Friday 24 June 2016

Smile by Melissa Struhs


Hello again Colour Blast fans! I am so excited to finally get to showcase the sample piece that some people may or may not have spotted in our booth at the Brisbane Scrapbooking and Paper Crafts Expo.


We were a tad excited to introduce the brand new Shimmer Dusts in six gorgeous colours.


For this layout, I worked with Navy and Midnight and mixed it with some of my favourite mediums and techniques on a 12 x 12 canvas board.



I used a 12 x 12 cobblestone stencil over the entire background with a white crackling colour and spread it with a metal palette knife. The thickness can vary but chunky patches generally crackle more.


It can be hurried along with a heat gun, but the overall effect doesn't depend on heat so on nice warm days, it can be set aside to dry naturally while I work on other elements.


I really wanted to create a coloured gauzy effect to build my embellishments on top of. The shimmer dusts are ideal for controlling your depth of colour...


The more powder you add, the more intense and deeper colour you achieve. I wanted a very dark black, so start I started with a small amount of Midnight....


Add some water, mix it well and continue until you are happy with the colour. Midnight can look a little purple if only a little powder is mixed in...just keep going.


I like to push my muslin into the shimmer dust solution with my palette knife, wouldn't want to get my fingers dirty! It loves to soak up the colour and absorbs more than you think it will. While the muslin was damp, I swiped it around the outer edge of the canvas board to darken the edges.


How divine is it??? And yes it still has a beautiful shimmer to it.


So back to the now dry canvas board, tiny amounts of Navy Shimmer Dust


was dropped randomly over the crackling Colour,



Spritz with water, this can be done over the entire background. The colour will dribble through the crack and settle in the grooves. And creates really unexpected results.
If the colour is too light, add more dust. If the colour is too dark, add more water. A little hint... the crackling effect continues to intensify for a few days after it is dry...so wait for a more distressed finish to appear. 


My chipboard pieces were painted


with a watered down gesso to give a quick base coat


for the Navy Shimmer Dust solution to rest on. it will give a more vibrant finish this way. I actually made this colour quite dark so it would be more intense than the background.


The chipboard has a real ombre effect, that is easily done by adding more layers of colour.


To finish off, a script stamp with black staz on ink was pressed lightly over the outer edges.


A little stencilling with a super thick heavy gesso...


Adding the muslin, flowers, leaves and pearl trim with the chipboard completed the look.
And now that the show is done, I get to bring it home to display this in my workroom.
Hope you all have a fabulous weekend and squeeze in a little project for yourself.
















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