I wanted to give a BIG THANK YOU to all the ladies in the world this weekend! We are all mothers in our own right. If you have helped a child in a positive way whether a neice, nephew, neightbor, friends child, or volunteer you deserve to Celebrate Mother's Day. It truely takes a village to raise a child in today's world. So, thank that special lady in your life with a beautiful homemade gift, card, or tag. There is something so speacial about getting homemade presents, I hold on to them forever. Eva Dobilas is here to share some wonderful things you can give to that special peson in your life. Enjoy
My flowers are by Petaloo, their Color Me Crazy collection, which was painted with Luminarte Twinkling H2O's.
My second tag is using the Just Keep Calm. Once again the flowers are Petaloo painted with Twinkling H2O's. So pretty, aren't they???
Scrap-mart carries some really beautiful stamps and this one is certainly one of them. It's Heartfelt Creations Dutch Iris Frame stamp and as you can see, it has a lot of beautiful potential on how you can color this gorgeous image in.
I stamped my image with black ink and painted it in with Luminarte Twinkling H2O's. You get such a gorgeous look with the paints on this stamp, I LOVE the way it turned out.
I also used a couple of Spellbinders for this card: Wonderful Wings and Ovals. Here is what this pretty stamp looks like. Love the sentiment!
What makes Silks so special? It’s the secret mix of mica and other proprietary mineral particles that refract light, like a crystal. Silks are easy to use paints that create a semi-gloss glaze – not too shiny, not too flat, but just right. Simply brush Silks onto your project, using a wide brush for broad strokes or a fine brush for details. Or use a brayer if you want even wider swaths of color. Allow Silks to dry between colors to keep the glaze layers distinct and create depth, or blend the colors while still wet if you prefer that effect.
What surfaces are suitable for Silks? Silks are formulated for paper, wood, pre-washed fabrics, papier mache, acrylic and other plastics, canvas, gourds, silk and silk ribbon, terra cotta, paper-clay, air-dry clay, air-dry polymer, leather, faux leather, and more. They dry faster on paper and other porous surfaces, more slowly on non-porous materials. Thinner applications dry faster than heavier layers. Climate conditions are a factor as well. Silks are fully cured after 48 hours. 1 ounce wide mouth jar.
When you open the jar, you might notice a milky glaze. You’ll need to re-mix them to the the mica particles fully mixed in.
You can apply Silks with a paintbrush, stencil brush, or foam brush. Or you can pour in on and then brayer it around.
I made a little video so that you can see the swatches and the Silks in action!
Here are the photos of my swatches:
Swatches
Notice that if you layer when the Silks are wet, you'll blend the colors. Laying on a dry coat will give you a translucent layered effect.
This looks more dimensional than it really is- the translucency makes gives it that look.
Silks come in 35 luscious colors…and I heard a rumor that there will be a bonus color added at the end of this month! I kind of want them all.
Here are a few things I made with my Silks!
Playing in my journal
And here it is in my journal! I found that Silks have a pretty low water content, so it didn’t buckle my paper too badly.
I also made some ATC’s for a swap. I used the Silks to stamp the “2″ as well as the gold honeycomb effect.
So here’s the nitty-gritty. Silks retail for about $6.99 a pot, which is about an ounce. That makes Silks one of the pricier items of it’s kind. However, it is very high-quality and artist-grade. (And with most paints, you get what you pay for.) So I can totally justify having a few pots in my stash. (Note to family- YES, these WOULD make a nice Mother’s Day Gift!)
They might be a challenge to find, so ask for them wherever you shop for art/craft supplies. And it just so happens that Silks are available online through Susana’s Custom Art and Card Design (SCACD.) **Yes, they are also an advertiser here at CTD, but that is just a happy coincidence.**
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 byMarti 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
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!.
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!
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!
Have you tried our EXSTENCIL(s) from Creative Imaginations? Enter to win a set of SILKS and an Exstencil. Look over Marti's beautiful Louisiana art journal page and leave a comment telling us what you would do with your favorite EXSTENCIL and a set ofSILKS. That is it! We will announce the WINNER MONDAY! Good Luck!
hi everyone!
Marti here today! I have an art journal page for you today and it features one of the Existencils. I {heart} stencils and being from south Louisiana I just knew I had to have the fleur de lis designs. I have several different things in mind to use this stencil for but for today i wanted to do the quintessential South Louisiana page:
Laissez les bons temps rouler= let the good times roll!
