Background Tutorial...(with a give away)

Today I want to share a background tutorial with everyone.

This background will be turned into mixed media postcards for a swap I found over at

MixedMedia.club

and hosted by Lisa Vollrath who can be found at TenTwo Studios .

(I have been a fan of her collage sheets for years)

Anyhoo

I am in a use up mode lately. 

Trying to use the items I have around my house rather than go buy the newest latest & greatest.

I realize over the years I have bought and bought...now I need to USE!

This background uses what I have on hand, 

nothing fancy or special today, yet in the end I have a unique background waiting to be turned into

6 postcards.

Several for the swap and several left over.

Like what you see?

Leave a comment and you may get randomly picked for a piece of happy mail from me!

So let's begin...

First up I am using a 12x 12 piece of card stock (which I have piles and piles of)

You don't need special heavy weight paper for mixed media projects, I find that card stock works well for just about everything I am doing right now.

I tore some Washii tape and added strips here and there.

Squirted on some blue Americana acrylic paint (again I love my fluid acrylics but you know what...inexpensive craft paint works just as well for these) craft 

Spread it with a brush and squirt on some green paint by Plaid Folk Art.

Using the same brush spread it around.

Some orange...

And some yellow. Again these are the paints you can buy sometimes on sale 3 for a dollar etc. 

Nothing fancy.

I still had some white space so went back in and added a bit more color.

I took a fan brush and dry brushed some Liquitex unbleached titanium

to calm everything down and blend some edges. Wipe most of the paint off on a piece of scrap paper first, I wanted just a touch of the light color.

A script stamp and Archival ink...perfect for use on paints.

It dries quick and smudge proof. Script stamps are some of my favorite ones, they find their way onto just about everything I do.

A circle stamp by Club Scrap and Teal Blue StazOn ink.

This is where a mistake happened but turn the mistake into a happy design element.

I was using a mister with water & acrylic paint inside. The mister clogged so I took the nozzle off and started flicking, until I forgot I had the open bottle in my hand and tipped it over.

Yes...I meant to do that lol

Dylusions mist through a Crafter's Workshop stencil in areas.

Stamping with numbers and Archival ink.

I went back with the same stencil and used it with Gesso this time.

In some spots I got white diamonds, others the Gesso reactivated the Dylusions mist and it absorbed and  was tinted by the mist.

I went into my drawer full of rub ons.

You know the ones I HAD TO HAVE and never use.

Well here I just applied a bunch of the little tab ones randomly around the page.

Remember this is going to be cut up so each postcard will have a similar but different background.

Lastly some Punchinella and the same yellow paint as used on the background before.

I just rubbed it through with my finger here and there.

And here is the finished background all ready to be cut up.

Remember leave a comment and you'll get entered into a random drawing for a piece of happy mail from me created using a piece of this background.

Deadline for comments to be entered in the drawing is 8/30 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Sharing a Mixed Media Background Tutorial Today

Ever feel like your "mojo" has left the room?

You want to create but can settle on what to do or how to do it.

Many time when my "mojo" seems to have left,

I find that just by messing around I can help it come back.

Lots of times I wind up creating backgrounds to be used at a later date.

Just by pulling supplies out and creating without rhyme or reason and soon there is no block.

Today I'm sharing a quick background tutorial that you can use for a variety

of projects.

Keep it large and it's a scrapbook page

cut it down and you have a card, Art journal or ATC background.

I start out by covering a 12 x 12 piece of old card stock with torn book text.

Add a thin layer of Gesso to tone it down and provide a unified starting point..

If the Gesso is too thick, spritz with water and wipe some off with a paper towel.

Take some acrylic paint and squirt it onto the page.

(technical isn't it? lol)

Spread the paint with a paint brush or old credit card.

Take a paper towel and lay it flat onto the paint while it's still wet.

Blot the paper and remove the towel lifting some of the paint.

Mist with your choice of spray.

(here I used Concrete Shimmeringz by Shimmerz Paints)

Mist enough that you get drips down the page.

Dry.

Taking a background stamp color with a Faber Castell Big Brush Artist Pen 

(you can use ink instead but I really love these markers for stamping)

Randomly stamp across the paper.

I wound up using 2 colors for added interest.

I then took a NeoColor II crayon and scribbled onto my craft sheet.

Added water and created a paint...

Randomly brushed it across the page.

A Script stamp and Solvent ink.

Randomly stamping.

Some Shimmerz Paint brushed randomly.

Just to add some sparkle and shine to the paper.

Here is the finished background.

Ready to be used in my next project.

SUPPLIES:

Cardstock

Book text

Adhesive (I use Gel Medium)

Gesso

Acrylic Paint

Paper Towel

Mist of your choice

Faber Castel Big Brush ARtist Pens (2 colors)

NeoColor II crayon

Stamps

Solvent Ink

Shimmer/ Metallic paint

I hope this inspires you to try creating something when you can't decide what.

Lots of times doing the random creating without an ultimate goal can give the

kickstart that you need.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!