Featuring The Men In Our Lives!

That's right! It's high time we focused on those men in our lives! Since Father's Day is coming up now is a great time to pull out your Finnabair Art Extravagance products to create a textured, masculine masterpiece! We even have our amazing Finnabair team here with an inspiring assortment of HANDSOME projects. So grab a pen and paper to take notes as they share their favorite tips and techniques with us!

'Dark Notes' - My husband is enthusiastic music maker and composer. When I relax with paints and visual things, he enjoys playing instruments and aural things. Keeping this in mind, I created, or rather, made over this little guitar for him. ~Riikka Kovasin

The guitar is originally from my grandfather, but the souvenir-type thing didn’t hold well in my daughter's games, so it ended up to my mixed-media drawer.

First I added some cogs, bottle caps and other metal ephemera to the guitar and then coated the bright orange thing with a layer of black gesso.

Next I layered two crackle pastes, Clear and Antique Silver Crackle on there, mixing them slightly together in the seams. On top I added color using Mica Powders. The finishing touches are made with Graphite Texture Paste and, while that was still wet, I sprinkled some Micro and Glass Beads on it.

Prima: 961497 Texture Paste Graphite, 961541 Texture Paste Clear Crackle, 961510 Texture Paste Antique Silver Crackle, 960391 Mechanicals Bottle Caps, 961053 Mechanicals Gears, 961060 Mechanicals Washers,, 572051 Wire Thread Black, 961381 3D Gloss Gel, 961435 Soft Gloss Gel, 962524 Mica Powder Gold,, 962494 Mica Powder Blue, 962470 Mica Powder Purple, 961459 Heavy Gesso Black, 961794 Art Sugar Charcoal , 962555 Micro Beads Black, 961688 Glass Beads Liquorice , 961695 Glass Beads Zinc

Hello, Everyone! Rebecca here with you to share two different ways how I have used Art Extravagance Texture Paste in the below canvas. ~ Rebecca

Prior to adding my texture pastes my background was built with a combination of lace, paper, washi tape, and dry wall tape. This was then given a coat of gesso (allow to dry), and then color was applied using different combinations of paint colors (allow ample time to dry.)

Time to add more texture!! To create even more texture within my Art Extravagance Copper Crackle I first mixed in some Copper Micro Beads. This mixture was then applied to my background through the Chicken Wire Stencil. The final step in my texture adventure was to add some Graphite Texture Paste and this was applied through the Grungy Grid Stencil. My friends, don't be shy, jump on in and get some texture going in your projects, these products will give you fabulous results.

Prima: 962531 Art Ingredients Mica Powder Copper, 961534 Art Extravagance Texture Paste Copper Crackle, 961497 Art Extravagance Texture Paste Graphite, 962036 Cling Stamps 'Trust the magic', 962050 Cling Stamps 'Rust & dust', 961053 Mechanicals Gears, 961169 Mechanicals Brads Stars, 962272 Elementals Chicken Wire Stencil, 962319 Elementals Grungy Grid Stencil, 962579 Art Ingredients Micro Beads Copper

Even though my work may seem feminine, it actually embodies the male affinity with the forest and the wilderness, for in the past even men venerated the lady of the forest. She looked after the wildlife and was often seen accompanied by a deer. The lady was a perfect addition to a wonderful clock frame designed by Finnabair. ~ Olga Siedlecka

I used Texture Pastes in a three-fold way. Firstly, I mixed White Sand Texture Paste and Black Gesso, which resulted in a rough substance that made the background look a bit distressed.

Secondly, in order to obtain mock rust, I used Copper Crackle Texture Paste and Mica Powders – that, in turn, gave the work an aging effect. Thirdly, I prepared a mixture consisting of Clear Crackle Texture Paste, a bit of water, and a pinch of Mica Powders.

I applied the mixture onto the central element of my work thus granting it with a translucent effect reminding me of broken china. You can achieve different surface effects depending on the substances proportions in the mixture, so don’t shy away from using your own ideas here.

Prima: 962531 Mica Powder Copper, 962548 Mica Powder Rust, 962524 Mica Powder Gold, 961343 Altered Metal Frame Clock, 962500 Mica Powder Green, 962494 Mica Powder Blue, 961503 Texture Paste White Crackle, 961510 Texture Paste Antique Silver Crackle, 961534 Texture Paste Copper Crackle, 961541 Texture Paste Clear Crackle, 961398 3D Matte Gel, 961459 Heavy Gesso Black

Today I've got another art journal page for you - so simple and fun to do. Everything started with one of my most favorite vintage photos. ~ Monika Huculak

I started with two coats of Heavy White Gesso. After the gesso was dry I grabbed the Alpha stencil and Modeling Paste. I found myself adding more and more layers and patterns.

I have used new cling stamps Dream on and Never too late to create some interest to my page. I also have looked through my boxes and selected a couple of embellishments. I mixed some tiny pebbles, gems, Mechanicals, old clock faces, Micro Beads, and nail heads from the Junkyard Findings collection.

I mounted them all using 3D Gloss Gel. I've covered embellishments with a thin coat of Art Basics Black Heavy Gesso to make it darker and prime it before painting. As my final touch I used Gold Crackle to outline dimensional elements. Rather than using it as paste and I gently painted my metal elements with Gold Crackle using very small brush. As my last step I added my vintage photo. This way my textured and multi-layered journal page was done! I hope it will inspire you.

Prima Products: 961404 Light Paste, 961442 Heavy White Gesso, 961381 3D Gloss Gel, 962630 Micro Beads – Splash, 961558 Texture Paste Gold Crackle, 961107 Mechanicals – Pendants, 961053 Mechanicals – Gear, 961046 Mechanicals - Leaves 2, 960377 Mechanicals - Jump Rings, 960346 Mechanicals Washers, 961992 Cling Stamps – Dream on, 961985 Cling Stamps – Never to late, 961893 Clear Stamp – Messy, 891657 Junkyard Findings – Nail Heads, 891770 Junkyard Findings - Water Pipe Frames, 962296 Prima – Stencil - Alpha

So amazing. So talented. So inspiring. Each gal inspired me so much! Now I REALLY need to get those Art Extravagance pastes and create my own masterpiece to celebrate the men in my life!!! Won't you do the same? And just share with all of us when you do!

Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter