Aussie Scrap Source

weekend inspiration: luminarte

 

Janine discovered how much fun Luminarte Polished Pigments are while creating this layout. She tried different ways of applying them, mixing them and layering them. She discovered that the depth and intensity of the colour achieved could be varied by how much of the mixative solution you mixed with the pigments.

A lot of solution meant a lighter colour could be achieved, but still retaining the lovely iridescence of the pigments. She also discovered they are very easy to mix together to create new colours. Another tip when using these pigments is to make up enough when mixing colours to paint all the items you want a certain colour and a little bit of pigment goes a long way.

 

 

 

 

Suz used a combination of Luminarte’s Perfect Pearls and the water-based Twinkling H2O’s on her layout.  She backed a delicate Twiddleybitz Nero Butterfly with photo paper and blended the H2O’s to colour in its wings, but found the water base wasn’t going to work as beautifully on the Pink Paislee Artisan Element.  So for that she blended Perfect Pearls with the Acrylic Medium which gave a that beautiful saturated finish as well as the gorgeous gleam that the Luminarte paints are so well known for.

 

 

 

 

Gayle Martin has created this stunningly rich LO using Luminarte Polished Pigments to colour the cardboard and the tag. The depth of colour and the shimmer on the cardboard add to the charm of the layout. Thanks so much for sharing this beautiful LO with us Gayle.

 

In this fabulously arty page Gudrun Loennecken has used the polished pigments as a spritz, simply by mixing with water and spraying through a spritz bottle. The more pigments you add the deeper the colour of the spritz.

countdown to christmas: luminarte

Initially Louise was tempted to create beautiful background mini album pages using the wonderful polished pigments and twinkling H2O's. However she got to thinking how would they look on acetate; and the results of her experiments are what she considers to be 'Juuust Luscious'!!! She has used mostly the Twinkling H2O's on the acetate; to create photo matts and decorative elements, and the polished pigments; to give a beautiful golden sheen to the bookpage elements and Journal spot.

For added visual interest Louise has also used the Basic Grey Doilies as a template and embossed a beautiful pattern onto the mini album pages.

  

 

 

   

countdown to christmas: tim holtz

Suz fell in love with Tim Holtz’s Tree of Life the minute she saw it, and it’s now the first touch of christmas in her home so far this year.  It stands around 28” high but is lovely and narrow so can make a stunning statement with out taking up too much bench/table space, and would be a wonderful centrepiece for a Christmas table.  Obviously Suz had to have the beautiful light white one, but the tree is also available in bronze.   All the ornaments are decorated, by herself and her daughter (Phoebe’s are the glittery ones)!

Little Yellow Bicycle’s 25 Days of Christmas range include these beautiful reindeer, as well as snowflakes and trees shown below.  Here Suz has inked the reindeer with Tim Holtz distress inks, leaving the beautiful pattern on the chipboard to resist the ink.

 

Twiddleybitz Christmas release includes perfectly sized embellishments including doves, presents, boots and a sleigh.  Suz painted each of these with Luminarte Twinkling H2O’s and inked the edges for a shabby aged feel.  She then stamped them with Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co stamps and embellished with Heidi Swapp jewels.  The tree in the background is a Pink Paislee rubon transferred onto Hambly Transparency.

Here Suz layered two or three different sizes and patterns of the Little Yellow Bicycle snowflakes to create stunning decorations.  These were sprayed with Glimmer Mist and again embellished with jewelled brads and Pink Paislee Glitter.

Twiddleybitz Chipboard shapes, here Glimmer Misted, inked, stamped and embellished with Tim Holtz Metal Foliage.  The dove sports a beautiful Heidi Swapp Chandelier Crystal as well as bling.

Suz’s daughter Phoebe went to town with the Pink Paislee Pixee Stix on the LYB Chipboard, covering them in glue and different shades of gold and silver glitter, and she had to add a touch of red for Rudolph’s nose.

Finally the Tim Holtz Ornate Plates make beautiful photo frames to adorn your tree.  As they are meant to be used the other way round, Suz hung a chandelier crystal from the bottom hole.

countdown to christmas: stampers anonymous

Few would doubt the fabulous creativity versatility of stamps; especially those from Stampers Anonymous and the creative fabulousness of Tim Holtz. This line of stamps has designs that can either be used in combination or singularly, and, suit a range of creative styles. Here Louise has used just one of the many cling mounted Christmas designs by Tim Holtz to create 4 Christmas cards.

 

To add visual interest with the first set of 2 cards, Louise has embossed the stamped pattern, and then applied concentrated amounts of Luminarte pigment paint and Tattered Angels Glimmermist to highlight the intricate patterns; in the body of the Reindeer, and amongst the foliage of the trees.

