GD: Ellen Vargo Project #3 Art Journal Video {Part 3}

Welcome back! Ellen Vargo here again to wrap up the art journal video series. Today we'll be adding some journaling and I'll show you how I do my lettering.  We'll also do a little bit of paint pen work at the end. 

I've made you wait until today to see the finished journal page.... here it is...

In this final video I use shading around the edges of the collaged layer, softened with a watercolour brush. 

I'll teach you some simple lettering tricks..

And show you how to enhance the lettering in 3 stages to make it really pop.

And off we go! The final video...

Thanks so much for following along this week!  I'm having so much fun playing with my new stamps and finding lots of new ways to use them to create interesting backgrounds and collage papers.  I'll be back again in April to share more, but if you want to follow along on my blog until then, I'd be happy to see you HERE!  Have fun playing and making gorgeous art 'til next time!

~ ellen.

Leandra Says:Love how the paint pens add another dimension to the quote, and the shading on the map edges really does the trick! Great videos Ellen! Congrats! xx

  

Gillian Says: Such a bold and dramatic page, thank you so much for sharing your techniques through videos this week, really enjoyed it.

If you would like to join in this week's challenge and play along with Ellen's techniques, then do link up your creativity here, and go in the draw to win some PA stamps of your choice! You need to link your entry by 17:00, Sunday March 23rd 2014

Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paint Video {a reference tool}

Hello Everyone, Leandra here,

This is one of those informational posts you should bookmark if Frescos float your boat! With a video at the foot

We have a new paint 'tick' chart.
This is a collectors 'tick' postcard so you can check off the paints as you collect them. It is not an exact indication of true colour, but it is a ballpark indicator. Matching printed shades to real life paint is impossible over a broad range of shades like this.

DIY Paint colour record
Darcy also created the chart below where you can paint the colours you have already got out to create a real record of what you already own.

Download your copy here:  http://www.paperartsy.co.uk/pdfs/FrescoFinish72.pdf

Fresco Colour Mixing Methods
For a fantastic explanation of how to mix bespoke colours of Fresco, you should check out this post from Liz Borer. Liz explains it perfectly, and shows you how to use paints to create all kinds of new colours, and how to make them tone in with each other for a specific project. Its really useful stuff and will open up a world of options for you.

http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2013/11/welcome-back-elizabeth-borer-1.html


Information video: Fresco Chalk Acrylics
We wanted to put together a video to show you all the 64 Fresco paint colours and how they relate to each other in one summary video. 

This will help you see first hand the differences between the colour families, and help you choose paint. In addition to those shown on the video, we also have Gold, Silver, and 6 glazes.

Remember every computer monitor will show colour differently depending on how your screen is configured. If you compare a real life paint to the screen, you will get a sense of how true your screen displays. 

Don't forget to subscribe to the PaperArtsy You Tube Channel so you can see all the new videos as soon as they are released. There are plenty of Fresco technique videos there with lots of tips and information that are very handy if you are new to using acrylic paints.

Here is the video below






Thanks for watching!

Leandra

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.

2013 Christmas Cracker Video #1 {Sanded Foundations}

Hi Everyone, Leandra here

Don't you think the days after Christmas are often the perfect time for getting creative?

People generally have a few days off work, and the frantic madness of the lead up to Christmas celebrations fades into a few welcome days of rest and realxation. The kids are happy chilling, playing with new toys. Christmas TV is littered with movies or special shows, teenagers disappear to friends houses and older family members bury their noses in books, or come to grips with new technological toys. Family visits are over with, and it's the blissful calm after the storm. With the family settled and plenty of leftovers in the fridge, its not too hard to escape to your craft space and try out some ideas.

Normally at the end of a semester we would have a 3UP or some other crazy week-long blog idea that I dream up, but this time we are doing a series of short videos that you can quickly watch and hopefully have a go yourself.  Some are ideas that I have wanted to do all year, others are versions of things you might have seen before, but all use our favourite PaperArtsy products of 2013 and a wide variety of techniques.

We are calling this series our 2013 Christmas Crackers, so grab a hold of the other end of this cracker, and take a look at what's inside - I promise...no cheesy jokes! You will have had enough of those already! It's going to be a nice round-up to the fabulous year we have enjoyed here at PA HQ!

