MicaColors Watercolors and 101 Craze and Crackle paint

You know me....I love some texture and mixed media with my paintings. There is nothing like getting messy with paints and paper. For 19 years I have enjoyed scrapbooking. That is a long time. But now I am having fun using those scrapbooking supplies and adding them to a canvas. It's a whole new art form for me and I love it. Here is a project I made for USArtQuest using some MicaColor Watercolors and some 101 Craze and Crackle Medium. That was some fun stuff!

I started off with adding some grey and white paint all over the canvas. While it was still wet I added some patterned paper and adhered it down with PPA adhesive. Touched up some areas around the paper with more paint just so it blends in. Once this was dry I was able to use the Craze and Crackle Medium by applying it with a palette knife. I also used some foam stamps to make the vines going down the sides. Once this had dried over night the fun began with patterned paper and PPA.

 Just tear or cut the paper and start layering it down into the design you want. Once that dried I added rubons and used my favorite journaling pen to doodle all over the painting.

 The MicaColor Watercolor was added last. You can see it shimmer and shine on the owls. It is very subtle but gives a fun effect.

Faux Lace Kits from USArtQuest

While shopping at USArtQuest.com....I decided I wanted to try my hand at this wonderful kit...the Faux Lace kit. The above picture shows everything that comes in this kit with the exception of the wooden bracelet.

In this kit you will receive tape, Gildenglitz, Mica Flakes, Mica D'Lights, a sponge and a dipper for the Mica.

To start off with I took the tape and added all over the bracelet then pressed the Gold Gildenglitz onto the tape. This tape is the best!!!! I was then able to take the sponge and rub it over the tape, removing excess Gildenglitz. See how it leaves you with smaller flakes. Don't throw these away!!! You can use those again on other fun projects.

Now the fun part....using my finger I added PPA inbetween the gold stripes. Then I sprinkled the Mica over the glue in different colors. Just tap it to remove any excess.

Once I was done adding the colors I took a little brown acrylic paint and painted the inside of the bracelet along with lines to seperate the colors. Added some PPA over the entire bracelet to seal it and here ya go. A really cute wooden bracelet that was super easy to make! This kit is a must have so be sure to pick up one at USArtquest.com.

Prills Frills Blog Hop with USArtQuest

Welcome to our Prills Frills Blog Hop!!! I hope you enjoy all the projects brought to you today by the USArtQuest Design Team. We are all using a wonderful product call Prills! You can find Prills HERE! They are an all natural, pearl like embellishment and as you can see from the projects today....you can use them for anything!

So sit back and enjoy today's Hop. Make sure to leave comments at each Design Team members blog! And if you get out of place...just head back over to the USArtQuest Blog!

USArtquest Blog
Terri Sproul Blog
Leslie Venable Blog
Becky Thackston blog <-------------You are HERE
Ann Krier Blog
Sally MacDonald Blog
Joe Rotella Blog
Lea Cioci blog
Karist Van Doren Blog


Today I want to share with you my Spring Wreath creation using some coffee filters and Prills!

This was such a super easy project. Gather up some coffee filters, paint, prills, PPA, a few embellishments, wreath and some burlap.
Step 1 - Take the coffee filters and paint one side of them using a variety of paints. If you want to cover the entire wreath you will need about 100 filters. Once you have them painted just set them out to dry.

Step 2 - Once they have dried I took 3 at a time and folded them into quarters and cut the bottom portion off. Don't worry you will use all the parts :)

Step 3 - Wreath of your choice and some burlap. I love when I have extra things around the house. I just "happened" to have a roll of burlap so it was a true "a-ha" moment and I began wrapping it around the wreath.

Step 4 - Now we are ready to make the flowers. Take a long strip of packing tape or some sort of clear tape. Using the bottom portion of the coffee filter, twist it into a number 8 and this will be the base of your flower. Adhere it to the end of the tape and now the fun begins. Taking the ruffled part of the filter...start layering it along the top of the tap until you have made it as long as you want.

Now start rolling it beginning with the end that contains the center portion. The tape will help hold the filter in place while rolling. If you want a smaller "bud" type flower just make the tape shorter. I used several sizes for this wreath. Now it is time to add the Prills!

Step 5 - Pour your prills into another coffee filter. Add some PPA to the tops of the flowers, along the petals or anywhere else you would like for them to be and stick the flower down into the Prills! Set to the side to dry.