  

With the second set of 2 cards Louise has replicated the embossing technique with the Tim Holtz snow flake stamp, with a Luminarte polished pigment paint backround effect.

weekend inspiration: luminarte

 

Suz will find any excuse to use her collection of beautiful Twinkling H2O’s, they’re right up there along with Glimmer Mist as her favourite arty products, but because Twinkling H2O’s are little cakes of water colours applied with a brush, you can be much more exacting about exactly where you want your shimmer to go.

Here Suz has given Grunge Alphas a rainbow effect combining the delicious little cakes of colour to celebrate her bookworm boy who always has his nose in a book.  Grungeboard is perfectly designed for applications such as this and Suz loves how the shimmer settles in the embossed crevices, further bringing out the pattern of the grunge board. She has also edged her cardstock in the same colours, which include Key Lime, Solar Gold, Ocean Wave and Persimmon.

 

For this layout Mel combined the bright and beautiful Sassafras Lass papers (green apple, cotton candy & tutti fruitti) then embellished the page with Cherry Arte chipboard swirls and circles. The chipboard was given a nice thick coat of paint using Luminarte's divine Polished Pigments. Although it's difficult to see in the photos, the Polished Pigments paint give such a luscious finish and creates a real shine when dry.

Extra dots of colour (using the paint) were also added to the green apple patterned paper to complete the page.

weekend inspiration: luminArte

  

 

Do you remember those Jenni Bowlin butterflies Loretta Grayson painted with the beautiful Radiant Rain daubers?  Suz was inspired and made some of her own, mixing them with BasicGrey Ambrosia papers, embellishments and stickers.  For the purposes of the layout she took it one step further and after blending the three colours and letting it dry, Suz applied a selection of BasicGrey flourish rubons over the top.  She also painted smaller Heidi Swapp chipboard butterflies and the title - it's hard to show the amazing shimmer the LuminArte products produce in a photograph but Suz has tried!

  

The Twinkling H2O semi transparent paints are packaged in individual solid cakes and give a lovely sheen when applied. You simply dip in a wet paintbrush and paint away. For this layout Mel has used the Twinkling H20 pack #676 to colour some Grungeboard shapes (nature). They have then been slightly layered (along with the Lil Davis Holidays title) onto the page to add extra dimension. Mel printed her photo onto canvas paper and added journaling with her favourite alpha stamp -Hero Arts Basic Lowercase.

LuminArte polished pigments were a product that caught Nic's eye as soon as she saw it. Remembering how she had seen her sister in law using Polished Pigments to colour chipboard, she attempted something similar.  Nic painted some BasicGrey chipboard white, waited for it to dry and gently rubbed in tiny amounts of polished pigments. When she had finished she sprinkled a little extra on top for a mottled effect.

When placing the chipboard on her page she felt it needed something else so she stamped an image on her page with clear embossing ink and brushed a little polished pigments over the top, creating a matching coloured stamped image. Nic's layout is created primarily with Heidi Swapp Dream Dining Room papers, with a few gems and brads for detail.

 

 

 

Steph decided to make a card using both the Luminarte Radiant Rain Daubers and the Twinkling H2O's. First of all she used a Heidi Swapp Mask and the Mediterranean Blue and Periwinkle Daubers to create the background colours of the card. Steph used a sponge to combine all the colours using them in layers. This gives the card that mottled effect. Next she added a layer of Hambly Music Note transparency and slipped a feather and flower under that layer for interest.

Then Steph used the same Daubers adding Teal Zircon and sponged the colours on a white paper doily. She cut the middle out of the doily and adhered to the transparency. Steph used her scraps to create a torn border on the left hand spine of the card. She then used her paintbrushes to add some green and aqua Twinkling H2O's to introduce an accent colour and enhance the shine.

From there Steph added her final embellishments and more layers of Heidi Swapp Transparencies to balance the weight of the design.

Caz has never used any of the Luminarte products before and was dying to have a play with the polished pigments.  She decided to see how they would go with a Heidi Swapp mask to alter the jewelry box that her daughters Christmas Bracelets came in.  After adhering the mask firmly in place she painted the Luminarte Acrylic Medium over the transparency. Then she shook each of them polished pigment colours over the medium, blending them slightly with a brush dipped in the medium to get a shaded effect.

The particles which have not turned into paint give an added sparkle to the finish which is not apparent in this photo.   The result is a much prettier box which her daughter can use to store her bracelet in when she is not wearing it.

pow! luminArte perfect pigments

 

The last of the LuminArte products we're showcasing are the Perfect Pigments - little vials of powdered pigment that you mix with medium to create amazing and wonderful textures and can build up for amazing depth of colour.   We asked the fabulous Jill Geraghty-Groves to create some layouts working with the Pigments and she blew us away with what she came back with. 