You can sit back and watch, or if you prefer, you can pull the cracker with me, and play along. At the end of each blog post there is a place to link your version of this technique, the links on each post will all close 17:00 Sunday Jan 5th 2014 (London time).

The linked entries from each 2013 Christmas Cracker Video Blog have a winner drawn. The prizes will be brand new sets of limited edition paints and a brand new sets of stamps. These products are new for 2014, and won't be available until mid February, so join in the fun and start experimenting with some of these ideas!

2013 Christmas Cracker #1 : Sanded Foundations

The beginning of any project for me is generally to contemplate the possible layers I might build on. Foundations can be created in numerous ways with endless products. 
For example:

• patterned or plain papers, torn, cut, punched
• die cut layers cut from paper, smoothy or heavyweight smoothy
• stencilled texture
• embossed patterns in paper, card, foil, crunchy waxed kraft paper
• grunge paste applied various ways
• resist techniques
• puff paint

Many of these layers are unmovable. Once you have laid them in position they are there. This may impede the direction you want to explore, for example how do you stamp a detailed image over a lumpy clear shiny resist, or puff paint, or a paper doily? Textured foundations may kick your muse into the range of possibilities that develop thereof.

You don't know what might happen until you have a go and find out, so let's try a new foundation technique today, and see what happens!

I'm using tinted Grunge Paste to highlight different parts of a stencil. But after application and drying of the GP, I am sanding back to reveal the many colours within. 

Taking this idea a step further, the ability to sand tinted grunge paste means you are not sanding OFF any colour, and you are in control of the height of the Grunge Paste which gives you options should you wish to add further stamped layers.

Cracker Ingredients:
Grunge Paste
Craft Tools: Palette Knife
Stencil Girl: Blackbirds in trees
Fresco Chalk Acrylics: Tinned Peas, Hey Pesto, Nougat, Lake Wanaka, Space Cadet, Green Olives, Holly, Pumpkin Soup.
Old Postage Stamps
Wooden Prima embellishments

Cracker Method:
In today's video we are using tinted Grunge Paste through a stencil, then layering paint gently over the top with soft shades of Fresco to create a soft background. This is a great starting point for a journal background, or it could be used on the front panels of a wooden triple icon, or perhaps down the side of a Scrapbook layout or as a card. Sanding back the GP, and adding details with postage stamps, wooden embellishments and white washing helps create a cohesive piece with depth and interest. Most other texture pastes cannot be easily tinted, and are generally too plastic in nature to be able to sand back, so these are unique features that makes GP different to other texture products. 





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 #1 will be announced 19:00 Sunday January 5th 2014.
.

A special Saturday {Video} ...on Sunday

Well firstly apologies...this was supposed to hit the airwaves yesterday afternoon....but it ended up taking a bit longer to film than we anticipated, and before you know it...it's Sunday before YouTube have finished processing it....

...still...I'm sure you won't mind! There was plenty going on last night on twitter to keep you all busy...#3UP, Chatter about Darcy's new stamps (set 01, set 02), people seeing Jo demo at Colemans Craft Warehouse, and that's just the start!

This is the topic of this weekend's video, using Darcy's new heart stamps. 

The first part I show (in the video...below) how to stamp into grunge paste to make the lower dark tag ....which was painted with Blood Orange, French Roast, then given the Treasure Gold Treatment with Onyxite and Ruby.

...which actually looked like old leather in real life, a bit of a shame to cover it up, but I stuck to the plan or Mr PA would have gone really nutty if I started over.

Then the top layer was a Chipboard Tag, painted in Stone, Taupe, Choccie Pud, Mermaid, Beach Hut and South Pacific, dried and sanded back. I then added stamping detail with the cogs and heart vine in South Pacific and Stone, and finally stamped images in Archival Jet Black.

Next up the heart. I coloured it with quite a few layers of Blood Orange, London Bus, and once the video finished I must admit I did tweak with a dab of Metallic Glaze (you can see the mica reflection above) and added extra shine with 2 coats of Gloss Glaze, which always makes bright colours pop and look just that little bit brighter. 