Step 6 - When you are ready to add the flowers to the wreath....cut the bottoms off the flowers so that they are nice and flat and glue onto the wreath. Just add flowers here and there until you have everything like you want it. Add some embellishments such as leaves or a bird. Maybe a touch of ribbon. And once everything is set and dry...you will have a cute wreath for the Spring.

Now it is time to head on over to Ann's Blog! But before you go...don't forget to become a follower of my blog and USArtQuest's blog and leave a comment to let us know what you think of today's Blog Hop. If you do both....you will be entered in a drawing for some fun yummy blog candy -  a 6 pack of Prills! The winner will be posted March 18th on the USArtQuest Blog.

USArtQuest Watercolors and Studio Cloth

Today I want to share with you a fun and quick weekend project to spruce up any room. My goal - freshen up some artwork I had in the kids bathroom. I just recently bought a new shower curtain that really did not go with the sea shell themed prints I had in there already.

• •Supplies -  
• •Studio Cloth
• Mica Color Watercolors
• Perfect Brushes

First I will start off showing you the shower curtain so that you have an idea of where I am coming from with the colors.

 Next I took some standard white frames from my local craft store. They have a picture opening of 5x7 - roughly - so I cut my studio cloth to an 8x10 size. Then I just sketched a few pictures on there. Nothing fancy and it does not need to be perfect. This will be my guide once I start painting.

Using watercolors on the studio cloth is WONDERFUL. They blend so easy! So mix those colors. If you are not sure take a wet paper towel and blot over the area and paint again. Once I had these dry - I took a black pen and out lined my tree and circles. Take this time to add anything extra you might want for details.

Insert your paintings into the frames and there you go.....a cute addition to any room and to your decor!!

Hope you enjoyed today's tutorial. Make sure to stop by USArtQuest and pick up some of these awesome watercolors and studio cloth.

Come back tomorrow for our Prills & Frills Blog hop! You don't want to miss it

 

PPA and Mica Pearl Ex

I love to give home made cards - Here is a quick and easy card using Pearl Ex Jewelz and PPA.

First start off by stamping your image with embossing powder. I used the Sandi Miller Field of Daisies rubber stamp. I love this stamp. there are so many possibilities available with this image.

The next step is so much fun!

Take just a dab of PPA - Perfect Paper Adhesive and sprinkle on some Mica Pearl Ex Jewelz in antiques. I used antique copper, antique gold and antique bronze. This will make a thick paint. Paint in the stamped image...don't worry about staying in the lines :)

When finished painting, take a lightly damp paper towel and just wipe over the image. This will remove any of the paint on the embossing powder.

At this time you can add some more paints or fill in areas that you might want to change up a little bit. Once you are done with this step...take a Krylon 18K gold leafing pen and go around the edges of the stamped image. This will be your border. Trim around the image and begin adding your layers or paper for the base of the card.

For an added touch I went around the edges of the stamped image with a black pen, added some ribbon and some flowers.

Becky Thackston

Love in February Canvas with USArtQuest

I have been painting now for about 3 years. There is not one part of the painting process that I do not love. Abstract art draws me in. And you can take it anywhere....breathe it....throw all your emotions into that paintbrush and paint.

Today I would love to share with you my "Love in February" acrylic painting. And I will show you how you can recreate this painting too.

The first step is finding those perfect colors for your background. And paint away! I am not shy with my paint so I really layer it on and add a few colors into the mix for some added punch. And the perfect brushes - I used the 3/4 brush for this part of the project

While the paint is still wet - I took the Texture Tool and drug it thru the paint in several different areas. This will pull some of the natural background color. Set aside and let dry.

For an added touch I used the 3/4 brush and some Perfect Pigments in Mars Black and painted around the edges of the canvas. It is okay if you paint a little over the front. This gives it an antique/aged look.

Now take some 101 Heavy Artist's Cement and a Palette Knife and mix together the Cement along with some Perfect Pigments in Wheat. Take the palette knife and the cement mix and add faux bricks on the canvas. Set aside to dry.

Now taking some black paint and the 1/2" Snap brush...add the vines and leaves. Before the leaves get dry, I mixed together some PPA and Prills and painted on several of the leaves for some added dimension.

Altered Vase and USArtQuest

It seems like I have a new interest in taking something old and adding a little magic to it…which makes it all new again. And, it is fun at the same time!

Here is a quick weekend project and I know you all have vases sitting around just screaming for some attention….right!?!


First off I took a standard glass vase and pulled together a few items…Window Etch Paint, PPA, Studio Cloth, Perfect Glaze, #4 Paintbrush, Sizzix Big Shot die, Gildenglitz and some tape.

