Flying Unicorns Mixed Art for April - Relax wall canvas

Mixed Art add on kit is for beginners and enthusiasts who love mixed media and creating journal pages, layouts, with lots of textures and details! Our Mixed Art kit always come with a canvas to allow your to create works of art that can be displayed in your home. gifted or to practice your techniques. Its about finding the passion in you and creating! The colors of the Mixed Art compliment the main kit and other add ons allowing you additional items and mediums to play with.

I am obsessed with the beach theme lately as winter lingers on and on here.  Yesterday we had yet another 7 inches of snow.  STOP I say. 

So I need to surround myself with the peaceful tranquility of the ocean.  I grabbed the FabScraps Beachcomber collection for this. 

This project has two looks - one with the 8in x 8in canvas behind it and one without.  Just pop off the pretty decorative hanger and it hangs alone on a wall or window. 

 Below is the tiny mini frame decorated with elements from the Mixed Art add-on and from FabScraps Beachcomber collection.  You can see shots of it on the background and off. 

I have also attached step by step instructions of the project at the bottom of this post. 

The metal gears  have been covered in white frosty ink and heat dried.

The gorgeous sanddollar chipboard piece from FabScraps DC64013 has been painted white, and covered in Shimmerz Texturez, Tidy Widy.  This is wonderful texture paste. 

The star fish is also from FabScraps chipboard DC64013 and has been painted white and covered in Tidy Widy texture paste.   I have also added strips of mesh,  Viva Sand Texture paste, dry wall tape,  and fibers. 

Here is the complete project without the 8x8 canvas background. 

Grab up the  Mixed Art kit  before it's gone.  

For This Project You Will Need

• Flying Unicorn  Mixed Art kit 
• FabScraps  –Beachcomber  Collection – Splashes 2 C64004
• Bottle Cap Inc - Essential Vintage Metal gears
• Viva Stone Art - Sand Gold
• Fantastix - Frost White All Purpose Ink
• FabScraps  –– Beachcomber  Collection  Chipboard –Shells and Starfish DC64013
• FabScraps  - Beachcomber  Collection  Clear Stickers ST64001
• Decorative fibers
• Gesso/white paint
• Shimmerz Spritz - Sea Foam and Sapphire 
• 8x8 Canvas
• 2 small canvas’
• Melisas Frances - Metal hanger with clips CIH020
• Decorative Door knob
• Fishing net/mesh
• Punched paper tape
• Shimmerz Texturz - Tidy Widy Texture paste 
• Mesh tape
• Web weave
• Various blue ink colors

Instructions

1.     Background Canvas Preparation:

2.     Cut a square of FabScraps Beachcomber Splashes 2 C64004 paper to cover the front of your canvas – leave ¼ in around the edges for canvas to show.  Glue to canvas – or adhere using a gel medium.  Gel medium  will not ripple the paper.

3.     Dab gesso or thin white acrylic paint around edges of paper and canvas for a beachy weathered effect.

4.     Drill a hole in the top of the canvas at the wood frame and attach the decorative door knob. Make sure decorative metal hanger fits over door knob.

5.     Chipboard Preparation:

6.      FabScraps Beachcomber Collection chipboard – Shells and Starfish DC64013 - Paint a sand dollar and a star fish with white gesso or paint.  Cover with a texture medium like molding paste or ceramic paste.  You can even mix sand to your molding paste to create beachy texture.

7.     Add a decorative center to the starfish.  Set aside.

8.     Glue Sand dollar to the metal hangar.  Add some web weave on the back and a fiber bow.

9.     Decorate the bow with punched paper tape and pearls or beads.  

10.   Mini Canvas Preparation:

11.   To decorate the mini  canvas – here are the products I used but the options are limitless.

12.   Small canvas #1 – I used layers of molding paste, sand  texture, mesh, fibers, punched paper tape that had been inked.  I glued the chipboard starfish to the canvas, then tied  fiber around it to further hold in place.  Add trim to the bottom – I used Web weave.

