Luminarte Blog— Vibrant and Brilliant

Take classes using Luminarte at CREATE California - May 30, 2012

Hurry,  time and space is filling up for the classes being offered by CREATE in California. So many artists with so many FABULOUS classes all using Luminarte products! 

The IrRESISTible Paper Engineering Mash-up (3-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-12noon
Technique: Printmaking & Surface Design
Instructor: Jenn Mason
Price: $85.00
Materials Fee: N/A

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Fun and Nonsense (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Collage & Assemblage
Instructor: Sherrie Drummond
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: $20.00

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Happy Harpies (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Collage & Assemblage
Instructor: Clarissa Callesen
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: N/A

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Collage Monotypes (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Printmaking & Surface Design
Instructor: Helen Shafer Garcia
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: $10.00  

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Mini Masterpiece Canvas Journal (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Bookmaking & Art Journaling
Instructor: Joanne Sharpe
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: $20.00

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Stitch & Paint Pet or Animal Portraits (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Mixed Media Stitch
Instructor: Jeannie Palmer Moore
Price: $149.00

Materials Fee: $10.00

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The Archivist's Relic (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Bookmaking & Art Journaling
Instructor: Leighanna Light
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: $15.00

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The Down-and-Dirty Paintless Journal (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Bookmaking & Art Journaling
Instructor: Dawn Sokol
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: $5.00

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 Wednesday Evening

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Magical Markers Mystery Tour (3-Hour)
CURRENTLY FULL 

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Technique: Collage & Assemblage
Instructor: Joanne Sharpe
Price: $85.00
Materials Fee: $20.00

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Doodle Soup: Jambalaya (3-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Technique: Collage & Assemblage
Instructor: Dawn Sokol
Price: $85.00
Materials Fee: N/A

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Whimsical Rings (3-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Technique: Mixed Media Jewelry
Instructor: Jen Cushman
Price: $85.00
Materials Fee: $12.00

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Junk Birds (3-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Technique: Collage & Assemblage
Instructor: Clarissa Callesen
Price: $85.00
Materials Fee: N/A

 

For more information on CREATE or a particular class go to CREATE Mix Media Retreat. To sign up go to CREATE Registration.

Thanks for visiting!

Shimmering Marbled Glass Tiles by artist Marti Wills

Marti here, I am excited to show you a unique and beautiful way to jazz up your chipboard pieces using Luminarte's Primary Elements Artist Pigments.

I LOVE the brilliant radiance of Luminarte products and I especially love the functionality of Primary Elements Artist Pigments.  The powders can be mixed with all sorts of mediums to make gorgeously shimmery colors for all sorts of projects.

Here I used one of the tiles on my card.  In addition, I mixed Pink Azalea Primary Elements into Heavy Body Gel and made a shimmering embossing paste.

This video will show you how to make the marbled tile:

 

Enjoy!

 

Thanks for checking in!

Creative Imaginations Primary Elements Artist Pigments

Let's give a warm welcome to Christine from Scrap and Time. She is sharing some of her tips and techniques using our Primary Elements Artist Pigments with different mediums. Enjoy.

Christine here, today I am showing you the Primary Elements Artist Pigments from Creative Imaginations! These are pigment powders mixed with a little Mica to give them some sparkle. You can mix these powders with a variety of products such as Multi-Medium or Gesso to make your own paints

For this diagram I mixed the pigments with the medium that came in my kit and used an  ExiStencils from Creative Imaginations. It was basically a Multi-Medium. Since I was making samples, I didn’t use a lot of medium, allowing me to get strong colours. You can also see how I mixed pigments to make custom colours.

But you can also mix them with Gesso. I used a White Gesso, so now the paints are more pastel, but they are opaque! You can see the lighter blue sitting on top of the purple.

Here is a side-by-side comparison of the pigments mixed with a Multi-Medium and with Gesso.

When I was making my samples I was brushing the excess on to this page. You can see that by using the medium the colours show through each layer.

I really enjoyed playing with the Pigments and blending my own colours!

If you are unable to see the video, refresh this webpage and it should appear.

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting!

Scrap Time – Ep. 758 – Creative Imaginations Primary Elements Artist Pigments from Mark Giles on Vimeo.

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Craft Product Review: Primary Elements Artist Pigments

Hello Luminarte viewers, I wanted to share our review on Craft Test Dummies. Enjoy!

