European Christmas Markets - Dusty Attic - Abela Artistry

When I received my goodies, I wasn't really sure what to do with all the Christmas Chipboard... 
I'm am bit of a self confessed scrooge!  
So I sat back and let it talk to me... One thing that I always wished for when I was young was to see the Christmas markets from my Mothers homeland. I may not have gotten there yet but I got a little closer after today's play. 
Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!!

 I primed my Dusty Attic Chipboard Houses with white gesso and used some embossing powder that mimics snow.  I really didn't know what this product was going to do as it came in a Mystery Box but I was pleased with the results. I coloured the houses with some gold metallic paint over the embossing powder and then again dry brushed with White gesso for texture. I used the same technique for my Santa Postage Stamps. 

For this canvas I tore some paper strips, added some Dusty Attic Corrugate card stock and layered them in the background. I covered them with and crackle paste and let them dry overnight. I then used white gesso to dry brush the texture out of the background. I used a generous amount of shimmery sprays and a little bit of metallic acrylic paint on the card stock to colour the project blue... staying away from the traditional Christmas colours. 

Mica flakes behind my snowflake embellishments, balls and micro beads. I primed with black gesso for the poinsettia and used metallic red acrylic applied with a make up sponge and then finished them off with some Bling.

I used two shades of embossing powder to colour my Christmas Tree sentiment. I went back and added a little of the Sparks acrylic paint to the edges of the poinsettia and the corrugate card stock. 

It was a project that made me feel it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas... 

Merry Christmas Tree

Christmas Postmarks

Poinsettia Small

Corrugate Cardstock

House Set - 3pk

Sunkissed Summer Days - Colour Blast

Hi everybody. 

I had so much fun with the pink grunge that I tried to do something similar, with a twist. I love this one as it has a real comic book feel to it, check it out! Lots of watery effects and Black & White + One.

 Here is the full effect!

To start with I used a large stamp and stamped half the page filling in gaps and using the part of the stamp that appealed to me the most. Those eyes!! I'm in love...  Make sure you use Archival ink for this step. If you dont you will have colour runs later. 

I had a stamping fail the first time I tried to create the background! As it goes in Mixed Media though... There are no mistakes, only Opportunities! Ephemera, I hear you say.. stay tuned!

Time for some colouring in!! I grabbed a handful of blues and greens. In the end I felt that the Green wasn't the look for this page and in settled on Colour Artist Inks - Calypso and  Colour Shimmer Dust in Peacock, Cobalt, Duke and Midnight. 

TIP: I made some misters - so much easier for me when working on my Glass craft mat.

 

Using Colour Blast Heavy Gesso in Black I coloured in some of my favorite Dusty Attic Chipboard!! 

TIP: Use a makeup sponge.. Perfect application!

 For the final product I used a little bit of Wax to highlight them. I wanted to keep the background neutral so it would give the Colour Blast Colour Shimmer Paste the focus... You will see that coming up.

I used three different shades of Colour Paste. I put Stormy Weather and Steel side by side on my palette to create some colour variation in the bricks. I used Colour Paste Dusty Charcoal for the numbers. 

I used a graduated hand when applying through my stencil for variation.

I love the way that the stamping came through in some areas.

Look at how cool this turned out!!

I added some extra stamping in an script and some checkers to bring the brickwork closer to the action. 

You can see that in the final image.

And what project is complete without Splatters!! I added some in an earthy tone. We were saturated with Blues and Blacks. I used my Colour Blast Colour Spray in Coffee.

 

 Here is a close up of the final layout with all the elements blended together. I used a pigment pen to highlight some of the features in the ephemera I created and DONE!!

 

Make sure that you check out the new release collection from Michelle Grant if you are a Grunge Fan!! 

Her February release is AMAZING!! Graffiti Grunge. 

If i have inspired you pop your project onto Facebook!  

Abela Artistry

Dusty Attic Mood Board Inspiration - February 2019

Welcome to February at Dusty Attic!! Here is some inspiration for the mood board to get that creative Mojo into swing... 

I loved playing around with the chipboard this time as it created a gorgeous Tiara. I complimented it with some Dusty Attic Stencils and papers from AB Studio from the 'In Wonderland' & 'Dreamland' collection... 

Hope you like it!

Here is one of my favourite techniques... I like to prime my chipboard with gesso and then tap it with a flat brush to create peaks and ridges. It gives the colour somewhere to sit and pool creating exciting colour variations. Its best to dry in between layers if you want to use more than one colour.

After priming my page in Clear Gesso I used Dusty Attic stencil in Crosshatch and embossed, then I used some embellishment mousse through the Dusty Attic stencil in Creative Script.

Popped some stamping in the background in organic shapes and textures. I played with using Gesso, yellow & coral colour options before I settled on some walnut spray for colour.

TIP: I use the area that will be covered by my focal point as a little tester. It lets me know how the product will react or if I like the effect.

Here is a close up of all the mixed media elements put together.

Here comes the fun... I fussy cut papers from AB studio and along with flowers from 49 & Market created my collage. I embossed my title in Orange Popsicle from Lindy's. I needed a solid colour with out shimmer to make the page come together. 

I LOVE this chipboard!! Its so versatile as a frame or an edge or in this case a TIARA.. I coloured it with some teal shimmer spray used some glossy accents to add dimension. 

Dusty Attic Pearls and Micro beads on the pendant after also used some Glossy Accents and a little wax to highlight some areas. I finished off with dry brushing with Gesso and some splatters...

Look at those layers... and still the project is quite flat and will fit comfortably in my album. 

 Thanks for looking! Come and check out my blog if you would like to see other projects featuring Dusty Attic Chipboard.

DUSTY ATTIC Chipboards

Monarch Butterflies

Heraldry Motif

Jewellry Drops 5 

Word Pack 5 

Roman Numerals

 

DUSTY ATTIC Stencils

Creative Script Stencil

Crosshatch Stencil

DUSTY ATTIC Embellishments

Pearls

So Handsome - Colour Blast Australia

Hi Everyone

I am back on the blog today after a whirlwind trip to Phoenix Arizona for Creativation!! 

What an experience that was... 

I am fresh fill of ideas and inspiration for you all in 2019.. 

This was my youngest at his Y6 Farewell.. last in the nest and growing waaayyy to quickly!

  For this one I wanted to create a grungy look considering he was wearing pink... I was challenged recently by another DT member to try this one out so here we go - Challenge accepted!

I started by spilling some Colour Artist Ink in Slipper on the page and drying it while it pooled to create the layers of rings around the edge. I then grabbed some stamps and created a frame for where the photo will sit.

I had made some misters earlier for my Colour Shimmer Dust so had some on the go at any time..

I used velvet for this one and used the spray to colour my Chipboard from Dusty Attic. Once finished I used my Colour Blast Gesso White to dry brush over the top to add a weathered look to the harlequin discs. Once done with that I Embossed my title in Stormy Sky with Colour Embossing Powder

 Here is a close up of the effect I created.

To finish off I added some string with brads and some textured paper to build up the background. Then I dusted on some microbeads... and voila... Too easy!

Thanks for looking! Make sure if you try out these techniques to pop your project onto our Facebook Colour Blast Creative Corner.

Kristy Abela