I wanted to do just a border around two sides so i used a scrap paper and tape to mask the rest of the stencil:
I laid the stencil down and used a stencil brush and Nutmeg Silks to do the border:
Next, I wanted to add more layers to the background and change the colors a bit so I misted some more until i was happy with the base. I laid the stencil back down without the mask and slightly askew and misted again so the shapes showed very faintly. Then, I laid down the stencil straight again and traced the large fleur de lis three times and then added a few dots.
I made a large fleur de lis die cut with a Sizzix die and gave it a nice basecoat of Silks:
I added more Silks - Sky Blue and Stargazer - using a sea sponge to get a mottled, sort of old metal look:
I printed the words out and inked the edges before adhering them.
I love those gorgeous colors and all that shimmer!
Thanks so much for sharing this great project Marti. I have friends in Louisiana and they would love this! I really like the Radiant Rains in the background with the shimmer. If you would like more information on Marti visit her blog at Pez-A-Doodle Designs, or check out her online classes.
Thanks for visiting and good luck in the giveaway!
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 Elementsand 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:
Hello viewers, joining us today is another very talented artist Marti Wills. She describes herself as, somewhat random, often obsessive,and overly imaginative. Marti will be amazing us with her art style and techniques. Check out her blog at Pez-A-Doodle Designs, I am inspired by her drawings and all her different blogs. Here is Marti to tell us some more things about herself and her beautiful artwork.
Hi! My name is Marti Wills though online I am often known as Pezadoodle. I am beyond thrilled to be here as a guest on the Luminarte blog!
I currently live in Northern VA outside of Washington DC but I am a bit of a nomad. I was quite a wild child growing up which frustrated my parents no end. They were divorced when I was very young but I saw my dad every year. I have always been a bit off the beaten path. My brain tends to run wild and I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda girl. As a child I drove my parents crazy but one is Cajun and the other is Cuban - what could they possibly have expected?
I grew up {mostly} in south Louisiana in a family of artistic women. All of the art in the house from paintings on the wall to many of the other art pieces were done by my mother, my grandmother, my aunt...and in my house now nearly everything on my walls is done by me, my mother, my aunt, my brother... My brother and I were "make n' do" fanatics from my earliest memory. I am also heavily influenced by the ornate flamboyance of the French Quarter. Everywhere I have lived ever since has seemed so pale and bland in comparison.
I managed to make it to adulthood by the skin of my teeth and was married and pregnant by nineteen. I had 2 sons by 22 and raised them on my own. I remember sitting on the couch with them, both in diapers, and thinking about all of the odds stacked against them and in that moment I was determined they would overcome them and so would I. My art and crafting was put on the back burner for a long time while I raised them and put myself through college and graduate school. My artistic side was re-ignited when my mom gave me a fulls set of Prismacolor pencils, a sketch book, a sharpener and some tutorial books when I earned my Bachelor degree and I was immediately hooked! Then I met and married my husband and we decided to have one more child. This time I would quit working and stay home. A few months after our daughter was born my stepmother gave me a Cricut machine and my obsession with papercrafts and stamping began. Through message boards and blogs a whole world of creativity and fabulous friendships has been born and my life is even richer because of it!
I first discovered Twinkling H2Os through a message board and when I received my first order I was entranced! I feel quite sure I was dipped in glitter before I was sent to live this life! I immediately scoured the Luminarte website and begun a love affair with both Twinks and Primary Elements.
I am infinitely grateful for the supreme patience of my husband who puts up with my artistic insanity and bursting-at-the-seams craft room and i adore the daughter who loves to create right alongside of me.
here is a sneak peek of one of the items i will be sharing with y'all:
Thanks for stopping by and we will be having another giveaway before the end of this month!
Have you tried our EXSTENCIL from Creative Imaginations? You could WIN a set of SILKS and an Exstencil. Simply, go to DREAMING IN COLOR and watch the Silks Acrylic Glaze video. Come back to this post and in the comments, answer this question: What was used on the SILKS? That is it! We will announce the WINNER this FRIDAY! Good Luck!
In the mean time, artist Erin O'Neill Argueta has done a altered mix media piece for us today. This is a great project for this weekend. I love the gesso and stencil combination with the painted flowers. Enjoy!
