Quick watercolour sketch - video

Hello! Today just some quick inspiration for you as we are busy adding new products to the shop. A few days ago we prepared a short video using Sakura Pens and Prima Watercolour Pencils to show you how beautiful they work together and how easily you can create an interesting sketch with them. Enjoy!


Hope you like it. If there is any product you would like to see on such a quick demonstration simply please let us know in the comment section below, and we will try to do our best.

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Have a lovely day!

Ice Resin & Iced Enamels basics.

May is a month with Susan Lenart Kazmer and her products on our blog. Here you can find an interview with our Featured Artist and some of her beautiful creations. Next week are going to have fabulous guest designers and inspirations, so to warm you up we would like to share some videos showing basic techniques on how to use ICE Resin®. 

I guess there are some of you who are frightened to use ICE Resin®, as it may seem quite a complicated medium.  I know what I'm talking about because I myself bought ICE Resin® about a year ago and wasn't brave enough to try it for few months, but believe me - ICE Resin® is very easy to work with. Once I tried I couldn't stop and now I'm adding Ice Resin to almost every project. Let me start with a short explanation about the product:

ICE Resin® is a 2-part epoxy resin. Part A is the Resin. It has a slightly blue tint. Part B is the hardener. It has a very slight yellow tint.
Part A and Part B must be poured with a one-to-one ratio and mixed gently but thoroughly for ICE Resin to dry and cure properly.

Crystal Clear –the beautiful, glass-like finish is more transparent. Properly cared for, your jewelry will not fade or become brittle.
Naturally Doming—like water bubbles on a freshly waxed car, ICE Resin has surface tension, and this tension allows the user to fill a bezel and make a dome.
Self-Leveling—because of its surface tension, ICE Resin levels itself in a project.
Self-Healing—the user can sand an area of ICE Resin out of a project, mix a new batch of ICE Resin and paint the resin on or pour the resin into the area and viola! Just like the cat hair, stray piece of glitter, et cetera never happened.
Cold Cure –because ICE Resin® was formulated with an 8 to 12 hour drying time and 3 day cure time, the user can colour the resin with organics an/or place organic matter in their arts and crafts projects.

Iced Enamels™ were expressly developed for creative people who enjoy the look of torch-fired or kiln-fired enamels. Combine Enamel Medium with our quick-melting Relique powders and solidify with a craft heat gun for beautiful mixed-media metalwork in minutes. Seal with a thin coat of ICE Resin® to create a permanent Cold Enameling bond that will never rub off or fade over time. 

Here is the first video by Jen Cushman explaining how to use the ICE Resin® Syringe:

And here's Jen showing step-by-step with Iced Enamels™:

And now if you already know the basics here's Chantal Johnson's video that I'm sure will inspire you to experiment with the ICE Resin®:


Visit us on Monday as we are going to have our first Guest Designer this month. Please also remember about our May challenge - only 11 days to enter now :)

Have a beautiful and creative weekend

K.

ATP Exchange - May Challenge

Hello! Let's start this weekend with a new ATP Exchange challenge. We have changed the rules and it's format a little bit recently, so please make sure you know them before you enter. All rules can be found here and on the right sidebar of our blog.

Our new challenge again gives you the chance to work in your own style and experiment with techniques you like. This time the challenge subject is to create with found natural objects. It can be collage, assamblage, art journal spread, scrapbook layout, magnet or anything else you want. Only one additional rule this time is that you have to use at least one product that can be found in our shop and mention it in your blog post.

And what are found natural objects? It can be everything: stones, pieces of wood, sticks, beautiful flowers, leaves, shells, feathers, sand, minerals etc. Try to open your eyes for things that you would normally ignore. Let simplicity and rawness of these objects inspire you.

Just just like the last time, to help you with this challenge we prepared a special  mood board for you:

Below are some samples we both made for this challenge:

Kasia:

Scrapbook layout in 12x12 size with found feather using Ecolines applied with wet brush on papers coated with gesso.

Products used: 

Ecoline Watercolour Ink 30ml - 390 - Pastel Rose

Ecoline Watercolour Ink 30ml - 411 - Burnt Sienna

Ecoline Watercolour Ink 30ml - 231 - Gold Ochre

Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Filmstrip Ribbon

Golden Gesso 237ml

* * *

Ice Resin and Iced Enamels pendant with pieces of shell. We also got a special treat for you here. A short video showing the technique and how to use these products.

1. Sand your bezel with a sanding block to clean the surface.

2. Apply thin layer of Iced Enamels Medium with a brush.

3. Sprinkle your favourite colour of Iced Enamels.

4. Melt enamel using a heating tool.

5. Play with layers of different Iced Enamels repeating the process.

6. Place pieces of shell.

7. Mix the Ice Resin and pour on your bezel. Use heating tool for few seconds to disperse the bubbles. Leave it to dry for at least 6 hours.

8. After drying you can sand the Ice Resin surface like I did, if you want a distressed look, and paint your bezel with Treasure Gold.

Products used:

Ice Resin 1oz Syringe	Ice Resin - Iced Enamels Medium	Ice Resin - Iced Enamels Relique Powder - Ivory	Ice Resin - Iced Enamels Relique Powder - German Silver	Rectangles One - Silver Bezels
Ranger Heat It Tool	Treasure Gold - Pewter

* * *

Jamie created simple and lovely herb garden markers using split sticks and a white Sharpie. He covered them with Ice Resin to protect the writings.

Products Jamie used:

Ice Resin 1oz Syringe

Sharpie Water Based White Extra Fine Point

The prize for this challenge is "Exploring Resin Jewelry-Making" DVD featuring Susan Lenart 
Kazmer and a guest designer spot on our blog. Read more about prizes and the way we are going to choose winners here.

If you are entering our challenge and would like to share this badge on your blog, please copy the text below and paste to a html gadget.

<a target="”_blank”" href="http://library.vu.edu.pk/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/000100A/http/artisttradingpost.blogspot.co.uk/" border="”0″"><img src="http://library.vu.edu.pk/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/000100A/http/farm9.staticflickr.com/8742/16365660804_8fa2efbe73_m.jpg"></a>

Hope you enjoy! Can't wait to see your creations :)

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