Craft Product Reviews,

With all of glazes, shimmer sprays, paints and inks out there, don’t you ever just want to have everything match? Guess what- when you own Primary Elements Artist Pigments by Luminarte, you can. With these handy powdered pigments, you can make….well…. just about anything!

Here’s how they are described:

Primary Elements Artist-Pigments are created by hand blending bright clean high quality pigments with our proprietary blend of mica’s (sic) and other minerals.

This is product is unique in the industry it is our color technology that makes this possible.

Luminarte Artist-Pigments TM, mixes with ease in gum binders, any acrylic medium, water-based polyurethane acrylic glaze or gel mediums.

At first blush, Primary Elements look like many other powdered pigments on the market. Some of the colors are iridescent (like Dragonfly Wing) while others are just a straight-up metallic pigment. I did notice that some of the colors- like Snapdragon- seemed to have a slightly coarser particle. Take a look:

Majestic Blue and Dragonfly Wing.

The toughest thing about testing a product like this is knowing exactly where to start…. and when to finish. I could play with and test out a product like this for DAYS. So I decided to start with some simple swatching.

Tinting paint, artist medium, and texture gel- all with the same pigment.

First up- I made a glaze mixing some of the Majestic Blue Primary Elements into a collage/ artist medium to make a glaze. I used a little scoop of pigment on t he end of a Q-tip and just mixed it up. Since the Matte Medium is translucent, you get a vibrant, creamy glaze that pops on dark surfaces.



Glaze swatches on the top, stamping bottom row.

The bottom row shows how the same pigment looks when you stamp with a water-mark style pad and then dust the powders over the top using a fluffy brush. I LOVE how the color pops on the black!

Side note: this pigment does NOT have a built-in binder, so you MUST use them in conjunction with a product that will help them stick. Otherwise, they will rub off over time.  To make a simple watercolor paint with them, simply add powdered Gum Arabic and water to the pigments.

I have to make a side note here and share that so far, my favorite way to use Primary Elements is by mixing them with Artist medium (Mod Podge would would well, too) and making a translucent glaze. Here are two colors I mixed up. Notice that the Coral Berry color looks PINK in the pot, but turns a coral-orange when you mix it with meduim:

Note: Using glossy medium gives the micas SO much more shimmer than matte finish. But you can always add a top coat of paper glaze/dimensional magic/glossy effects to make it shine!

Here are a few more swatches of the paints, glazes and texture gel:

From left: Glazes, tinted acrylic paint, texture effect gel. Small square of glazes on canvas.

I could have played all day with my glaze, paint, texture gel, and stamp pads….but I had to press on!

I also tried some Primary Elements with Puffy Putty air-dry clay:

Clays tinted with Dragonfly Wing pigments. Sample on right also had additional Pink Azalea color dusted on top.

While I didn’t have the chance to get out my polymer clay, my hunch is that you can do the same thing to those clays as well- that is, mix IN the color to tint the clay or dust it on top to add surface color.

So…. are you seeing the value here that I’m seeing? You can have white or translucent clay, stamp pads, paint, or gel mediums and all you have to do is add a dusting of pigment and POOF- you have colored media! And you can choose how deep/intense your colors are by how much you add. And of course, color mixing is also an option.

Now, I wasn’t able to take a picture, but I have to tell you that at the end of this playdate/review, my hands were BLUE from the Primary Elements. I figured it would wash right off- after all, there isn’t a binder to make it stick. Except that it DID….and stained my hands something serious. I was unprepared for the sheer intensity of these pigments- a little goes a long way, my friends!

So, on that note, let’s talk cost. They are sold as follows:

• 10 gram jar singles for $4.25 USD
• 10 gram jars, four-pack: $14.00 USD
• “Big Mama” Singles for $8.99 USD

All in all, you certainly get your money’s worth from this little pot of dazzling color! They are rich, intense, and add an incredible “pop” of color, especially on dark surfaces.

I pulled together this altered tag, using the Primary Elements mixed in paint, medium, used and used with a Versamark Pad:

All of the color comes from Primary Elements Artist Pigments mixed in and used with different media.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go back to playing!

 

If you want to get your hands on some Luminarte Pigments.....stay tuned to our blog!
Thanks for visiting.

Primary Elements Artist Pigments and polymer clay by Marti Wills

Lets set aside some time to be creative. Remember, if you are creating with Luminarte, share it on the Luminarte Fan Page. We have Marti Wills sharing a super cool technique with our Primary Elements Artist Pigments on polymer clay. This can be used with so many of your projects or as jewelry.

