Spectrum Noir Metallic Inks–World Launch!

Tune into Hochanda on Monday 22nd October 2018 at 6pm and 8pm for the launch of the one day special.  Shows will also be on the Tuesday.  These brand new inks are the same water reactive inks that you can find in Spectrum Noirs very popular metallic pens – but now that they are available as an ink you now have many more versatile options on how to create art and craft with these.  They are highly pigmented, opaque on even the darkest background, multisurface, water safe when dry and finish with a matt metallic shine.  I’ll talk you through each of my samples to show how I’ve used them…

Find Spectrum Noir at Crafter’s Companion UK

If you haven’t shopped at Hochanda before, use my 30% off promo code on your first order: UFT1TVP9 www.hochanda.com

Top Tip:  Although there’s a ball bearing inside the pots – I prefer to stir with a cocktail stick to make the magic happen – you can then draw or drip with the stick or wipe it onto cut and dry foam for stamping or sponging.

On this card I’ve painted and dropped colour onto heat resistant acetate and sprayed with water and sprinkled salt on, then heat embossed stamps by Sheena Douglass on the reverse.  I’ve then attached this onto rainbow mirror card.  Also on the card I’ve painted black card and die cut leaves and further in the background I’ve sponged onto kraft card.

I have stamped the eagle onto black card using a black ink then using a cocktail stick and fine paint brush I’ve painted him in.  The background was stamped by transferring the ink to stamps using cut and dry foam and the flower dies were sponged using a similar method.

Stamps and dies by Sheena.

Festive & Metallic Spectrum Noir Inkpads Launch!!! Hochanda

Right, that’s it – summer’s over, let’s get festive!  If you enjoyed the new Spectrum Noir inkpads then don’t miss the launch of 6 new festive-inspired colours in the Harmony inkpad range PLUS 6 exciting colours in the BRAND NEW metallic inkpad range called Spectrum Noir Midas!  There’s so much I can tell you about these Midas inkpads starting with the fact that they are opaque and highly pigmented plus they have an amazing metallic look to them.  Because they will layer up in a very opaque way you can stamp with them, do inky background techniques and, my personal favourite thing about these inkpads is that they can literally replace my gilding waxes for papercrafting (plus multiple home decor / mixed media applications too!)

Find these inkpads at Crafter’s Companion and on Hochanda at 6pm and 8pm on Wednesday 20th September 2018, and through the day on the 21st.  Also on the show will be Donna Radcliffe’s Christmas Elves stamps and some fantastic festive 3D Embossing Folders from Crafter’s Companion (see below for a sneaky peak)…

Spectrum Noir Inkpads!!! World Launch!!!

I’m so excited that I can finally tell you that Spectrum Noir is launching BRAND NEW INKPADS!  These truly are amazing!

In particular I’ve been playing with the Harmony inkpads which are water reactive and dye based.  They are perfect for blending and distress techniques, plus they are slightly slower at drying than other inks which means they are so easy to work with!  The collection includes co-ordinated 3-colour palates which means that for each colour you will get a light, medium and darker tone – enabling you to create 3-colour ombres and blends straight away!  Those middle tones are soooo vibrant and bright!  In conclusion, I LOVE these inkpads and can’t wait to get hold of the storage trays so that they can live on my desk!

The inkpads are launching on HSN on 11th July 2018 and in August in the UK on Hochanda.

All of my samples below were inked onto Sheena Stamping Card.

To create this effect I have used the yellow inkpad as an embossing ink for clear embossing powder.  That made the butterflies glossy and resit the rest of the inking techniques.  Stamps by Cherry Green and embossing folder from Crafter’s Companion Textures range.

I’ve done a similar embossing powder resist technique on this card but using a stencil.  Stamps by Sheena Douglass and quilling flower dies from Crafter’s Companion.