13.   Small Canvas #2 – misted lightly and let drip. When dry, added some small metal gear charms that had been heat embossed with white.  Added some punched tape.  Inked the edges lightly,

14.   Using stickers from FabScraps Beachcomber Collection Stickers ST64001, remove the “Relax” sticker and mount on white cardstock to make it durable and brighter since the stickers are transparent.   Glue to the canvas.

15.   Add small amount of fishing net to the back and dab the net with gesso for a softer weathered look. Finish with web weave glued to the bottom of the canvas.

16.   Finishing Touches:

17.   Glue some ribbon to the mini canvas’ and clip to the hanger to let hang.

18.    Using stickers from FabScraps Beachcomber Collection Stickers ST64001, remove the banner  stickers and mount on white cardstock to make it durable and brighter since the stickers are transparent.   Glue to the top of the canvas. 

Flying Unicorns - Kit of the Month Reveal for April

We are thrilled to reveal our April 2014 Your Passion Your Art kit of the month! This kit is filled to the brim with the long awaited 7 Dots Collection Cold Country ! A vintage, artistic feel with lots of one of kind goodies and mixed media enhancements to allow you to create with passion your works of art!

Our kit is never complete without our off the page project and this month we provide an unfinished wood 3 drawer chest that stands eight inches tall !

We are so excited to share some sneak peeks and okay one amazing layout by our Guest Designer and Co-Owner of 7 Dots Studio - Tusia .... Check back tomorrow for a full reveal of her amazing creations !!

Our Small Art Big Passion add on kit is perfect for card, tag and atc makers! This add on kit is a wonderful enhancement to the main kit and all other add on kits ..

Mixed Art add on kit is for beginners and enthusiasts who love mixed media and creating journal pages, layouts, with lots of textures and details! Our Mixed Art kit always come with a canvas to allow your to create works of art that can be displayed in your home. gifted or to practice your techniques. Its about finding the passion in you and creating! The colors of the Mixed Art compliment the main kit and other add ons allowing you additional items and mediums to play with.

Mixed Passion, the prettiness of it all. This add on kit is filled with additional flowers, trims and embellishments that enhance the main kit and all other add on kits. It can stand alone and be used with your stash - the possibilities are endless!

Our Educators this month our Creative Team Members Lynne and Tammy. Join Lynne this month on our You Tube Channel on April 6th 2014, as she creates an incredible layout with lots of techniques to assist your growth as an artist. Tammy has created an outstanding layout and takes us step by step On April 8th 2014, to create the same with amazing techniques.

Flying Unicorn believes that art should be a passion and not an obligation - we have no kit sign ups - they are sold on a first come first serve basis - once they are gone they are gone - so CLICK on over to the store and get your Kit and all the addons now !

Happy Creating !

WCYDW (What Can you do Wednesday's)- Flying Unicorns -tutorial with used paper towels.

I'm  here with a super quick video on how to use up those ink and mist saturated paper towels on your projects.  Paper towels are my best friend when it comes to dabbing mist from a page, or cleaning excess mist from my craft mat.  I've gotta be honest - sometimes my paper towels are prettier than my project or misting experiment. 

But I also feel that I waste a lot of mist during the creative process or when I am trying something different -testing out  a "look". So waste no more!  Incorporate those mist soaked paper towels into your project for some incredible and rich texture. Never toss a towel out again.  Just add it to your ever growing "stash" for use at a later date. 

This is what I created with my paper towels.   I used them for texture.  I adhered them to the page using Gel Medium, then added seed beads and let dry.  Super easy!

This tutorial builds upon the tutorial created by Jackie Clark, on March 5th called "Worry Free Misting".  It was a wonderful tutorial with a sensational  video ( a 'MUST SEE" if you are timid about mists).  Fabulous,  you can now mist and spritz with confidence. And then what?  You have paper towels soaked in Glitz, and Glam, Spritz, Shimmerz, Lindy's, 13Arts Mists, Prima Color Sprays...you name it - it's probably on your paper towel. 

 Well waste no more!

Here is a quick - (4 min) video showing how I used my paper towels.  In today's ecomony, you need to be crafty and economical. 

