Tutorial Thursday - Adding a Mixed Media Background

Hi All,

Debbie here today with a tutorial that is a little bit of messy fun. I've been experimenting lately with some home made texture paste and some "Magical" powders. I love mixing these grungy fun backgrounds with clean die cut elements. 

First up here is the recipe I used for my texture paste....

1 part paint (I used white acrylic)

 1 part talcum powder 

1/2 part glue (I used PVA)

Mix everything together and store in an airtight container.

For the card I'm making in this tutorial you'll also need these La-La Land dies...

- Stitched Nested Circles

- Double Stitched Circles

- Dream

- Winter Branches

- Cherry Blossom Branch

- Berry Flourish

- Rolled Rose (large)

- Rolled Rose (medium)

plus these things...

- Stencil

- "Magical" powders by Lindy's Stamp Gang

- Water spritzer

- Toothpicks

- Cardstock

- Dewdrops

1. Cut a stitched circle using the largest die in white cardstock. I have cut 2 here to show you a couple of different finishes.

2. Lay the stencil over the circle and spread some texture paste over the top. Lift it off carefully.

3. Here is the reason I cut 2 circles. On the left I have left the texture paste to air dry and you get a lovely clean look. On the right I used a heat gun and you get a funky finish as the surface of the texture paste dries and the liquid below heats up and "bursts" through. I freaked the first time I did this but it's rather a fun little textural detail depending on the finish you want.

4. Once your texture paste is dry spritz some water onto your circle.

5. Using a toothpick start dropping on some magicals powder. This is the orange.

6. Add some crimson and copper powders.

7. Spritz with more water to spread and blend the colours until you are happy with the result. Allow to dry.

8. Here are all the elements you'll need to finish off the card. As you can see I have trimmed back some of the die cuts to make them shorter. Don't hesitate to do this if it suits your design - it gives them a different look. I also used the 2 largest double stitched circles to create a circular frame.

You can also see I did a test piece of the magicals colours on plain card. It's great to use for elements in your final design such as one of the rolled roses.

9. My finished card size is 5 1/2 inches square. The central white panel is 5 inches square and matted with a deep red before being popped up on my card base. The mixed media circle is then stuck to the middle and the circular frame popped up using 3D foam.

Start to decorate the frame by layering and gluing the cherry blossom branch and berry flourish die cuts, putting the longer ones on the right side and the shorter ones along the bottom. Just add glue to the base of the branches so the rest of the arrangement has some movement.

10. Tuck in the winter branches before adding the roses.

11. And here is the finished card. I cut some rolled roses in white and added some of the copper powder to one. The other coloured one was cut from my test piece of card. I added a die cut sentiment and some clear dewdrops to finish off.

It's a bit hard to see but the Magicals have a lovely sheen to them which adds another element to your design.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and give this technique a go sometime.

Debbie

xXx