March Mixed Media Madness!

It's March already! Can you believe it?

This month we wanted to do something extra special for you. We have been working hard behind the scenes on trendy FUN projects and ideas...which leads us to our Mixed Media focus for this month.

What is Mixed Media? Well, lucky for you we went to the one and only Wikipedia for a definition:

"Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed...Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct visual art media. For example, a work on canvas that combines paint, ink, and collage could properly be called a "mixed media" work..."

It's simple: just mix mediums! Have you ever tried it? Do not be afraid if you haven't! We are here to help you jump into the MM craze.

We are going to have SOMETHING for EVERYONE-cardmakers, tag collectors, layout-only peeps, album or canvas makers, journalers, etc.

We hope you check in on our blog to see the MM projects through-out the month! We will be showing you techniques, from simple to advanced, to use on ANY type of project!

layouts
cards
tags
books
albums
canvases
off the page

Prima has SO MANY amazing products that work perfectly for your mixed media projects:

Canvas sheets, albums, alphas, shapes, tags
Mixed Media books, inserts
Wood clips, icons, buttons
Metal trinkets & keys
Mechanicals numbers, clocks, flowers, etc
Stencils in 6x6 and 12x12
Stamps: clear, cling, foam, doll
Rub-ons and Iron-ons
Tiny Junkyard Findings
Comfort Craft Tools
Chalk Inks
Washi Tape, Cotton Tape, Fabric Tape
Flowers
Crystals
and more!

To start off our March Mixed Media Madness (now that's a mouthful!) we have a gorgeous canvas album by educator, Cari Fennell using these products:

5 feb 922030

Cari started with a Poppies & Peonies canvas album by Donna Downey. The cover is simply fantastic with an array of flowers, trims, cabachons and a sweet iron-on set on a canvas tag!

Here's how:

"I added some molding paste to the cover with acrylic paint and then masked over the painted areas for extra color and contrast. Then I layered book paper, a tag and a canvas ATC to frame in my title for the album ( an iron on from the Donna Downey collection.) For added interest I also used pieces of washi tape,canvas vines, fabric flowers and large pom pom trim." ~Cari

Our Donna Downey iron-ons are flocked so they are extra textured. Look how good it looks next to the flower cluster. These are EASY to use! So pull out your iron and use it for something FUN. :)

On the inside pages of the album Cari applied gesso, inks, clear stamps, washi tape and more to create this gorgeous design. Just think, "layers." Start one layer at a time and build on it: ink, then gesso, then stamping, papers, and so on.

There is NO wrong way to do mixed media...it is just mixing a bunch of elements together. (And having a BLAST while doing so!)

Our new stencils allow you to use almost any art medium to add designs to the backdrop. Cari's tone-on-tone effect is amazing without being distracting.

Here's how:

"The inside of the album is a blank canvas so I decided to replicate the outside cover for an overall cohesive look. I applied a layer of gesso and a light layer of molding paste (over a stencil) to the front and back inside covers. Then I used Distress Stain (Broken China) to add color throughout the surface." ~Cari

"I stamped randomly using a small acrylic background stamp and black ink. I added strips of washi tape, tags, paper pieces and more to showcase the photos I plan to add later." ~Cari

Prima Products:

921989-Donna Downey Poppy Album
922429-Donna Downey 6x6 Art Stencil-Hexigon Grunge
920791-Donna Downey Pom-Pom Trim
921224-Donna Downey Iron-On
921736-Donna Downey Sculpture Flowers
922030-Donna Downey Canvas ATC’s
922009-Donna Downey Fabric Poppy Flowers
921910-Canvas Banner
563851-Wood Clips-Sunrise Sunset
564957-Wood Buttons-Sunrise Sunset
891527-Junkyard Findings-Typo Bulbs
562731-Au Naturale Flowers
562670-Au Naturale Flowers
562724-Au Naturale Flowers
552251-Powder Puffs Flwoers-Cassie
553708-Grove Flowers-Grey
564933-Washi and Fabric Tape-Engraver
950439-Divine Paper-En L Air
Other:

Ranger Gesso, Ranger Distress Stain and Golden Molding Paste

.........................................................................................................................................

Next we have an AMAZING canvas by designer Felicity Wilson using these products:

12x12 Stencil, Chalk Edger, 6x6 Stencil, MM Background Stamp

No one is going to believe that this is Felicity's very first EVER canvas, but it is!

See how easy Mixed Media can be? Just start playing with your art mediums and some of our products and the whole thing will turn out beautifully!

How did Felicity achieve this gorgeous look? Let's find out.

Here's how:

"For my background I used Faber Castel Gelatos, and then white-washed it two times with Gesso. Once that was dried I applied the triangle Prima stencil with Texture Paste."

"Then I sprayed Shimmerz and let it drip. Once that dried I applied the circle mask over the top. To make the texture paste and mask stand out a bit more, I used Prima's tea damask chalk ink with a sponge. Sponge lightly over the top so the chalk ink will not go everywhere."

"Then I used the white chalk ink with the stamps to add some more depth. White chalk on Gesso is awesome... love, love, love the effect!" ~Felicity

Prima Supplies:

910228 Mixed media stamp
563134 ladybird clear stamp
560328 Lifetime cling stamp
845636 Hello Pastel 6 x 6 paper pad
845537 Lifetime "love tags"
845476 Lifetime "blue bayou"
845506 Lifetime :Familia"
960308 Sunset sunrise vintage trinkets
562991 Engraver cling stamps
565459 Ladybird flower
564925 Fairy Rhymes Washi tape
563790 Fairy Rhymes wood clip
891206 chalk fluid inks "teal damask and white"
563868 wood embellishments
563899 wood embellishments
563882 wood embellishments
564087 resist alphabets "chevron"
564315 6 x 6 stencil
922184 Poppies and Peonies 12 x 12 mask
566203 Queen mary "vintage"
566685 Merci "white"
556708 Merci "springtime"
567163 Tiara "white"
Other:

Gesso, Texture Paste, Stretched, Framed Canvas

You can find gesso, texture paste, molding paste, canvases, and other art mediums at www.dickblick.com or at your local Michaels or Hobby Lobby stores (in the paint section.)

So what do you think? Do you like mixed media? Do you want to see more? Let us know!

21 Comments

This is wonderful I love the way you you set it all up so easy to find a product thank you thank you thank you

Posted by: Maria Garzon | Tuesday, March 05, 2013 at 11:00 AM

wonderfully inspirational ladies, thanks for the deets on how to get the look, appreciate that
ava g

Posted by: ava g | Tuesday, March 05, 2013 at 11:08 AM

I LOVE mixedmedia, I'm not sure if I create without that...

Posted by: Drycha | Tuesday, March 05, 2013 at 11:12 AM

I LOVE mixed media and I love collages and art journal pages created with mixed media techniques :) There's more on my blog: http://ja-majka.blogspot.com/ I'm mixed media-addict :)

Posted by: Marta Turska-Grochocka | Tuesday, March 05, 2013 at 11:20 AM

I love Mixed Midea, especially canvas projectas and I´ve made few of those myself. Of course I want to see more, thank you :)

Posted by: Karita | Tuesday, March 05, 2013 at 11:28 AM