Marti here, I discover simple techniques using polymer clay, Luminarte Primary Elements, and stamps to make gorgeous clay tiles.This video tutorial from FaveCraft.com by Marti Wills shows you how to create cool designs on your polymer clay using Luminarte Primary Elements Artist Pigments.

Materials:

• Polymer clay - white, black and/or glittered works best but experiment with other colors
• Pasta machine or clay roller
• A variety of rubber stamps and/or texture plates
• Luminarte Primary Elements powders

 

 

Thanks for stopping!

 

Mixed Media Flower Girl by Marti Wills

hi all!

Marti here, I decided to take a break from my "work" stuff and just play in my studio the past couple days.  I am really venturing back to my roots and doing more mixed media stuff as opposed to the color an image, add layers, add flowers kind of stuff.

I am taking several online classes right now - Christie Tomlinson, Suzi Blu, Dion Dior - and learning tons! I am especially loving my Suzi Blu classes and today's project is a direct result of what I have been learning.

 

In the true spirit of going green I did this piece on one of the large wood blocks from a SU stamp. I never mount them on wood.  the best part - I drew this little girl myself!  Yep, I sure did!Better yet, I am sharing her with all of you. You can get her as a free digi image at the end of this post!

 

I began by adhering torn strips of a book page to the wooden base with gel medium. I painted the bottom green and the top blue using Luminarte Silks (fern & Sky Blue) - you can get them at SCACD.  The silks are an acrylic glaze meaning there are translucent so the book page strips shows through.  once dry I wanted to tone things down a bit so I swiped on some Luminarte Golden Opal Primary Elements powder mixed with gel medium.  LOVE this stuff - I can mix it into so many things depending on what I am doing.  I layered on some circles & the scallop border using Claudine Hellmuth's acrylic paints and foam stamps - which I ADORE! I also stamped a wildflower silhouette from a CTMH stamp set using brown staz on ink.

As I said, I drew the little girl myself then inked her and scanned her. I didn't want to color right on my original in case I messed it up or wanted to use it again.  Then, I printed her out and colored her with colored pencils (polychromos).  Last, I added the embellishments - some glittered skittles, the vintage crocheted border and some teeny prima flowers from 100 years ago :P  I needed something more than just the flowers at her feet so I mixed Luminarte Moss Green Primary Elements and gel medium to get a thick paste.  i just dabbed it around her feet in a "pile" and then stuck the flowers in it and dabbed some more in the flower centers.

When I drew her, I knew I would be putting a flower in her hands. So, I did not originally draw anything in her hands but I put a little flower in them for y'all!

Feel free to download her and use her but do not sell her!  Share your project on the Luminarte Fan page!.

Latest installment by Marti {Pez-A-Doodle

Creating a necklace with the Primary Elements by Marti Wills

Hi all!

Marti here, I took a quick detour from the papercrafting and mixed media to do some jewelry!

 
I was first inspired by the necklaces I saw one day at Kohls.

I made the pendants using UTEE and Luminarte Primary Elements in a bezel and adding some Gala Glitz too (vintage glass shards and microbeads).

I added a variety of other beads and charms along the chain.
Fun and surprisingly easy!  Here is a second one in black and silver.

 
I love it paired with the green and black.

There is a video below that has this charm in it along with other things you can do with UTEE - SCACD carries the bezels, UTEE and Primary Elements I used.

It turns out that making the little eyes on the top and some bottoms of the dang-lies is actually super easy!  In fact I just might make some more stuff!

One tip - go pick out your beads, chain and additional charms FIRST and then decide on the colors for your Bezel.  It is really tough to do the bezel first and THEN look for matching beads :P

and now the video...

 

Have fun!

Latest installment by Marti {Pez-A-Doodle Designs} at 7:15 PM

Luggage Tag by Marti Wills

Hi everyone!

Marti here again today.  I really had fun with this project.  I needed a backpack to use when my daughter and I go on day trips or go hiking - you know the kind - lots of pockets for a change of clothes, wipes, lunch (because I am not about to pay $14 for a dry hamburger in the museum restaurant), plus wallet, keys, cellphone, drinks, etc.  We went searching and did not find much to choose from - especially much that was pretty.  We ended up with one that is all black - NOT the way we generally like to roll!

Luckily, I had a Creative Imaginations Bare Elements Javier Luggage Tag on hand - PERFECT! 