Jill says "I absolutely loved working with the Pigments and have used them many times since doing my layouts.  They are just so incredibly versatile and I am sure that I still have not even touched on the multitude of uses they have!

For this layout Jill has simply mixed the pigments with the Gel Medium.  She reports it was so easy to use - the medium was much more water than she had expected so it really goes an incredibly long way.  What's good about that is that you can keep adding it drop by drop if need be until you get a consistency you are happy with.

Jill has also painted with the pigments directly onto the photo to highlight her subject's hair.  There was absolutely no smudging of the photo which is always a worry when working directly on a photograph.

 

 

Here Jill uses a strong colour mix of pigment and gel medium.  She coated the chipboard alphabet and then used a fine brush to highlight the patterns on the flourishes.

 

 

 

 

Once again, Jill has used the pigments mixed with the Gel Medium directly onto the chipboard letters.  She wanted the colours to be exceptionally vibrant so I have used a fairly strong mix.

As you can also see, Jill also sanded the photo and added a very light mix of pigment to highlight the sanding - once again, no smudging or bleeding on the photo which is fantastic to know.  

To obtain the light coverage of the chipboard flourishes, Jill half-filled a small spray bottle with water and simply added some pigment directly to it.  It works beautifully and she is left with a gorgeous subtle shimmery finish.

 

 

 

On this stunning layout a strong mix of pigment was used to obtain the vibrancy of the alphabets.  Jill reports that the coverage on the raw chipboard is much easier than on finished chipboard (which requires a couple of coats) however the drying time is very quick.

On the Jenni Bowlin Studios chipboard sun Jill also added some glass glitter to the gel medium and painted around the edge for a fabulous textured effect.

Jill's final words:  "The pigments were so incredibly easy to use and I loved their versatility - I can obtain both a colour and a texture of the paint I require and I have since added it to Mod Podge, Dimensional Magic as well as texture paste, all with glorious results.  They will certainly remain as part of my "staples" in my stash!"

 

   

 

   

In a word Jaimie describes Luminarte Polished Pigments as 'awesome'. Two years ago the lovely Viv Bonder gave Jaimie a crash course via email on how to use the Luminarte pigments and its a technique she loves to use over and over. Jaimie says Luminarte Polished Pigments, gel medium and fabric for added texture give that definite wow factor to backgrounds and with a few embellishments on the front you have the perfect handmade gift that is sure to be original.

Here Jaimie shares the technique she used to create this stunning canvas: 

Add Luminarte pigments to gel medium and using a palette knife smear onto your canvas. Fray and rip fabric and then push into the background medium and on sprinkle mini beads - allow to dry (24 - 48 hours).  Mix coordinated Luminarte pigment with Simple Solutions 2 medium and dry brush over canvas to highlight areas. Attach embellishments.

Many thanks to Viv Bonder for her instructions - and stand by to see some more of her projects!

 

This simple eyecatching canvas was created by Viv Bonder by mixing the solution and polished pigments together and applying to the canvas. Once dry Viv added her embellishments and photo then applied more of the colour around the photo.

 

 

This gorgeous celtic knot bag was given a textured treatment by applying pigments and solution over textured effects then once dry another layer of solution and pigments were added over the top to give contrast and highlights.

 

 

And a final piece from Viv Bonder, this funky and lumpy junque box was created by first adhering paper with acid free glue and once dry she applied a mix of solution and pigments. Simple embellishments were added once the project was dry.

 

A huge thanks to all our guest artists contributing to this huge LuminArte post - we hope they have inspired and opened up some new shimmery possibilities for everyone!

pow! luminArte Radiant Rain Daubers

The Radiant Rain daubers are fun and easy to use. You simply shake well, lightly press down and watch the colour as it begins to flow. They really are a no mess way to paint - perfect for stamps and also great to share with your little ones (they can just roll the paint onto paper to create a picture).

For this layout Mel ran the dauber (spiced pumpkin) over her background sheet of cardstock and also used the paint to cover her chipboard alphabet letters. It's hard to see in the photograph but there is a sweet little shimmer over the paint which has added a beautiful effect to her page.

 

 

Nicole used the Radiant Rain daubers on this canvas celebrating her entry into motherhood over nine years ago now!
She found this product amazingly versatile and easy to apply to many different surfaces including tulle, crochet lace and even a cut up knitted jumper. Different textures gave different colour effects which Nic has demonstrated fabulously. She used the rain daubers to not only colour the fabrics and background but also to stamp and to colour and age the canvas piece of her title.

