Art Studio: Hannah

Aloha!! It’s Hannah with you today. I can’t wait to share my layout with you. I have been really playing with my mixed media products lately. Maybe it’s all the color coming back with all the spring flowers that is making me want more color on my pages.

I am using the June Aquarelle Kit which features the Cocoa Vanilla Studio Wild at Heart Collection.

This kit is so dreamy. It reminded me of my Lilac bush that is now just starting to sport blossoms. That really was my inspiration for my layout today. I would say 80 % of the time my photos or things around me in which make me take their photo inspire me and then make their way to my layouts.

I started off by trying out brush script so I could make a home made cut file and title. I cut them out with the Grow Wild paper from the main kit. I love this dark color with pops of pink and blue flowers. Even though it doesn’t really have purple in it I knew it would work well with purple.

I also cut out the May Challenge cut file that Maryam designed. I love the triangle design and it is so versatile. I also really wanted to use the cut file like a stencil for some mixed media. Cut files are a really good to have stencils. You just have to remember that if you cut it from paper that if you use really wet media it could rip the paper or seep through or under the stencil.

I watered down some acrylic paint in purple, and dabbed the paint brush so it looked like lilacs a little. I did this 4 or 5 small spots on the 12×12 white card stock. I also added another piece of card stock underneath my cut piece so that I would have the top part and negative space of triangles.

I knew I wanted to use the top piece that was cut but I could save the other piece for another layout design. Since I already have my media out and it needs time to dry this saves me a little bit of time down the road.

I used some Shimmerz Pasteez in Puttin’ on the Glitz and Raspberry Sorbet in splotches with my palette knife to create texture. Then sprayed some of the Coloringz on my mixed media areas. I really want to build layers of media in these spots. This is the key to getting great mixed media layouts. I let my media air dry, I didn’t use gesso on this layout and more water or liquid absorbed into my cardstock. If I used a heat gun that would make my paper warp a lot more than it will if I let it air dry over night.

It really is hard to wait for it to dry, which is why I like to do my media in stages. It helps me feel like I got something accomplished when I sit down in my scrap room.

Next I used my Acri-tonz and dropped the Navy and White on my background. I really love the texture and dimension this paint has when it dries. Also this bottle is perfect for squeezing and dropping the perfect size dots over my layout.

To add a little more texture on my layout I added lots of stitching on my photo and on the side of my layout. I love how this zig zag looks over the side of the photo and through the exclusive printable from the Traveler’s Notebook Kit. The white gel pen pops off that black. Layered with some copper thread, the exclusive flair and main kit exclusive printable adds a nice cluster over top one of my mixed media spots. the media is peeking through the lines of the layering and really brings out the color of the lilacs on my photo.

I think my favorite part of this layout is this title with all the different fonts. My own brush script turned into a cut file, the cut apart from the patterned paper in the main kit, and the copper alpha’s from Pink Fresh Studio all with some stitching through them. It just adds that statement I was looking for.

I started the title with more exclusive printable banners and some of the Add-on enamel dots. I also ended the title with the Maggie Holmes puffy hearts from a couple months ago.

With a little extra thought you can use your mixed media to tie into your kit and make a unique and awesome layout. Use as much or as little as you feel comfortable. Play around and see what exclusive cut files make the best stencils. With your creative imagination the sky is the limit!!

To watch me make this layout (from the Clique Youtube Channel) look below:

I hope you check out the Clique Kits Store and see all the amazing mixed media products you can add on to your June Kit. Use my code Hannah10 and you can get a 10% discount too.

Have you subscribed or checked out the Traveler’s Notebook Kit too?! it is just as dreamy as the Main Aquarelle Kit.

Thanks for sticking around with me today. I hope I have inspired you to get a little messy in your scrap space!!

Field Notes: Follow Your Rainbow or Sunset

Aloha My scrappy Friends!! It’s Hannah with you today. When I started scrapbooking I was hooked on Mixed Media. When I made a layout it always had a variety of media on it, and I may have went a little crazy. It really appealed to me in the no rules aspect. It really helped me grow and learn about about as a scrapbooker. This journey is one of the most important for a memory keeper. It helps you forage the way you end up telling your story, in the way you need to do. This is whether or not you yourself add media to your projects.

As I started growing and leaning towards cleaner layouts, I did less and less media. My products sitting lonely in my mixed media drawer.

Lately though I really have been itching to play around and get dirty. Literally. I think Mixed media is like riding a bike, once you get the hang of it and into the groove you get better with time.

Today I am going to be using the May Sorbet kit with add ons from the store to be making my Travelers Notebook. I wanted this size because I think sometimes it is a good place to start, a smaller size to fill up.

Also I hope you take quick look of the new Travelers Notebook Kit that is being added to Clique Kits. It matches the main kit and has tons of goodies play with it your Travelers Notebooks or even adding to your main kit.

 

Let’s look at what I made. I am not going to lie, this spread was my nemesis!! A real labor of love. No matter what I did, I was not sure how I felt. When I am using mixed media products I really use my gut feeling to help guide through the creating process. I think this is quite different approach from just making a layout or other memory keeping project.

Here are some tips to remember about Mixed Media :

It almost always looks bad before it looks really good.  I think this is because layers is the key. Sometimes a stencil gets smudge a little, or a paint splatter is bigger than you thought.

When making my layout I had tried using the cut file Maryam had designed, and adding that right to the page.  It was just too much paper on all the paint I had added.  I actually used my cut file to trace the triangles on top of my paint. splotches.

These splotches are through my layout and I used Shimmerz Acri-tonez in hot pink (it dry so fast and I don’t have to add gesso before, which is nice when I don’t have extra steps.) and gold paint.

When you mess up you can always cover it up.  Sometimes a stencil doesn’t leave a clear image, or you smudge paint before it dries.  When I make a mistake I always try to remember that I can always cover it up with an embellishment or photo. This helps take the pressure off so I don’t have to stress about it being perfect. Mixed Media is all about having fun and experimentation.

Also if you really screw things up, you can always start over again on a fresh new page or cover it with gesso. Since mixed media is about the layers adding gesso and another layer of paint or media it will add an unique twist to your spread.

On my spread I used a doily I had left over from last month’s kit and used it as a layer under my photo. I layered a piece of card stock with the Pretty Little Studio washi strips. I placed these over an area where my silkscreen didn’t transfer my gold paint very well.

I love the way that tab from the exclusive printable looks under my photo with some hearts from Pink Fresh Studio. The gold mirror heart was in the Add on store, and these pieces are so cute. They really help tie in all the gold I used on the background.

Mixed Media is about art expression, use things you love.  When you love the techniques, colors, products, tools or embellishments, it will show on your spread. Playing and learning is part of mixed media, but in the end the things you love that you add to your project really set your page from just okie to a LOVE page.  You may not love every page you make, but using products and elements you love will give you pieces that you love too.

On the page I made I really was eyeing the Freckled Fawn clips. They are so bold and fun. They really make a statement. I layered them with a cut part from one of the papers from the Main Kit and a stamped image I popped off the page. I stamped the image, with the Pink Fresh Studios stamp set,  on white card stock and cut it out. Adding pop dots to give it dimension off the page and making the image more of the focal point. Especially with stamped or written phrases on the inside.

Also layered under the clip was a gold doily from my stash, gold thread and some of the exclusive sequins for this month. They match this kit so well, and the flower sequins looked so cute inside my rainbow.

I added some Pretty Little Studio block alphas to finish my title and finished this cluster up with a gold mirror heart.

 

My last tip for mixed media, is Have Fun and Play, Play, Play.  Mixed media is about expression and when you aren’t having fun it shows. If you aren’t having fun, you won’t want to come back to it later. Just let go and have fun playing.

Playing and practicing also makes a difference. It will help you get better and get a feel for the techniques you get quickly and the ones you need to work on if that is the media you want to use.

These Maggie Holmes butterflies in the Add on section in the store are so fun. They worked perfectly with my spread because it’s about change. Embracing the change an flying high with it.

Here is a look at my full spread.  It’s not perfect, but in the journey of making this I really embraced it. I really kept trying until I got a look I was happy with. Even if I had to take up things off the page three or 4 times.

I hope this week you give some thought in how you can add some fun and play mixed media to you spreads. Even little things like adding some modeling paste to a journaling card, or splatter some color ink on white card stock before you start layering papers.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for this weekend, for international Scrapbooking Day, May 6th. We will be hosting tons of amazing challenges to play along in. There will be lots of chatting, scrapbooking and prizes!!