The tag comes in two pieces.  I laid them out on my table and painted them with Silks - Stargazer - all over.  Once dry, I dry brushed some Silks - Guatemalan Green lightly with a wide brush up and down and back and forth to create a subtle two tone pattern.

I stamped the random pattern using my own line of stamps called Polka Dot Pie.  I designed them in a way that makes it really easy to mix and match them to give you a wide variety of designs making the stamps much more useful.  In this case, I used the swirls from Sprinkled Backgrounds and then some tiny elements from the Pezzy's Garden and Chocolate Treats 2.

Next, I cut out a couple flowers using the Tattered Florals Die by Tim Holtz.  I cut them from the heavy cardboard you find on the backs of paper pads.

I covered them with a layer of white Gesso using a wide plastic pallette knife. I did not want to lay it down smooth.  Instead I wanted some texture.  So, I laid the knife down and then lifted straight up in a couple places randomly. Once I was happy with the texture, I let it dry.

I painted the large one with Blushing Rose Primary Elements powder and the small one with Deep Coral Primary Elements powder.  I wanted a thin watery paint that would settle into the recessed parts of the texture and sort of slide off the raised parts.  To do this, I simply mixed equal amounts of Primary Elements and Gum Arabic with water and painted it on.

I finished it off by printing my info from my computer and doodling around the edges. I put it all together with Scor Tape and it has jazzed up our plain black backpack rather nicely!

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit!

Twinkling Lotus Flowers by artist Dion Dior and our Winner from our Weekend Giveaway!

Thank you so much for all your comments over the weekend. Our Winner is just starting to express herself artistically. Congratulations to .......................Karen Borusiewicz!

We hope our product's will help you create a beautiful gift for your mother for mother's day and please share it with us on our Luminarte Fan page! If you could send an email to citonya@comcast.net with your shipping address so that I can get your goodies sent out to you, I would appreciate it. Thanks again for all the comments and we will be doing this again before the end of the month, SO STAY TUNED to our blog!

Speaking of Mother's Day Dion Dior is sharing a beautiful journal page that any mother would be proud to receive as a gift. Enjoy.

It really was a joyful trip down under, we took a little road trip to take in some of Australia's best views. We just found a lovely spot and stayed there for a few days enjoying the pool and beach fun.

We made our way back to Grandma's house and spent our final week in Australia here.  Autumn is slowly descending on the Southern Hemisphere and our beach days where numbered, but our wonderful vacation was not over till the fat lady sings...so to speak!

In the meantime, it's back to my sketchbook. I have so many pages to share, and this was one I did sitting in my mum's backyard. She's a wonderful gardener (something I did not inherit), I'm not really sure what they are, but they looked a bit like lotus flowers.  Either way, they called out for Twinkling H2O's. And given my "Mastering Twinks" class begins again on April 13 through LuminArte, I'm immersing myself once more in these exquisite, shimmering watercolor paints. It feels like home!!  Registration now, and you can click here for more information.

Thanks for checking in. xx

A shimmering garden by Marti Willis

Hi everyone!

Marti here, I am so excited to be sharing with you on the Luminarte blog!  Today I have a fun piece I did on a block of wood.

I had SO much fun with this one!  I began by adhering an irregular piece of a book page to the wood.  I painted over it with Silks thinned with a bit of water - Fern and Sky Blue.  I stamped with some bubble wrap and very light blue acrylic paint and then I stamped the leaves with a Dyan Reaveley stamp and dark green Staz On.  I used a small paint bottle to trace and make my scallp border from another book page.  I cut it out and painted it with a very thin wash of Icy Iris Primary Elements.  I doodled a bit with a black pen and adhered it to the board.  I added Gliittered Skittles for a bit of bling.

I stamped my flowers in Black Archival Ink (Hero Arts stamps) and then painted them with Silks Glazes.  For the flower centers I used Sunburst Primary Elements.  First, I mixed a bit of the powder with water and Gum Arabic and painted the centers.  Then, to add texture, I mixed more powder with Liquitex Glass Bead Gel Medium and piled it on to the centers with my pallette knife - I LOVE the effects I can get with the Primary Elements and the variety of gel mediums available to work with - a match made in heaven!

I will be teaching a Mixed Media workshop locally in Baltimore MD that will feature several Luminarte products on May 19th as part of The Outlawz Rodeo.  You can sign up on my classroom page!  haere is a sampling:

Thanks so much for dropping in!