  Here you can see that I have added seed beads to my paper towels layers.  I can do this when the gel medium is wet and then they stick nicely as the gel dries.

I have highlighted my paper towel layers and my page with Splash of Color Silk Glazes.  These are wonderful transparent glazes and not paints.  They are not over bearing and do not completely cover the images under them.  They provide color, accent and pizzazz, just in a soft handed way.   Totally perfect for folks like me who are not comfortable with paints and bold color for frea of ruining the project or not being satisfied with the results.    I can honestly say I have never felt that I have added too much Silk on any project or that it is too heavy.  You can find an amazing selection of the most beautiful colors available here.

I used Carmen - a deep rich red to bring out the reds in my heart image.    Then I applied a little Ginger Peach, which has a warm orange touch.  Last, I used Solar Gold. This leaves a golden sheen on the page - transparent and definitely not overpowering, just enough for a gilded highlight.

For comparison's sake - I usually love to use Rub'N Buff when trying to achieve a gilded look, but that tends to be heavy and give a more antique look.  Solar Gold Silk is a great intermediate step.

When the layers dry, they are quite hard from the gel medium.  They will be pretty durable.

Here are a few other projects I created using the paper towels created using the March Mixed Art! add on kit .  This project , along with instructions, can be found here.

And yet another example.  The flower centers are simply paper towels bunched up and glued on.  You can see  how I made them with a video seen here. 

The center of the flowers was simply baled up paper towels.  No technique - nothing fancy - just rolled, balled and glued. 

Now you can enjoy your sprays and mists even more!

Supplies:
Gel Medium
13 Arts Ayeeda Yellow Amber Mist
Shimmerz  Spritz Tuscan Sun
Lindy's Flat Fabio Mango Mania
Lindy's Bougainvillea Fuchsia
Prima Color Bloom Mists - Tangerine
Splash of  Color - Silks in Solar Gold, Carmen, Ginger Peach
Seed Beads
Prima Mask 960348
Flying Unicorn Metal Adornments
Trim
Floral berries

FabScraps Retro Twist Collection - Tag

FabScraps Retro Twist Tag

FabScraps Retro Twist collection was meant for playful whimsical fun.  I made a super easy and adorable gift tag.  When I say super easy, you can have this tag done in ten minutes.   I have included easy steps below.

FabScraps has made it easy to create fun tags because they have great matching journal tags to coordinate with the paper collection.  Each journal tag opens like a card.  They have gorgeous scalloped edges and beautiful die cut butterflies that reveal the solid inside of the journal card. 

  Thanks for looking.  Have a retro groovy day - or at least a FAB-ulous one.

FabScraps –Retro Twist Collection Tag

For This Project You Will Need

• FabScraps  –Retro Twist Collection –Journal Box MC65001A
• FabScraps  – Retro Twist Collection –Floral Wishes C65004 –background
• FabScraps  -RetroTwist  Collection Stickers  ST65001
• Ribbon/trim
•  Flowers - Prima Flowered Tendrils Turkish Stone 549084
• Ribbon
• Floral berries
• Web weave trim
• Cardboard
• Inks ( purple and teal) 0 Mixd Media Ink Berries and Verdigris

Instructions

1.     Background  Preparation:

2.     Cut a cardboard rectangle to the desired size of your tag.   I like to make my tags with a cardboard base if I am adding a lot of embellishments.   

3.     Using FabScraps Retro Twist Collection – Floral Wishes paper C65004, cut to the size of your cardboard and glue down.  

4.     Adhere three stickers from the Retro Twist picture sticker set ST65001

5.     Select a die cut from Retro Twist Collection – Journal Box MC65001A and adhere to a cardboard circle of the small size.   Glue to tag base.

6.     Finishing Touches:

7.     Embellish with flowers and floral berries. 

8.     Tuck web weave into place here and there as leaves. 
9.    Add a little trim or lace to the bottom.
10.     Add bow to the top to complete.

11.   Lightly ink the edges of the tag with purple and teal for dimension.