Mixed Media Blog Hop

Good morning everyone.  I am so excited about today's blog hop with Faber-Castell.  If you're not familiar with Faber-Castell be prepared to be ENABLED!!  They offer several different types of artistic mediums, some of which I used on my card today - Geletos.

**Before I get to my card I have some important information to share - both days of the Mixed Media blog hop JustRite Papercraft will be giving away some prizes!!  Who doesn't like prizes - all you need to do if go to the JustRite blog and leave a comment for your chance to win some amazing prizes.  Also if you visit the Faber-Castell blog there are chances to win some different prizes there too**

This card brought me so far out of my comfort zone.  I am not an "artsy" mixed media type of crafter but these products from Faber-Castell really were very easy to use.  You are only limited by your imagination.  The Geletos blend beautifully on your cardstock.

To create my card I stamped Fleuriste Newsprint Background stamp using Versamark, added white embossing powder and heat embossed it.  The Geletos will only adhere to non-embossed areas.  Now this is where the fun part starts!  I took the Geletos and started randomly adding color little by little blending the colors together with my fingertips as I went.  If more blending was needed I just squirted some water over the Geletos making it more fluid.  If I thought an area needed more color I just added more over the top of what was already there and blended it in again.  So, so easy to use!!

My card sentiment was stamped using Grand Sentiments.  I found the metal frame and corner pieces in my stash so I decided to use them on my card.  I thought the gold color was a bit too bold so I distressed them by brushing some black ink onto them.  The butterflies were also colored using Geletos.

We will have some of the Faber-Castell designers hopping with us today too.   Be sure to check out all of the designers who also have some really great projects today using products from Faber-Castell.  You are going to be blown away!!!

JustRite Inspiration
Becca Feeken 
Sharon Harnist 
Eva Dobilas
Tiffany Johnson
Michele Kovack
Heidi Blankenship
Kellie Fortin 
Rita Barakat
Sheri Holt
Angela Barkhouse
Barb Schram

Here's some great information about Geletos:

Gelato Colors are an emollient-based water-soluble medium that glides smoothly onto nearly any surface to create rich swaths of pure color.  They may be blended without water using your fingertip or a blending tool, or with water using a paintbrush or damp cloth. They are often referrred to as 'smooth as butter" or like 'painting with lipstick', but there is no oily residue and their water-soluble qualities make them very compatible with other mediums. Use on all types of paper, cloth,canvas, wood and other porous surfaces as well as rubber, foam and clear stamps.  They are availabel in 22 yummy opage colors and 6 shimmering metallics.  They are light fast, acid free,archival, odorless,watersoluble,permanent and work great on dark surfaces.

Gelatos Colors as a 'Dry" Medium - because of their creamy consisitency Gerlatos can be used as is, without water, for rich swaths of color covering large surfaces or blended edges on cards and pages.

For basic blending - lay down swaths of solid color and blend together using your fingertup, a Q-Tip or a blending stump.

For edging - draw color along the edge of a card or page and then use a blending tool to fade color inward.  Gold or neutral colors are great for creating an antiqued or grunge effect.

Bold Color - for solid opaque color in a dry medium, nothing gives faster smoother coverage than Gelatos.  Use if for coloring large surfaces or on chipboard shapes.  Raw chipboard absorbs Gelatos for a beautiful, rich finished effects.

To use Gelato Colors as "Wet" Medium - Gelatos Colors are water soluble, which means the pigments will dissolve in water and spread easliy to create watercolor effects. Create backgrounds and soft edges as descirbed in 'Dry' medium, but adding water will lighten the color, extend it further and increas the blend-ability. Use a damp paintbrush or a cloth (or baby wipe) over your fingertip to spread and blend the color.  Ecperiment with varying amounts of water.

Spritzing- You can spray your surface with water and then apply Gelatos or vice versa. Use a stiff paintbrush to blend and move the color around.

Dripping- Create interesting backgrounds by applying Gelatos to one side or in patches across your page.  Use your Spritzer to wet the surface. Tilt your work and let the color drip down the page. Use a foam blender or paper towel to blend or streak further.

Color Spray-  chop off a slice of Gelatos and blend with water to it to create a watercolor paste to paint your stamped image or scoop this paste into a Spritzer bottle, add more ware and shake to disolve.  Use this color spray over stencil masks and backgrounds.

To color wash your cardstock - color your cardstock with your gelato and blend with water and a brush to create a multi colored colored wash

If you want to stamp your image and then color it - use Staz-on ink - as this ink is waterproof and will allow you to watercolor the image without it bleeding.

You can also add color to the edge of your card by coloring the edge with gelatos and using a damp foam wedge or paper towel to blend the edge.

If you want to color your stamped image with the Gelatos, before you color your stamp - spritz your stamp with water before coloring the stamp - 3 to 4 sprays is sufficient. When the stamp is wet the color will melt right onto it.  You can easily blend more than one color on one stamp.  Once you have colored your stamp - spritz it again before stamping.  The more you spray the more like a watercolor painting your stamped image will be.

You will get a totally different effect if you don't spritz  your stamp first - both methods work.

Tip: apply metallic Gelatos over any sold color to add a metallic sheen. This can be done Wet or Dry.

Special Surfaces - Gelatos work on all typoes of paper, cardboard, chipboard, sandpaper, cloth, canvas, burlap, flocking,cork,wood and some plastics. Some surfaces can tolerate ware better than others, so choose the right surface for wet or dry usage.

Dark Surfaces- Gelatos are gorgeous on dark surfaces. Use them "dry" for maximum opaqueness and the color will stand off the dark background impressively. Try them on black paper, velvet or flocked surfaces and super fine black sandpaper.

Textiles- Gelatos work great on silk, canvas, cotton and woolens! You can create lovely painterly effects on these versatile materials.

Wood- Try Gelatos on wood objects. You can use small mounts of water for blending.  Too much water will make the wood swell and/or warp. Seal porous surfaces with glaze or other fixatives.

Embellishments-Use Gelatos to enchance chipboard sapes, synthetic flowers, cloth-covered buttons or brads, lace,doiklies, almost anything you want to add to your artwork can be colored or altered with Gelatos.

NOTE- Gelatos are not "colorfast" on cloth items -machine washing is not recommended

Thanks for stopping in for a visit today.  I hope you will step out of your comfort zone like I did and give these Geletos as try.  You will not be disappointed!!

Have a great day!!

Card Ingredients:

Stamps:  JustRite Papercraft - Fleuriste Newsprint Background, Grand Sentiments

Accessories:  Faber-Castell Geletos