Hi, Erin here, on Monday I gave you a sneak peak of my first project. Now, it's time to reveal the project and tell you a bit about the piece and the products I used to create it.
I started with an 11"x15" sheet of Canson 140lb Watercolor paper. I gesso'd the page, then added layers of vintage dictionary that were "smudged, buffed and sponged" with various inks. On top of this, I added some diluted gesso and more inks. I used a variety of tools to create depth: sponges, brushes and rags to layer on the inks. I added a torn piece of Monarch Cherish Varnish Paper to the lower right corner of the water color paper. I painted a wash of Cinnamon Stick Twinkling H2O to add depth to the embossed paper. Then, I stamped off the edges with the "Islamic Border" stamp from Rubber Stamp Plantation. With my background complete, I started to mold the stencil.
You can see here that the dimension is very subtle, but by using the molding paste I have achieved a look that resembles Italian relief. The diluted gesso allows the text from the dictionary page to be visible behind the molded stencil.
For the flowers, I stamped the Medium and Extra Large Tiare Stamps from Rubber Stamp Plantation and then filled the flowers with Silks: Vavoom Red, Carmen and Coral Berry. The center of each flower is a "dot" of Solar Gold Silks. The stems and leaves were hand-drawn and filled with Olive Vine Silks.
For an added "pop" I outlined some of the flowers with a Pitt "B" pen.
And, here is the completed piece:
Image taken with another camera in a different light:
Thanks you for checking in and remember to go to DREAMING IN COLOR and watch the Silk Acrylic Glaze video. Come back to this post and in the comments, tell us what was used on top of the SILKS? We will announce the WINNER this FRIDAY! Good Luck!
Hello creative world. Today, it is my pleasure to introduce to you Erin O'Neill Argueta. She will be showering us with some of her beautiful art pieces this month. It always amazes me to see how much artists can juggle in their lives and Erin is no exception. Mother, artist, teacher,freelance designer and she works full-time on top of it all. I am simply INSPIRED by Erin's artwork and her as a person.
Hi. I am Erin, a freelance card designer and self-taught mixed media artist. I am so excited to be a guest artist here at Luminarte.
I’ve always believed I was born with 3 unique genetic characteristics: a creative gene, an adventurous gene and one dysfunctional gene that showed itself when I turned two.
Regarding the creative gene, the home I was raised in was filled with watercolor paintings by my mom, quilts, needlepoints and hand-sewn Barbie clothes by my grandmother and oil paintings by my aunt and grandfather to name just a few. I followed in my family’s footsteps and began creating by the time I could first put crayon to paper.
The adventurous gene came from both of my parents. My parents both had professional backgrounds that involved world travel. As a child my parents continued their love of exploration by traveling the globe with my younger brother and me. During the course of 7 years we traveled to all 7 continents where we were exposed to a multitude of cultures and artistic influences. Thanks to the extensive travel we did I’ve been incredibly inspired by the art, architecture and maps of the world.
Now, about that dysfunctional piece…I was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes at the age of two. My brother, who is three years younger than me, was also diagnosed with Type 1 at the age of two. The diabetes could have been a negative but our parents never allowed that to be the case. They encouraged us to learn all we could about the disease and to live life without limitations. Throughout our lives we've been patients at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and during one stay as a child, a diabetes educator taught me during a hypoglycemic episode that art helps heal. I’ve held fast to that notion and use my art as a means to calm myself and stay focused.
So, when you look at all of the pieces I think it’s inevitable that I’m constantly creating. Today, I work full-time for an insurance company, teach monthly art classes in my dining room, freelance as a designer of wedding and birthday invitations and art journal everyday. Through it all, creativity is at the forefront of everything I do.
I live in Connecticut with my husband, two teens and two dogs.
I was first introduced to Twinkling H2Os (Twinks) about 5 years ago. I immediately fell in love with their sparkle and shimmer and when I saw that they sold a Twink called Periwinkle, I knew we were meant to be together for a long time! Periwinkle is my all time favorite color and my kids can attest to this as they both had to learn to spell Periwinkle in Kindergarten when they had to introduce their family to their class. Twinks have the most amazing colors ever and I now have at least 25 that are my all time favorites. I hope you'll follow along this month as I play with the Twinks, Silks and the Existencils by Luminarte. Here's a sneak peak of my first project:
Thanks for visiting and giveaway annoucement coming this week~ :)
