Mixed Media Fun - Starlights and Rice Paper Galore with Imagination Crafts!

Hello crafty friends!

Here's another post for fans of Imagination Craft's products, showing how I used some of their latest releases in the November mixed media show aired on Hochanda this month. I had great fun mixing up themes for the show, using a mix of Crackle Paste, canvases, MDF, paints and stencils! My desk was every colour under the sun and some very weird combinations of products I can tell you! Hey ho, that's how you experiment I suppose...

Here is a canvas that I made using some of the MDF houses as embellishments, along with greyboard flowers and a host of other things!

The flowers in the background have been created with some Imagination Craft's stencils and different colours of chalk paint. The chalk paint was used so that there would be a contrast between the beautiful Starlight Paint background and it would not all get lost in amongst each other. The houses have been painted with chalk paint and then stencilled onto. The bricks were created with another stencil and some Crackle Paste to add texture. Once the paste was dry I went over the bricks with a wash of Chestnut Starlights to make the cracks 'pop'. The stars and starburst on the house were stencilled with Starlights. To create a shadow behind the words they were stencilled twice - the second time around moving it slightly before applying Blackcurrant Sparkle Medium (my FAVOURITE!!)

Along with the canvas, I also created a decorated MDF Clock. My version did not have a mechanism in it, (although you can use these) it was purely for decorative purposes.

The 'clock face' is part of one of the gorgeous Rice Paper designs featured in the show and the embellishments, butterflies and leaves were from the packs of greyboard shapes (Magi-Cutz/Art-Cutz). I also used parts of the Rice Paper to decorate the edge and base of the clock, tying it all together by using Starlight Paint in tones of colours taken from the Rice Paper images. The flowers were from my stash, but I edged the petals in the same paint colours to make them shine and coordinate with the whole piece.

Thanks for reading and I will see you soon!

Imagination Craft's Rice Paper and Upcycled Glass

Hello there!

This is a post for all you Imagination Craft's fans, featuring some of the samples I made for the latest Hochanda show this month. The show focussed on mixed media and Rice Papers (until they rapidly sold out that is!!). My first set of samples looked at the use of the Rice Papers onto glass, with a touch of Starlight Paint to add some shimmer. This technique is great for upcycling old pieces of plain glass, or even random ornaments, (I raided the charity shop) but is also great if you like buying plain bits of cheap glass (think pound shop) and then making them into beautiful gifts.

My basic technique was to choose a main colour and then a Rice Paper design that would accentuate that (or the other way around if preferred!).  I used a wet paintbrush to moisten areas of the Rice Paper that I wanted to feature and then very gently tore around these areas to release them. Applying decoupage glue to inside of the glass item and the back of the Rice Paper, I placed into position. Once all the areas had been decorated I then gave a final glue coat all over to seal. To add colour inside and behind the Rice Paper (making it pop) I painted with Starlight Paint.

Where it was very tricky to paint inside an item (small pots) I  applied a coat of decoupage glue to the glass to create a 'key' and then covered with my choice of Starlight Paint afterwards. I attached the Rice Paper on top of this.

Once I started to play with glass and all the different ways to apply decoration, there was no limit! I applied Crackle Paste, Alchemy Wax, painted inside and out and attached embellishments to my heart's content!

Thanks for reading - see you soon!