate you with using them a lot! The colours of gelatos appeal to me as they are always so bright and fun, and what a fun idea to layer Emma's flower that way to make it look bigger and quite different! And yes you have also reminded me I have a bind it all hidden away and a lot of wire too! Thanks for the inspiration Anneke! ~Leandra

We would love to see how you interpret this Wax topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #3: Wax, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas,  particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The 'Wax' link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, February 21st. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

2016: #3 Dribbled Wax Canvas {by Sue Carrington}

 2016 Topic 3: Wax

Hi everyone Sue here from Staming Sue Style ! 

Tonight I'd like to share with you a post about using bees wax in your projects.

I've always been intrigued with how wax works and the wonderful way you can layer it up. It's not a medium I use often and to be quite honest I'm still learning every time I use it. There's a subtle and soft effect that really appeals to me so this project is as much experimentation as anything else.

Step One: I started with a board canvas and blended Teresa Green and Granny Smith Fresco Finish paints, keeping the darker of the colours towards the bottom.

Step Two: I then stencilled some flowers using the new JOFY stencil PS022 and Snowflake. I also added some of the circles from the same stencil but didn't take a photo of that stage !

PS022 {available here}

Step Three: I then started to make the pieces that I wanted to mount onto the canvas. I started by stamping the honeycomb from the JOFY30 set onto some tissue paper then painted over the reverse using Gold Fresco Finish Paint.

JOFY30

Step Four: I wrapped the painted tissue around some stamp bord then brushed the bees wax over it and then blasted it with my heat gun to let the wax level itself and also get rid of the brush marks. I made three of these to use on the canvas. 

Step Six: I've used the same technique to create a border across the canvas, using JOFY41 and JOFY42, stamping then painting the reverse of the tissue paper using Yellow Submarine, Tango, Teresa Green and Granny Smith. 

JOFY41 {available stockists}

JOFY42 {available stockists}

Step Seven: I used the hot wax to stick the tissue to the canvas and then brushed it over the top, using my heat gun to level the wax. I then used an old brush, which has natural bristles as nylon bristles will melt ! dipped it in the wax and held it at the top of the canvas and let the wax run down to create the drips. 

Step eight:  I made three panels using Stamp Board as the base and stamped onto tissue paper, layering it up using the bees wax in between the layers. The layers below show through the wax and if you heat the wax more in one area and allow it to run off you achieve different opacities which I rather liked !

 

To finish off, after fixing all the pieces in place I rubbed a little Classic Treasure Gold around the edge which picks up some of the texture from the wax.

Working with bees wax adds another dimension to your projects and I definitely need to experiment more as I feel I'm only just scratching the surface. I love the depth the wax creates and adding in some natural elements would look great. 

Sue Carrington
Blog: Stamping Sue Style
Twiiter: Inl_and_me

Loving the subtle wax layered effect to this project Sue. The stenciled/flower background is the perfect backdrop for Jo's new characters aren't they delightful :) Gorgeous colour combo and the dribbled wax layer is the perfect finishing touch. ~Gillian

This is a great little image and I love how the flower garland layers up beautifully. The large flower stenciled in the background is the perfect backdrop and as usual Jo has created some great sentiment stamps which finish off a project perfectly.  - See more at: http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2016/01/new-pa-products-feb-2016-jo-firth-young.html#sthash.2uPjdBWg.dpuf

This is a great little image and I love how the flower garland layers up beautifully. The large flower stenciled in the background is the perfect backdrop and as usual Jo has created some great sentiment stamps which finish off a project perfectly.  - See more at: http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2016/01/new-pa-products-feb-2016-jo-firth-young.html#sthash.2uPjdBWg.dpuf

This is a great little image and I love how the flower garland layers up beautifully. The large flower stenciled in the background is the perfect backdrop and as usual Jo has created some great sentiment stamps which finish off a project perfectly.  - See more at: http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2016/01/new-pa-products-feb-2016-jo-firth-young.html#sthash.2uPjdBWg.dpuf

We would love to see how you interpret this Hearts  topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #3: Wax, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas,  particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The 'Wax' link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, February 21st. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

2016 #3 Impressions of Poppies {by Darcy Wilkinson}

2016 Topic 3: Wax

Hi Darcy here with a little play with all things waxy. I wanted to use my new poppy stamp, and felt inspired by the impressionistic paintings of the past. I am always amazed as how blobs and swirls of paint can transform into identifiable images even without much detail. I wondered if I could recreate that style of painting with just some wax. 

The problem with wax is that it remelts everytime you heat it, so each successive layer will move along with the one below. But nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I set off to see what could be done. 

It is definitely no Monet, but turned out to be an enormous amount of experimental fun....maybe thats just me though, I do like melting things. 

I began by gathering my waxy supplies, Beeswax in pellets and a block, Portfolio pastels, Neocolor II crayons, regular kids wax crayons, a candle, sealing waxes and cheese! yes cheese.. well ok not the actual cheese, just the waxy shell. I may end up having nightmares given how many mini cheeses I had to eat to get the wax!

I started with an 8x8 white/greyboard. I prepped this by adding a layer of melted beeswax. Wax will stick to most surfaces that are porous, but it does help to prep them first. I found that beeswax worked fine, but you can buy encaustic medium. Onto my first layer of wax I added some stamped tissue paper. I knew not a lot would show by the end, but I do like to start with something in the background, you never know what little areas will show through. I used a mix of Sara Naumann stamps on regular white tissue paper. 

The next layer was Neocolor II crayons, they are a waxy crayon but water soluble. Generally I would say these have a lot of pigment and turn out quite bright. Even though I chose very bright shades they became very muted under the next later of wax. 

I also shaved off some little bits of the crayons and melted those in place. This needed to be done by heating from underneath, otherwise they would have blown away. 

Now onto the kids wax crayons. I held blue and purple ones at the top of the board and heated them allowing them to dribble down. I then cut up some crayon and popped the bits into a dish and melted them , once fluid I dripped various shades in pools along the bottom, once reheated I was able to angle the board so that they merged and blended. 

To add a little interest and shimmer I added some pearlex powders to the bottom, once heated the crayon beneath grabbed the powders and held them in place. 

Now to try the Portfolio crayons. I rubbed them with a finger onto the edges and in the middle sections, then heated them lightly. These stayed much brighter than the Neocolors. 

I added more portfolio crayons, in red and orange to card. This card has a hammered texture, so the crayons skim the surface and leave gaps. I like the mottled effect but know that this would disappear with the next step. I heat fixed the crayons then stamped my poppy stamp using black Stazon. 

I cut out each poppy and added them to the board. I also stamped the leafy stems, but later on changed my mind about those. 

Cheese time. I melted the wax shells in a small dish. Once fully liquid I poured the cheesy wax onto each of the poppies, filling them like little bowls. 

 
Each poppy was then heated again and the red wax allowed to run all across the centre section. The idea was to make it look like there was a host of poppies behind the focal ones. Not at all sure this worked, but it was fun to play with. 

I also flicked on some melted white crayon, and then added some gold in the same way. This gold stick is sealing wax. 

I wasn't keen on the leafy stems in this case as they seemed too stuctured, so I rubbed at them lightly with a cloth and they came right off. I replaced them with lines of Little Black Dress, applied with a credit card. I like these more abstract lines. 

I think this bottom section is my favourite part, as the many layers are more visible here. This was a tricky project to do, it certainly seemed impossible to do neatly as each time I used heat too much wax melted and moved. 

However, as an experimental piece it was fun and I learned that pearl ex powders look lovely in wax and that cheese wax works great too.. I also found that the whole thing could be buffed to a nice sheen with an old(clean) sock.. who knew!

Wax play doesn't need to be expensive at all, a lot can be achieved with just cheap wax crayons, so have a go. 

We would love to see how you interpret this Wax  topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #3: Wax, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas,  particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The 'Wax' link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, February 21st. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.