Step 1: tape around the vase where you would like the etching paint to be. I originally started with two stripes on the vase but later changed it to the whole bottom half being etched.

Step 2: Once your etching paint is dry, remove the tape. At this point I took some PPA and used my finger to add a thin layer around the border of the etching paint and the regular part of the vase. This needs to sit aside for a little while and let it get to the tacky stage.

Step 3: Once the PPA is tacky…take some of the Gildenglitz and gently add it to the layer of PPA. Don’t worry about have extra on there. Once it is dry you just simply take a paint brush and brush off the extra to have for another project.

Step 4: Now I cut off a small section of my Studio Cloth and ran it thru my Sizzix Big Shot using the flower die cut. With a little hot glue and some felt…I then began to roll up the flower and let it sit. Trim off any extra felt. Now I used the #4 paintbrush and added some Perfect Glaze to the outside edges of the flower. Glued a button into each center and then glued the entire flower onto a orange felt flower.

Step 5: Now you can add the flowers to the vase. I used just a dab of glue and held it there until it set and would not slide. With all three flowers in place and dry..I added some pinecones I found on clearance. Then cut some limbs from our oak tree for some added decoration.

Altered Canvas and USArtQuest

I love to take something totally simple and make it into something that will be loved and remembered. My life revolves around making others happy and smiling. It is what makes me tick. So I was super excited when my first project with USArtQuest hit me head on. I decided to alter a canvas for a dear close friend of mine at work. She just recently got married in September. I was so upset that I couldn't attend her wedding as we had a large family outing that day also. But even if I couldn't be there...I wanted to make her something so that she new I was there in heart.

This is a fun and easy project that you can make for yourself or as a gift for that special someone.

To start off - find the size canvas you would like to use. For this project I used a 12x12 stretched canvas. I also have a few pages from a book I picked up at the GoodWill, a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper and some Perfect Paper Adhesive (PPA) in Matte.

Step 2: Tear the pages into strips and cut down the scrapbook paper to about a 10.5x10.5 size. With a sponged brush I spread around the PPA around the edges of the canvas and then began layering the paper. Layer a good thick coat of the PPA on top of the pages also.

Step 3: Now layer the scrapbook page onto the canvas with the PPA.

Step 4: While the paper is still lighlty damp...I added some PPA to the back of the photo and adhered it down where I wanted it to be. I lightly brushed the PPA around the edges of the picture. Because this is a matte finish adhesive it left a light matte finish around the pictures edges. I then took some cream paint and just brushed around the edges of the canvas so that it would have an aged feel. Let the canvas totally dry before proceeding.

Step 5: Once the canvas is dry...take a black pen (I love using the Pilot Permaball) and go around the edges with some doodling. You will find that doodling is one of my favorite things to do on projects :)

Step 6: Now it is time to start layering the embellishments. I used the PPA to adhere the sticker letters.

This project took approx 30 minutes to complete, including drying time.

and don't forget.... Sue and USArtQuest will be on in the US, Jan. 17th - 6 am and 12 pm est!!! Come watch Sue's demos with fabulous techniques - and products you have to see.

What's happening around here today....

Well let me just say.....I am SUPER DUPER excited to share with you some news...I've been holding a little secret for a few days and it is just busting out :)

I've been trying to get back on the Design Team wagon the last few months so I was over joyed when I received the email from USArtQuest! I have made their 2012 Design Team for January - June! I am really excited about this opportunity. Please check out their website...they have goodies from adhesive...paints...brushes...mica...alterable boxes....so much yummy stuff. I can't wait to share with you the projects I will be making! So please do come back and visit...subscribe to my blog so that you don't miss my tutorials.

I'm so ready to start 2012 off with a bang!!!

On the family home front...Danie is 10 months old today! Seriously! I am not sure where the time has went! Shawn is on winter break from school. He has finally made a decision on the college home front. He wants to go to Chattahoochee Tech and study Automotive Technology to start off with and then hopefully after his first year or diploma, transfer to Souther Poly Tech. At least we have an answer from him on his plans.

Very excited that we are almost to Christmas! and very excited to start some new project ideas I have in my little ole head....and a few painting ideas. Stay tuned!

Oh and Thirty-One.....slowing getting orders here and there which is better than nothing...but I really want this business to grow. I'm hoping 2012 will have some great opportunities also with this side business. And if you really love Thirty-One or have had your eye on that favorite bag....send me an email and I will let you know what will be retiring this upcoming year. The deadline to order these will be January 31st but keep in mind that once a retired list has been made public.....items go fast. I hope there is something you would like to get before it is gone.