Nic created the textured appearance on the background of her canvas by applying the Cinnamon Brown Rain Dauber liberally over the entire blank canvas and then spraying with water. She laid the canvas flat and then sprinkled randomly with salt. Once it was dry, she brushed the salt off and was left with a gorgeous, and teeny bit shimmery variegated background.

She then applied the same Cinnamon Brown rain daubers to colour the spotty sheer fabric and the pieces of crocheted cotton doily. As you can see, the brown varied from watery and water-colour like to rich and opaque.  Nic used the Ginger Peach rain dauber to colour a piece of knitted jumper, some of the crocheted doily and also on the fabric flowers.  She also added some Glimmermist to embroidered leaves cut from fabric, to some tulle and also to some Tattered Angels Glimmer Chips.

 

 

 

We asked the very talented Loretta Grayson if she would play with some Luminarte products for us, and we were delighted when she agreed.  So we sent her some of the Luminarte Radiant Rain Daubers and waited with bated breath to see what she would come up with! 

She didn't disappoint - first of all with this beautiful layout giving Pink Paislee Office Lingo papers a very different look!  Loretta reports that she painted the Basic Grey chipboard letters and leaves, layering colours to create the shades she wanted.  The stunning background was created by using a paintbrush to apply the colours, then finishing off with dabs of paint using the daubers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These beautiful butterflies and bird were created very simply by painting Jenni Bowlin chipboard shapes with the Radiant Rain daubers, then adding wire and beads.  The Radiant Rain colours Loretta used were Sunburst, Majestic Blue, Spiced Pumpkin, Snap Dragon and Star Gazer.  The colours dry quickly, so she was able to build up layers until she achieved the desired effect.  Stargazer is a lighter, more translucent colour with a purplish/green opal like effect, so Loretta used blobs of it as a finishing touch, giving the mottled effect. 

pow! luminArte twinkling h2o's

Donna isn't a huge paint-user, but wanted to use this opportunity to demonstrate that even those that rarely dip their brush in a paint pot, can use this fabulous product to add a touch of liquid magic to their creations. In this layout, Donna has used the soft, glimmery LuminArte H20s to add depth and dimension to Tattered Angels Glimmer Chips. If you look closely you will notice that by lessoning the amount of water used Donna has added greater depth of colour to the oval frame.

To tie everything together, she has run a paint brush of the same colour around the edge of the page.

While it isn't easy to capture the true beauty of these paints in a photograph, the overall effect is still soft, dreamy and feminine. Donna was taken with the shimmer of these paints and will be experimenting further with this versatile new product from LuminArte!

Donna's youngest daughter loves receiving pictures and paintings. If ever she needs cheering up a simple hand-drawn picture will always do the trick. While experimenting with LuminArte Twinkling H2O's Donna created this sweet butterfly and pinned it on her daughter's door as a surprise. It is by no means a dramatic piece of art, but Donna now knows that with a little practice and the right products/tools she could perhaps develop that inner artist...in time!

*Notë: to create the outline for the butterfly Donna 'cheated' just a little by using Tattered Angels 'Fancy' Glimmer Screens. Glimmer Screens are a kind of mask/stencil that are perfect for those paint users that are maybe a little in doubt when it comes to their drawing skills. These would work beautifully on a canvas!

 

    

Carole says that this is something she could get very addicted to. She really enjoyed using these Twinkling H20's in a mini pack of 6 colours, which are rich and vibrant, and as you can see are really pretty in colour. It went really well with the Luxe Colour Me pattern papers. Carole just painted with these and used the Dual Tip marker for Blending, really easy.

You could also use the paints as a stamp colour, all you would do is just paint them directly onto your stamps and stamp onto cardstock. A really great idea, and being able to buy them in mini packs of 6 also makes it very affordable.

When we started bringing in LuminArte, we thought that to best show off the range and depth and beauty of the products, we could treat ourselves to some guest designers - some of our favourite Australian artists and scrapbookers.  Here we thank Kate Mason for contributing an enormous array of beautiful projects and pages, even whilst in the thick of coughs, colds and babies!

Kate's first project was  this amazing mini album she created to document her daughters upcoming heart surgery - and alongside the whole scrapbooking world we send her our prayers and thoughts that Chelsea Blossom will come home safe and sound.

Kate covered the album with patterned paper and decorated with book paper dots. To make the dots, a light coat of white paint was applied, then H2O's mixed with lots of painting medium was also added to achieve the translucent tint over the top.  For the charms, Kate stamped with Stazon ink over white painted book paper, then H2O's mixed with painting medium were used to colour the images.

