Saturday 16 July 2016

Tips and techniques for Colour Blast

Hello again.  It's me, Kerry.

Today I have something a little different.  I thought I would share with you some of the ways I have been playing with my Colour Blast products.

Lets start with embossing powders.  For the following techniques I have used the Colour Blast embossing powders, you will also need some embossing ink, I have used Versamark and a heat tool.

Lets start with a piece of metal, I have used a bronze flower trinket, Lets say you wanted to use this on a project, but the colour was not suitable, you can easily change the colour with embossing powder.

Firstly, turn the flower upside down and press it into the versamark,   


Then just sprinkle the desired colour of embossing powder over the top, shake off any excess (and return it to the jar) and heat set, but be careful as the metal will be hot once you finish



If you want a thicker coat, you can just repeat the process

TIP: if your metal is still hot enough, you can skip the re-application of the versamark as the powder will stick to the hot metal.  You can also use more than one colour for added interest.

                     


Next pearls and beads.  

The same technique can be used to colour beads and pearls, I find it is easier to use a skewer to hold the bead but you may need to remove it to add the versamark.

                    



 Next, again using the same technique, I have used embossing powder to change the texture and colour of this wooden gear.





             
 If I apply a single coat I get this lovely texture on the smooth wood, 

 
and if I want a smoother more enameled looking finish, I just add a second coat.



You can also use the same technique to colour a piece of lace.  



It will stiffen the lace slightly but it is still easily bent and quite pliable.  


In the pictures below I have sprinkled the embossing powder in 2 colours on my lace, and then used my heat tool.  TIP - Be careful if your lace is synthetic as the the heat may melt the lace.



And of course, chipboard, and yes, the application technique is the same.







I like to use the shimmer sprays after I have embossed my chipboard piece as it gives some awesome texture.   


Just emboss the chipboard using the normal technique.  Then, add a few sprays of the shimmer spray on top of the embossed piece. 



Then use the heat tool to 'melt' the embossing powder again.  The droplets of shimmer spray will sink into the embossing powder leaving little crater like texture on the chipboard.


 And finally, while we are talking about the shimmer sprays, I love to use them to 'activate' my distress inks for some awesome shimmery backgrounds.


Apply a little distress ink to your non stick craft mat,

then instead of spritzing with water, use a couple of spritzes of shimmer spray. 

You can keep pressing your paper into the ink/spray until you get the desired result

and you end up with a lovely shimmery background


I hope you have found this helpful and I would love to see what you make using these techniques. Click on the link to see the full Colour Blast range.

Saturday 2 July 2016

Solitary Seahorse - For Colour Blast

Hello.  Its Kerry here and today I have a Journal page with an underwater theme.


I started with a piece of 'webbed' type of fabric...


 and smeared the paste on with a palette knife.  I used 'Royalty, Deep Water, Bling, Singin the Blues and Envy'


Then I used my overpowered heat tool (AKA paint stripper) to 'fry' my coloured fabric.  I learned this technique from my Mum a few years ago and there is a demonstration video of the technique here Fried Fabric Video


Then I tore the fabric into smaller pieces to put into my background and spritzed with the 'Bling' shimmer spray.


 Next I took some webbed lace and cut it into smaller pieces and random shapes.


I used gesso to adhere this webbed 'lace' and painted over the top. Whilst the gesso was still wet, I sprayed a little of the 'Singin the Blues' shimmer spray over the whole page and rolled my brayer over it to blend.  This gave me a very subtle blue background.
 


 I took a small strip of gauze and the paste in 'Sunshine and Fire Engine' and massaged it into the gauze with my fingers and a few sprays of water.



Using the same paste colours, I 'painted' the Whichcraft chipboard seahorse. I added a sprinkle of the 'Leather' embossing powder over the top of my seahorse.
 

 I layered up my seahorse on the fried fabric, gauze and netting and added a few 'bubbles' with micro beads and stamping to the background.







Thanks for stopping by :)