Crafter’s Companion Subscription Box July 2018

Have you seen the new Crafter’s Companion Subscription boxes yet?  Each month they are packed with lots of products to get you started making projects straight from the box.  I was lucky enough to be asked to make some samples using the July 2018 box which happens to be based on the Sparkle pens!  You get over 130 elements which includes 3 sparkle pens (a yellow, a blue and a pink/red) which are all the colours you need to get started with sparkle pens, cute 4” card blanks and envelopes, clear stamp sheet, plain watercolour card, watercolour card with white embossed images, watercolour card with printed images ready to colour and coloured paper for matting and layering.  I wish we had sparkle vision as it never shows in photos – but basically imagine that everywhere these pens have touched is sparkling with microfine glitter.

Apart from glue and foam pads, I’ll mention on each sample if I’ve used anything else in addition to the box…

Spectrum Noir Metallic Brush Pens–UK Launch! 23rd March 2018

Brace yourselves – the eagerly anticipated Spectrum Noir Metallic Brush Pens are heading to Hochanda for the UK launch!!!  The pens are dual-nibbed with both fine and brush nibs.  They are waterbased which allows you to work them the same as your other waterbased pens but these dry fairly quickly and become waterproof!  They are highly pigmented and also are very opaque.  All of this means that they work on a number of surfaces, including glass, ceramic and embellishments.  You can also layer them up very easily.  For more inspiration see my samples that I made for the HSN/USA Launch here: Metallic Brush Pen USA Launch

Speed Art Journal: Way Too Extraordinary

After taking a break from making art journal videos to knuckle down and finish my final dance teaching qualifications I’m pleased to say that I am back!  I really enjoy art journaling so I’m hoping I can get back into a regular routine for you. 

In this first video of the new series I’ve decided to demonstrate some of my colouring techniques with you as this will be my first video since becoming part of the Spectrum Noir design team.  This entire spread was inspired by my daughter (who micromanaged the different stages lol x)  (Scroll down for video…)

YouTube Partnership Changes

Before we get into it I have a few points to make:  firstly, my channel has been affected by the recent changes to YouTube’s policies and now all of my videos that I worked hard to make have become demonetised.  This basically means that I can no longer receive ad revenue (which was only pennies on my channel) but it was a very good incentive for me to carry on creating and sharing content.  It also helped me justify buying another art journal or replacing supplies that ran out.  In order to get monetised in the future I need to greatly increase the number of hours my videos are watched by people.  Each video takes several days to create, then edit the footage, produce the final video and give you the blog entry listing all the materials, etc.  If you would like to support my channel (for free!) then the best thing would be to subscribe to my channel and maybe watch a playlist or two on there from time to time.  This, as well as liking and commenting on my videos, lets me know that you like my content and that you’d like to see more.  Of course, if you’re a company and would like to sponsor me to make a video using your products then please get in touch too!

Voiceovers or Background Music

I’ve had a chance to reflect on comments made and there have been some occasions that people have said they would prefer a voiceover and/or more descriptions of what I’m doing to help them make similar artwork or learn from my techniques.  I am super happy to start doing voiceovers for you but I also know that other people prefer to have the background music as they find the videos quite relaxing to watch.  Therefore, for this video I’ve created TWO versions – one with voiceovers and one without.  To help me know which format you would like to see in the future please comment on the video that works best for you.

Materials Used

• Templates and Stamps from Paperbabe: Female Profile, Long & Fringe and Profile Face Stamp Set
• Spectrum Noir Colorblend Pencils
• Skin: Walnut, Saddle Brown, Vanilla, Peach, Cream and Linen
• Lips: Raspberry, Carmine, Peach
• Hair: Saddle Brown, Cider, Antique Rose, Peach, Vanilla
• Spectrum Noir Aqua Pens: Sandstone and Blossom
• Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens: Starry Sky, Blue Topaz, Moonstone, Rose Quartz (lips)
• Spectrum Noir Artliner pens in black:  Brush, 08, 005
• Spectrum Noir Metallic Pen: Silver Ingot
• Ranger Archival Inks: Watering Can, Black, Red, Green
• Pebeo Decocreme Paints:  Pearl Violet, Matt Linen, Matt Royal Blue
• Texture Stamps by Craftwork Cards
• Cosmic Shimmer Flake and Glitter Glue
• Gilding Flakes
• Posca white pen
• Golden Gel Medium, Pebeo Drawing Gum, Pebeo White Gesso
• Tim Holtz Tissue Paper

Video WITH Voiceover:

Video WITHOUT Voiceover:

Which video do you prefer?

AquaBlend Pencils and Stacey Barras Stamps

I’ve been playing with my artist-quality watercolour pencils by Spectrum Noir this week to create samples for the upcoming shows with Fiona Clayton.  She will also be bringing the latest floral stamps by the talented Stacey Barras.  All of the stamps on my samples are from this collection and are ideal for watercolour work!  I’m also listing all the colours that I used below…

SHOW TIMES ON HOCHANDA: Saturday 17th February 2018 at 7am, 10am and 2pm

Buy Stacey Barras / Crafter’s Companion stamps: https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/papercraft/stamping/crafter-s-companion-collections.html

Buy Spectrum Noir: https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/brands/spectrum-noir.html

Stamps: Rose Bloom by Stacey Barras

Aquablend pencils: Kiwi, Ruby, Tobacco, Cherrywood, Ruby, Coral, Black Umber, Chrome Orange, Carrot, Honeycomb, Straw, Powder Blue

Watercolour Card, Archival Inks

Candle (Front View) Stamps by Stacey Barras

Aquablend pencils: Sunshine, Soft Red, Carrot, Elderberry, Hyacinth, Tobacco, Charcoal Brown, Cherrywood

Tissue paper and archival ink

Fairy Stamps and Spectrum Noir One Day Special–17th December 2017

I am very excited to share with you my samples created using the brand new Fairy stamps by Donna Ratcliff and coloured with my Spectrum Noir alcohol pens.  These stamp sets are full of everything you need to make full blown fairy-scape scenes or stamping over pretty backgrounds using the silhouette stamps that are also included.  I absolutely love these stamps and they are my favourite release in a long time!  There are so many ways of using them!

Show time on Hochanda:  Sunday 17th December 2017 at 6pm and 8pm then Monday at 9pm, 1pm and 5pm.

Spectrum Noir at Crafter’s Companion UK:  https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/art-colouring/spectrum-noir.html 

Stamps at Crafter’s Companion UK:  https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/new/new-in-papercraft/new-from-crafter-s-companion/stamps.html 

Stamps by Donna Ratcliff: Fairy Garden, Toadstool Home, Sparkle Garden and Fairy Magic

Spectrum Noir:  Toadstool: DR7 + 5 + CR7 + 10 + 1 + 2 + TN9 + 7 + 5 + 3 + 1 + TB1 + EB4 + 3 + 2 / Seedpods: MB4 + 2 + 1 + DG4 + 3 + 1 / Bluebells: HB3 + 2 + BG2 + Blender / Grasses: DG4 + 3 + 2 + 1 + JG7 + 1 + DG2 / Sky: TB1

Neenah card stock and luxury ice blue glitter card.

For this card I created my own scene using Pebeo during gum to layer up the images.

Stamps by Donna Ratcliff: Magic Garden, Sparkle Garden and Toadstool Home

Spectrum Noir: TB3 + BP1 + CT4 + Blending Solution refill

The background technique of this one is very effective.  I have a tutorial coming soon on how I created it

More Spectrum Sparkle! Hochanda 19th November 2017

Spectrum Noir are showcasing their amazing sparkle pens again this week on Hochanda.  As always – I wish we had sparkle vision on computers but please believe me when I say these are SUPER sparkly in real life!  Here are the samples that I have recently made…

Show times:  Sunday 19th November 2017 at 11am and 3pm.

Crafter’s Companion <--- UK website

Stamps: Hydrangea Heart by Cherry Green

This first card is actually coloured in with the Spectrum Noir alcohol pens but then I have used the clear sparkle pen as an overlay on the butterfly and the flowers.

Stamps: Macaroons by Donna Ratcliffe

This is a more pastel hue card using the paler seasons colours.

Brand New Launch–Spectrum Noir ColourTint Pencils!