Here Kate handcut shapes in various colours of cardstock and then coloured with H2O's, water and painting medium. Depth of colour on the shapes is built up with 2 or 3 H2O colours. She then applied rub-ons applied over the top.

How gorgeous is this fairy?  Kate painted the background with stone & white crackle paint.  She then applied pale H2O tints over the top. For the washed out look she achieved with this layout Kate simply mixed the LuminArte Twinkling H2O's with water.

In this gorgeous layout Kate cut out background patchwork pieces and adhered to layout her layout.  She then applied rubons and painted over them with the LuminArte Twinkling H2O's. She reported that the H2O's mixed in well with painting medium for a rich creamy but still translucent, coverage, and the rub-ons happily still peeked through!

Kate also painted book paper white and then added a coat of the LuminArte H2O's mixed with water for a pale washed out look.  The very cute birdie was painted with H2O's mixed with water.  Kate reports that the Twinkling H2O's look & feel exactly like watercolour paints but have their beautiful trademark shimmery appearance.

Kate further shows the amazing versatility of the H2O's - as well as her talents -  as she mixes them here with painting medium and applied directly onto stamps.  She then stamped all over a similar colour cardstock background paper for a subtle but handcrafted look.  Kate handpainted the cupcake with Twinkling H2O's mixed with water - again she used these just as you would watercolours but they have the added benefit of shimmer.

Kate then drew large spots on envelope created with gesso painted book paper, and covered with H2O's mixed with water. The gesso gave a nice chalky appearance and the h20's added more shimmer.  She painted white chipboard letters with H2O's mixed in well with painting medium for a rich creamy coverage.

In this final layout Kate painted white chipboard letters painted with H2O's mixed in well with painting medium for a rich creamy coverage.  She adhered muslin adhered to cardstock with Mod Podge. While still wet, Kate applied H2O's mixed with painting medium streaked over the top from edge. She added a Technique Tuesday chipboard scroll painted with H2O's mixed with painting medium to the left hand side, and found that 4 or 5 colours built up a delicious rich colour.

Thanks again Kate for providing us with so many amazing looks using the LuminArte Twinkling H2O's.  The shimmer and twinkle of the product is difficult to portray on a monitor but we hope this inspires you to get your paintbrushes and stamps out and give them a try!

introducing: luminArte inc.

We're excited to bring this fabulous new line of shimmery paints and pigments to Aussie Scrap Source.  They are currently up in pre-orders and as we have already had some enquiries about what and how to use these products, here is a rundown.  Our design team will soon be working on creating some gorgeous examples for an upcoming gallery.

If you would like to have a play with these exciting products, ask your local scrapbooking store to order them in for you!

 

Twinkling H20's

These are the most popular line of paints from LuminArte.  Twinkling H20s are fun, scrumptious, shimmery, lightfast watercolor cakes.

Twinkling H2O's are watercolor cakes that are incredibly shimmery, non-toxic acid free, lightfast and safe for all ages to use!  Simply dip a wet paintbrush or waterbrush into the solid cake of color and begin to paint!  You can use this paint on paper, canvas, rocks, wood and even Easter Eggs!

They are currently available in 156 colors in convenient packaging options.  Use Oyster or the iridescent colors to lighten the other colors without losing the shimmer.  Use colors in Kit TW-606 for adding metallic accents.  The possibilities and options are endless with these beautiful paints. 

These are just a few of the many colour palettes.  They are available in kits of either 6, 12 or 24 pots of shimmery colour.

 

 

Radiant Rain - Daubers

If you're after something even quicker and easier to use, Shimmering Twinkling H2O's are now available in daubers. Luminarte have even added extra shimmer for those intriguing projects you are working on. 

These are sold individually and are available in 24 colours.

 

 

 

Primary Elements Polished Pigments

"Old world Charm with New World Technology"  Imagine the old days when artists like Leonardo da Vinci ground their own pigments to make their own oil paint. LuminArte has ground pure colour and added the polish, sparkle or pearl of mica powder.

These are very INTENSE colors that sparkle.  They look like mini pearls in the bottle.  Polished Pigments are so concentrated a little goes a long way

Simple to use - mix with one part Polished Pigments™ to 2 parts Simple Solutions™ to make your own shimmering acrylic paints. Create a softer or sheer look by adding more Simple Solution™.

 

 

 

To kickstart inspiration and ways to use these stunning products, Luminarte have provided some step by step projects - click on the title to link you to the how-to page.

 

Precious Porcelain Beads

 

Bodacious Bangles - Fabulous Radiant Rain Bangles

 

 

Imagination Clay Patchwork Tray

 

Marvelous Memory Frame