To secure the 2 layers, I used copper wire. Poked holes into the tags with pokey-tool, then threaded the wire through to make crosses and dashes. I used thick and thin wire for a bit of variety. Lastly I stamped some spare hearts (from the metallic tinted/ painted metal card from last week) onto ochre and blue sections on the back of my metallic metal card, cut out and attached at the top. It only took 40 mins, and is simply accented, so kind of minimalist for me, but I'm really liking it a lot!  Thanks Darcy for the new stamps. They are brilliant!

 

You can watch the video here:

Darcy has also made some lovely cards with her new stamps, you can see her post here for more ideas with these new stamps.

Thanks for dropping by

Leandra 

A {VERY special} Sunday Video ...

Yes you are being spoiled this bank Holiday weekend, not only have we got extra videos, but we have got an extra designer post for you too coming up later today from another special Guest!! Don't say we're not keeping you entertained this long weekend!!

So first up, I have another video for you. It's all about matching the gorgeous PaperArtsy Flower stamps to their dies. Once you know the system it is easy, but it does help to know the system, and we have been a bit slack and not got around to putting instructions on the packets, so now we can do QR codes to link to this video. 

It is also the same system for the Eclectica Lin Brown Bloom die.

So first up I'm talking about these stamps:

 HP1004EZ, HP1008EZ, HP1209EZ, HPXT02EZ

Which match these dies:

GrungeFlower 1 (with leaf - that doubles up as a bird)

 GrungeFlower 2 &3 (a set)

And this eclectica stamp set (flower top right):

 ELB01

Matches this bloom die:

Bloom 1

I also have used my metallic background paper I made after filming yesterday's post, which I made from mixing Old Gold and Pewter metallic paints tinted with our deep shades of translucent Fresco Finish Acrylics. See the method in yesterday's video here.

So here is today's video: how to match PaperArtsy Flower stamps with their dies. It's about 20 mins so grab a cuppa !

A Special Saturday {video}

Its time for another technique video. This is an idea I have been meaning to explore since we first released Grunge Paste, but have never found the right moment. So last week, when I was demoing at Stevenage I remembered, and it worked even better than I expected.

Basically we use a stencil, grunge paste, fine detailed stamps and then paint it. lastly we sand it back to reveal the fine detail of paint trapped in the stamped texture.

I made a background exactly like this, only onto a tag. This stencil is called Circle Grid, by Crafters' Workshop, you can see from the picture how sharp each circle is when you use grunge paste. It's such an easy texture to apply to stencils (be they  ultra-fine detail or bold like below), and will not seep under your stencil, as its not a particularly wet formulation, and has good 'body'. It's almost clay-like in it's formulation.

And then I turned it into a sample for Helen.  Aka stamping by H, @stampingbyH , who has stood and watched me demo at shows every year for the last 10 years. I remember her coming to Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace, The Great Stamping and Scrapbooking Show, North London) when we got our first  6 metre stand; we were opposite Rob and Gord from Once Upon a Stamp, we would laugh all show long with those two opposite!

Since those early days I have go on to demo on various other stands (when we did not exhibit) and she would track me down, and Helen still comes to watch at all kinds of local to London events that I go to! So she must be our longest and most loyal groupie. So it's nice to give her something when she visits the stand. I'm not sure if fish was what she was expecting, but that is what it ended up being!

I went on to stamp the fantastic fish from Hot Picks 1201EZ onto and altered book background that was painted green, and then used translucent shades of Fresco paints to add depth to the fish. I also added a touch of Treasure Gold (Brass) - you can see how the light has caught it on a couple of spots at the front.



For today's video, I have made the sample below in shades of blues and purple, and gave it a bit of oomph with Pumpkin Soup and Claret. The stencil is the mosaic squares. For this technique you need a stencil with decent open areas.

The stamps I used were fine detail stamps that will fit in the small stencil spaces. The Japanese writing and postmarks are ideal from Hot Picks XT01EZ and the fine script from Sara Naumann ESN03.

So check out the video below to see the nitty gritty on how to achieve this effect, and you still have time to have a go yourself, and upload it to this week's challenge draw here too. That closes Sunday (tomorrow) at noon London time.