If you love your water colour pencils then you are going to absolutely need these new additions to the Spectrum Noir range!  These pencils are very unique in the fact that they are graphite based water soluble pencils and the colours are dark tints.  They work beautifully dry or wet and all of your normal water colour pencil techniques will work with these.  Only two 12-pencil tins are being released at the moment but the tones are plentiful and will obviously play nicely with your Aquablend pencils.  You can catch these launching as a One Day Special on Hochanda from Saturday 4th November alongside some perfectly-matched stamps by Sheena Douglass that have never been seen before!

Show Times on Hochanda: Saturday 4th November 6pm and 8pm, Sunday 5th November 9am, 1pm and 5pm.

Also coming soon on HSN in the USA!

Spectrum Noir at Crafter’s Companion: https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/brands/spectrum-noir.html 

Spectrum Sparkle Pens One Day Special on Hochanda 15th October 2017

I’ve been having lots of fun this last week making super sparkly cards with the fabulous Sparkle pens from Spectrum Noir.  I am soooo gutted that sparkle-vision hasn’t been invented yet but in real life theses samples sparkle like crazy.  Tune into the shows on 15th October for a chance to seem them twinkle in front on the cameras!  I’ve used a mixed bag of stamps available from Crafter’s Companion to highlight the versatility of these pens.  I have used colours from the original packs: Spring / Summer / Autumn / Winter but don’t forget about the vintage hues and other special packs from designers at Crafter’s Companion.

Find Spectrum Sparkle pens at Crafter’s Companion UK: https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/brands/spectrum-noir/sparkle-glitter-pens-3855.html

TV Show times: Sunday 15th October at 6pm and 8pm and then throughout the day on Monday until 5pm.

You can watch Hochanda online.

Stamps: Star of the Show & Enjoy the Show by Stacey Barras

Spectrum Sparkle: Smokey quartz, moonlight, harvest moon, amethyst, red berry, blue topaz, solar red, pink garnet, starry sky

Aqua Markers (for the skin): Sandstone and tawny

Watering can archival ink, gold glitter embossing powder, acetate, diorama card blank and Sheena stamping card.

Background was created by 1st and 2nd generation stamping all the different sentiment words and then painting on the sparkle pens.

Stamps: Music Time by Donna Ratcliff

Sparkle pens: smokey quartz, pink champagne, red berry, holly leaf, starry sky

Neenah desert storm colouring card and vellum

Mockingbird Hill Done 2 Ways: Festive v. Spooky Halloween

I finally got around to finishing my first Mockingbird Hill houses using the stamps and die sets from Sheena Douglass.  Using the exact same sets I have created 2 looks – one is for my mum (I’m planning on making her a little mini card village for the winter holidays) and one is for my favourite holiday – Halloween!  The festive one is snowy and twinkly and the spooky one is covered in cobweb and glows in the dark!

To make them into tea lights I have created side panels wide enough for a battery operated tea light and a solid back by tracing the outline of the house. 

BRAND NEW: Spectrum Aqua pen colours Launching August 19th

I have loved Spectrum Aqua since they were launched so you can imagine how giddy I was to discover that new colours were being launched!  Aqua pens are one of the most versatile products you can get hold of.  They are portable, clean to use and offer a TON of variety when it comes to techniques!  The new colours are arranged in sets of 6 so you can add to your collection in stages – or check out the bundle launching as a One Day Special on Hochanda on Saturday August 19th!  They are also including some brand new stamps with your pens that really show off the vibrant watercolour appeal to these.  These aren’t just random colours – there’s some GREAT colours that we need including a primary red and a primary blue that we have needed!  The sets are called: Earth, Botanicals, Landscape and Brights.
Aqua pens are double ended with both a brush nib and a very fine nib.
Show Times: Hochanda 6pm Saturday 19th August, and throughout the day on the Sunday www.hochanda.com
Find Aqua pens on Crafter’s Companion UK: https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/brands/spectrum-noir/spectrum-aqua.html
My samples for the show are below as well as some info on how I created them:

New Launch: Frankie Stamps by Cherry Green Wednesday 26th July

Summer’s here and I’m excited to share with you some adorable new stamps by Cherry Green!  There is a whole set of Frankie (the little girl) embarking on lots of different activities.  Her pure look makes her so easily coloured to look like your own favourite little girls!  I particularly love the extra details stamps such as the different types of shells and the raindrops!  All of Cherry Green’s sentiments are hand drawn instead of typed.
Catch the launch on Hochanda on Wednesday 26th July 2017 at 10am and 4pm.
Visit Crafter’s Companion or Hochanda for all your crafting goodies.

7” Shadow Box Card
Stamps: Frankie Sunbathing by Cherry Green
Stamped onto Neenah Card by Crafter’s Companion.  Added store bought play sand.
Spectrum Noir pens:

• Skin: TN4 + FS9 + 8 + 4 + 2
• Hair: TN4 + OR2 + BO1 + OR1
• Clothes: TB9 + 7 + 5 + 3 / IG5 + 3 + 1 + Blender / IG5 + DR7 + 5 + CR6 / GY5 + 3 + LY1
• Sky: TB1 + IG3 + 1
• Stones: BG9 + 5 + 1
• Sea: TB5 + BT7 + 6 + 4
• Shells: PP1 + BG7 + 5 + 5 + CR2 + TN4 + YG3 + 1 + GY3 + 1

More Colourblend and Aquablend Samples for 16th June

Don’t forget to catch the one day special on Hochanda this Sunday and Monday to see the brand new colours of Spectrum Noir’s Aquablend and Colourblend pencils.  I managed to get a few extra samples made for you.

Links: 

• Hochanda (to watch live and to shop online)
• Crafter’s Companion
• Aquablend Pencils: https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/brands/spectrum-noir.html?cat=1515
• Colourblend Pencils: https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/brands/spectrum-noir.html?cat=1518
• Premium Paper Pads: https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/brands/spectrum-noir.html?cat=3422
• Cherry Green Stamps: https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/brands/cherry-green.html
• Stacey Barras Stamps: https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/papercraft/stamping/crafter-s-companion-collections/crafter-s-companion-stamps.html

Stamps: Hydrangea Garden by Cherry Green

Coloured onto Crafter’s Companion Premium Pencil Pad, heat embossed with gold glitter.

Colourblend pencils from new 12 packs only: sea grass, icicle, pollen, wineberry, coral, lagoon, sky blue, ladybug, dusty pink, lilac, candleglow

Stamps: Hydrangea Heart by Cherry Green

Coloured onto Crafter’s Companion Premium Pencil Pad, heat embossed with transparent hologram.  Made from Crafter’s Companion Fancy Card blank.  Butterfly overlay made from heat embossing onto heatproof acetate.

Colourblend pencils from new 12 packs only: sea grass, saltwater, orchid, cupid, pearl blush, indigo, amethyst, wisteria, candle glow, dusty pearl, saltwater.

Stamps: Little Birdy by Stacey Barras

Stamped with brown archival ink on Crafter’s Companion Premium Watercolour Pad.  Coloured with Aquablend pencils from new 12 packs only.

Matted onto patterned paper and Distress Coredinations embossed with Textures embossing folder.

Stamps: Perfect Peony by Stacey Barras

Stamped onto white tissue paper with Black Momento ink.  Coloured with Aquablend pencils from new 12 packs only.

Brand New Spectrum Noir Pencils on Hochanda 16th July One Day Special

Exciting news for Spectrum Noir pencil fans – BRAND NEW COLOURS for both the colourblend and aquablend lines have been released and will be on Hochanda as a One Day Special from 6pm on 16th July 2017.  The pencils are a fantastic expansion to the existing colours and are arranged in tin sizes of 12.  The new Colourblend tins are named Soft Tints and Bold Brights.  The new Aquablend watercolour tins are names Vivid Hues and Earth Tones.  You can see my Aquablend samples below using stamps by Stacey Barras – all have been coloured on the new Premium Watercolour Pad by Crafter’s Companion too!

HOCHANDA SHOW TIMES: Sunday 16th July from 6pm and Monday 17th www.hochanda.com

SPECTRUM NOIR PENCILS (Crafter’s Companion): https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/brands/spectrum-noir.html 

STACEY BARRAS STAMPS (Crafter’s Companion): https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/brands/crafter-s-companion/crafter-s-companion-stamps.html

Stepper Card made using Crafter's Companion Stamps "Find Your Wings" by Stacey Barras.  Spectrum Sparkle Clear overlay onto the bird.  Background created by scraping small specks of pencil onto the cardstock and spritzing with water.  Layered onto Coredinations card stock.