 

Oh an update on the #MonsterMonday boxes ...they are flying out like hotcakes. At 60% off retail, they are full of embellishments, stamps, surfaces to work on, and all kinds of weird and wonderful things. Comments coming back to me on twitter are that people are really, really pleased with them. We do  try to give you a wide variety of stuff that you would use for card, scrapbooking, altered art and so on.

Read the T&C's before ordering, and once you have one in your basket, you need to proceed to checkout as fast as possible, otherwise the box you have in your basket will get nabbed by someone already paying in the 'queue' ahead of you. Crazy I know, but it happens when there are lots of people online trying to buy the same item at the same time. 

I release the product online here at 6pm Monday evening, both weeks so far they have sold within 30 mins, so you need to be quick! I keep adding more each week, but you guys are scoffers! Good luck!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Leandra



A Special Saturday {Video}

...its a {video} day....but read this first... 
At the start of the month, I promised to give you a video every Saturday throughout August. If you follow along with the techniques we share, step by step, you will soon realise how easy it is to achieve great results with our paint. But there is a concept you need to understand before you buy any Fresco paints, and that is all to do with why we have opaque and translucent paints. So this week, before you watch the video, I want to take some time to explain about understanding the differences in the COVERAGE of paint. 

...high and low coverage paints
Fresco opaque paints generally have HIGH COVERAGE; they cover up what is underneath fast. For example, we painted Millie's bedroom with Bora Bora recently. It only took 1 coat to get a really beautiful even layer of paint across one huge feature wall. Bora Bora has high coverage, it's what we classify as an 'opaque'. BUT if we had painted the wall with London Bus, a LOW COVERAGE PAINT or 'translucent', then we would likely have needed to apply as many as 3 coats to get the required coverage on the wall.

...versus high and low pigmentation
So would you jump to the conclusion that Bora Bora is more highly pigmented than London Bus? Because I would have before I started to get my head around paint chemistry! But, as we continue to learn more and more from 'the magic paint lady', I now know that London Bus is one of our most highly pigmented colours. In effect, the level of pigmentation for London Bus is at the maximum capacity, if we added any more pigment, it would not change the colour, and could ultimately compromise the paint functionality, or even compromise some of the other features of the fresco paint formula. 

So how much red pigment do we need to make a pastel shade, like pale pink? Have you ever referred to a pale pastel paint as highly pigmented? Don't you think the reality is you hardly need any pigment to make a pale pink, compared to what you would require for an OTT red colour like a primary red? A broad variety of different acrylic bases are used to make all acrylic paints. The base chosen depends on the pigments required to make each colour, and how bright each paint colour needs to be. In general, for Fresco Paints, the brighter the paint, the more translucent it will probably be. But that in no way necessarily reflects how much pigment may or may not be in each colour. Probably our paint chemists are the only ones who really know the true answer to that.

I think there are plenty of people who bandy the term 'highly pigmented' about without having a clue what they mean by it, I certainly used to, so my hand is up. I think in general, we get our terminology regarding pigmentation and opacity of paints VERY confused. Every company calls their paint 'highly pigmented' as a way to label their paint as top quality, so by doing this, they have actually devalued the term. In reality, every paint within every paint range has its own quantity of pigment depending on so many other factors. It's not a one size fits all label to use.

...artist grade paints
It's also interesting to note, that artist-grade acrylic paint companies release their colours with a set of standardised names; diarylide yellow, quinacridone red, burnt umber or turquoise pthalo and so forth. Even though there are many paint companies out there, all acrylic paints are created using a standardised set of pigments. Many artist grade paints will have their pigment derivatives listed on the bottle, a kind of basic recipe. So from company to company, the colour 'burnt umber' or 'primary cyan' etc is an industry standard. As a consumer, you decide what price you want to pay, and often the more expensive ones are more highly pigmented, and certainly 'student grade' are a lot less pigmented, but still, no matter what price, they will paint out as a more or less standardised shade of colour.

This is not what we want to manufacture, replicate or reflect within the PaperArtsy Fresco paints. We don't desire to create a huge array of highly pigmented shades of paint. I'm not a fine artist trying to get 50 shades of blue-grey to paint some clouds, or 40 shades of yellow-green grass. 

...Fresco Paints
Fresco is a paint, the quality of which falls on the spectrum somewhere between Craft and Artist grade. But its hard to compare to other paints because its so different to any other paint out there. It's very matte, we labelled it 'chalk' paint because that is how it feels when you touch it, and the first batch were all extreme high coverage. But all the paints are super smooth, flat and matte. We want to make paint for people to muck about with on all kinds of surfaces. Here at HQ we are way more interested in making user friendly paint, in a nice range of colours, that does what it says on the tin. We want to bring it to you for a great price for 50 ml, and with a long shelf life. In other words, value for money, nice and easy to use, and fit for purpose. Whether you want to create backgrounds, scrapbook, journal,covering wood, create unusual textures, or add a bit of bling or crackle, we've got it covered (see what I did there). So people, rise up and become a master-splodger guru of experimentation !! We are making paint for crafting situations. And it's meant to be FUN !!

We are offering something different in the marketplace. A colour palette that reflects interior design trends, current colour trends, and current fashion trends and therefore we offer a colour palette that is fresh, relevant, fun to use and looks good on the walls of your home or in your most private journals. Most of our paints match beautifully with each other. It's not hard to select a bunch of Fresco paints that look good together. We specifically designed it that way. To make it easy for you. Light, medium, dark, super dark in families of colours.

...Fresco Paint Chart (52 colours, Gold, Silver, 6 glazes)

Have you seen this colour chart yet? We have recently printed up a load of these postcards, and we are sending them out to our retailers, and popping them in with online orders. It a point of reference for you. The colour matching is not perfect; due to the difficulties inherent with reproducing paint colours as printed ones, it is only a guide. Turquoise tones are very hard to reproduce, and the dark shades in every family are much darker than this indicates, but it still tells you what we have, where they fit in our colour groups, and if they are opaque, translucent or semi. It's also a great tick off chart so you can see what you have got, and what you might still *need*!


...Key Fresco Features
Oh and did you know that Frescos are also the bomb because they are:

• UV resistant: they can be used for indoor and outdoor projects
• Multi-surface: they can be used on fabric, glass, metal, wood, plastic, ceramic...oh...and card, chipboard, paper, acetate, shrink plastic...in other words a crafter's dream
• They dry to a smooth matte finish: no brush marks, accepts all kinds of ink, pigment, dye, spray inks, even ball point pen, markers and so on! So no need for specialist journaling pens to work on this paint people!
• Available in 72 amazing colours: well almost....there are 60 for now....but the magic paint lady is currently working on the next 12 that Lin and I developed recently!!! EEeeeeeekkkkkk. Quite excited about THAT!
• Affordable: only £3.95 each for a 50ml bottle #boom

So now that you understand all about paint coverage, opacity and how we see Frescos can work for you as a crafter as the most versatile paint in the marketplace today, maybe you might like to watch a video?

...Last Week {Part One} Video
Last Saturday I showed you a really Easy Background technique that I have been using a lot this year, it's turned into one of my favourite ways to get a background without thinking too hard. Sometimes you just need to make a start to get into 'the zone'. This method also produces a beautifully smooth stamping surface. The card does not warp, as you are only applying the smallest spot of paint which is so 'matte' it dries instantly. Stampers in particular LUUURRRRVVVVE this matte, chalky finish. This makes stamping an image on top with archival or versafine ink a breeze. You get a beautiful sharp, crisp, black image every time. If you missed it, or want to review the video you can see it again here.

...this week {Part Two} Video
So in today's video I am going to be using Fresco translucent paints in several layers to add depth to your colouring of stamped images, similar to the example above. As you now are aware, translucent paints have LOW COVERAGE, they are more see-through. But often it is these paints in the Fresco range that have higher levels of pigmentation than you might expect.

If you can master this technique, and if you are a stamper, then this is a unique and very handy feature of Fresco paints, that they enable you to add colour to a stamped image WITHOUT compromising the quality of the black-stamped image.

 

So grab a cuppa, (it's a much longer video than last week), and then how about you have a go! It's fun. 

I'll see you next Saturday for another video! Or perhaps we'll see you tomorrow as we are at the Stamperama Craft show at Stevenage Sunday August 11th from 10am - 4pm

Enjoy

Leandra

A Special Saturday {video}

Well today has been a busy, but very enjoyable day for me! 

I have had a lovely, lovely morning demoing at Sugar and Spice Crafts at Barleylands Craft Village, near Billericay. And lots of wonderful ladies came to see all the things its possible to do with Fresco paint, Grunge paste, Treasure Gold, crackle glaze, stencils and stamps. It was fantastic.  A big thanks to Marion and Nina for the warm welcome, and no stop laughs. My face aches still from all the smiling!!

Oh and they did remind me on more than one occasion that I'm a year older today. Not only did I get a card, flowers AND cake, but those girls sure can sing. And they did....... like every half hour by my reckoning! It was a bit bonkers!

So then I came home, and we've had cake, presents, chocolate....its been fantastic!

But I have just snuck away to let you know another quick video is up on YouTube.

 

 

If you are new to Fresco Paints, or don't know where to start, then this video is for YOU. I have been demoing this method to make backgrounds over and over this year. It's mess-free, fast, and you just use whatever opaque colours you like! its a good starting point, and you could do this  technique easily onto chipboard, wood, card and so on.

 

Enjoy, and don't forget, tomorrow night, we will be welcoming back our guest Designers for their August submissions! 

 

Have a great weekend, and thank you all so much for the birthday wishes & lovely cards you are too kind!!

 

Leandra   xx

Fresco {Chalk} Acrylics- a 'how to' reference

As we near the 3rd birthday of the launch of our extremely successful PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk acrylic paints in February 2011, it's time for a video that summarises how to enjoy them with your rubber stamps.

As of January 2013 we have 10 colour families of 4 in sets (light, medium, dark and super dark), 4 glazes, black, white, gold and silver, so in total, 48 Frescos.

We are about to extend this to 13 bang-on-trend colour families, including 4 new metallics, and 2 new glazes. This means 60 frescos will be soon be available as we move into our 3rd year showcasing these beautiful, unique, chalk finish paints.

As you may be aware, I have been a bit of a paint junkie for many many years. I have no hesitation in saying these paints are so easy to work with, produce superb results, and give you fantastic options for craft-project versatility due to the comprehensive colour range, and amazing characteristics. We have been overwhelmed with fabulous feedback from our customers over the last 2 years, and so we are thrilled, for a third year to be adding even more colours to this outstanding Fresco paint collection.

If you have not experienced these paints yet, here is an extensive list of Fresco Chalk Acrylic characteristics:

• High coverage on all surfaces, wood, metal, glass, paper, card, chipboard, Crackly Tissue, Crunchy waxed paper, Metal Card, Smoothy stamping card, Metal charms, plastics, ceramics, fabric...you get the idea...they can be used on any surface
• Perfect for indoor and outdoor use...so they are hardy!
• Water- based acrylic means clean up in water is easy.
• Extremely matte, chalk finish is perfect to stamp over with all kinds of inks, pigment, dye , and yes, as they are chalk, even distress inks can be used over these paints as they happily sink into the 'tooth' of the chalk.
• A variety of opaque, semi opaque and translucent colours allows you to enjoy the features that high, medium and low coverage paints offer. Eg high coverage means one coat is all that is necessary, or use the low coverage for building depth, shading, or blending both wet in wet or wet on dry
• No need for undercoat, gesso or primers, use direct onto any surface.
• Bang on trend, appealing colours specifically to designed to all work together harmoniously
• Frescos are suitable for altered art, mixed media, journaling, interior design, fine art, Scrapbooking, card making, textiles and general craft projects.
• Ideal and easy to write directly on for journalling or add additional colour and detail with a huge variety of pens, pencils, crayons, water soluble colours, dye sprays, mica sprays, inks etc
• Can be diluted with glazes or water and the colour pigmentation maintains its integrity.
• Permanent once dry on all surfaces and can be mixed with textile medium for permanance on fabric for washable items.
• Fast drying and durable.

So enjoy the video, and if you haven't yet tried Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics, then check out the many other things you can do with them at the PaperArtsy youtube channel

You can see all the colours available online here at PaperArtsy.

Yes we do wholesale all PaperArtsy branded products worldwide: stamps, flexi-bocks, paints, substrates and dies. Please direct trade enquiries to sales@paperartsy.co.uk Proof of VAT registration (or equivalent) required.

 

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