Easel Card made using Crafter's Companion Stamps "Perfect Peony" by Stacey Barras.  Background embossed Coredinations card with woodgrain Texture folder by Crafter’s Companion.  Layered onto Kraft card.

Wooden hanging heart made using Crafter's Companion Stamps "Beautiful Bloom" by Stacey Barras.  Heat embossed with Silver embossing powder and decorated with silver liquid pearls.

Diorama Card made using Crafter's Companion Stamps "Little Birdie" by Stacey Barras.  Clear Spectrum Sparkle pen on the edge of the wings.  Images stamped in grey Archival ink (Watering Can).  Background created by scribbling pencils and then watering with a brush, plus additional flecks of pencil.  Image has been decoupaged up for extra dimension.

Diorama Card made using Crafter's Companion Stamps "Beautiful Bloom" by Stacey Barras.  Image was stamped with orange Archival Ink, coloured and then cut out into it’s separate parts before being pieced back together for dimension.  Background is made from coredinations card, embossed with Textures folder by Crafter’s Companion and Pebeo gilding wax.

New Cherry Green Stamps Launching Thursday 15th June

Hello everyone I am absolutely THRILLED to announce that I have joined the design team for Spectrum Noir and my first samples are for the BEAUTIFUL new stamp designs by Cherry Green that are launching this week as a One Day Special on Hochanda.  These designs work amazingly with all of your favourite watercolour mediums including the very portable and convenient-to-use Spectrum Noir Aqua pens.  I truly hope these samples inspire you to get creative with this wonderful new collection.

DESIGNER:  Cherry Green

RANGE:  Hydrangea and Butterflies

LAUNCH DATE:  Thursday 15th June on Hochanda (show times 6pm, 8pm on Thursday and 6am, 9am, 1pm and 5pm on Friday)

Find Cherry Green at Crafter’s Companion https://www.crafterscompanion.co.uk/brands/cherry-green.html

All of my samples have been coloured with Spectrum Aqua pens or Spectrum Sparkle pens:

8x8" Card made using Crafter's Companion Stamps "Hydrangea Heart" by Cherry Green coloured with Spectrum Aqua Pens scarlet, blossom, sunflower, bud green, leaf green, moss, burgundy, red violet, kingfisher, peacock blue, charcoal.  This set comes with a separate butterfly stamp which fits onto the main image.  I have stamped and embossed this on heat proof acetate and stuck down just the body using 3d Collal glue.

8x8" Card made using Crafter's Companion Stamps "Dancing Butterflies" by Cherry Green coloured with just three Spectrum Aqua Pens sunflower, rose pink, aquamarine.  The black background is heat embosses flourish stamps from the set on Crafters Companion Matt Black card, the pastel background is created by stamping the flourishes in white gesso and then applying the pens with an ink tool and glycerin.  The flowers were created with a die by Sheena Douglass.

8x8" Box Card made using Crafter's Companion Stamps "Hydrangea Garden" by Cherry Green coloured with Spectrum Aqua Pens Jasmine, Teal, Red Violet, Orchid, Spice, Gold, Leaf green, Bud green, Boulder, Chestnut.  I created the box from Crafters Companion Kraft card – please comment if you’d like me to give a tutorial on making box cards.  The images have been heat embossed in Ivory powder onto Crafters Companion Watercolour card.  There is also a “flying” butterfly suspended on invisible thread that flutters above the hydrangeas.

8x8" Card made using Crafter's Companion Stamps "Midnight Dreams" by Cherry Green coloured with Spectrum Aqua Pens crimson, orange, gold, meadow, bud green. evergreen, peacock blue, purple, leaf green, moss, desert, slate, terracotta.  The background was created on Sheena Stamping Card and the Tim Holtz spritzer to give an airbrushed effect.

8x8" Card made using Crafter's Companion Stamps "Summer Solstice" by Cherry Green coloured with Spectrum Sparkle Pens Cosmos, Rose Quartz, Holly Leaf, Aquamarine, Starry sky.  The butterfly was stamped onto Crafters Companion Watercolour Card in ivory embossing powder.  Then a super sparkly cosmic background was created using the Spectrum Sparkle pens.  Even the ribbon was coloured using the pens. 

5 Background Techniques with… Pebeo DYNA Paints Volume 1

What are dyna paints and why their own set of techniques in addition to regular acrylic paints?  Good question!  Pebeo’s dyna paints are part of the high viscosity acrylic paints that they do but are extra special – each one is made of a shiny pigment colour and a different interference colour, so when it catches the light they are effectively two-tone.  Even more magical is their ability to appear different depending on the colour of the background (i.e. white card vs. black card).  Until cameras and monitors become sophisticated enough to capture the shine I hope you will see some of the effect in the video, but believe me when I say that the effect is wonderful!  As with other acrylic paints feel free to pop on over to my acrylic paint background techniques as those will work with these paints too.  Click here for a full list of my technique pages.

Techniques covered in this issue are:

1. Simple blend
2. Stamping (on black surface)
3. Watercolour resist
4. Sponging (same two colours shown on black and white)
5. Gel medium tinting

1. These paints blend on surfaces very well and can take a lot of water to help with a smooth blend, not only do you end up with a blend of the base pigment but also the interference pigments too.

2. I have sponged two colours onto a background stamp before stamping onto black card to give this fabulous result.  Just remember to wash or at least soak your stamp as soon as possible.

3. I have stamped my background by sponging onto the stamp as before, but this could easily be any free hand paint on the background.  Acrylic will resist watercolours so I have washed over the top with aquatints.  You will still retain all the shine of the paints.  My personal favourite is stamping in a lighter colour and washing with a darker colour.

4. I’ve picked this technique to also demonstrate the difference between painting onto a black surface vs. a white surface by painting half the card with Pebeo’s black gesso.  Now you can see that the gold is actually green and the blue is actually pink in my example. 

5.  I wanted to test the effect out when mixed with gel medium.  This gives a different effect as now the colours seem almost pearly.  I’ve used a gloss medium for a high shine finished and both applied directly with a spatula and through a stencil.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and/or subscribe to my blog updates to get alerted to the next edition to this series.

Art Journal: Hello Darkness My Old Friend

I’m pretty sure I’m going to divide opinion on this one – I wanted to challenge myself to create something in only greyscale this time.  The inspiration ended up being the music video for the cover of the Sound of Silence by Disturbed which has been beautifully directed.  I’ve used Pebeo acrylic paints in only mars black and titanium white, Tim Holtz tissue wrap and stamps by Sheena Douglass.  I’m curious to know what you think of this spread as I know it’s a lot moodier than what I normally do but art journaling is all about playing and trying things out!

Ingredients

• Pebeo High Viscosity Acrylic Paints – Titanium White and Mars Black
• Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap – Menagerie
• A Little Bit Sketchy Silhouette stamps by Sheena Douglass
• Black Archival Ink by Ranger
• Spectrum Noir pen in true black
• White Gesso by Pebeo
• Gel medium by Golden

Art Journal: The Family Tie is Like a Tree

I have taken a card which I recently made and turned it into an art journal page firstly because there were some really cool techniques involved and secondly to share with you how I can adapt cards for art journal pages and vice versa.  Included in this page is a simple watercolour background using Spectrum Noir Aquatints, colouring using watercolour pencils (Aqua Blend by Spectrum Noir), foiling technique using mixtion relief and a masking tape tree painted with Pebeo acrylic paints.  All of the stamps are from Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Sketchy range and work together beautifully.

Ingredients

• Aquatints by Spectrum Noir
• AquaBlend Pencils by Spectrum Noir
• Black Gesso by Pebeo
• Acrylic Paints by Pebeo
• Mixtion Relief and Gold Foil by Pebeo
• Modelling Paste by Pebeo
• Drawing Gum by Pebeo
• Archival Ink in Black and Watering Can by Ranger
• Stamps by Sheena Douglass: A Little Bit Sketchy (multiple A6 stamp sets)
• Masking Tape

Here’s the original card: