A Sneaky Post....YOU ROCK!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

I am being a little sneaky today and have jumped on to share with you a really fun layout that I have done recently!

If you follow us regularly you would know that we just had our Autumn Retreat in the beautiful Victorian town, Bright. It was a heap of fun (as it always is)! A huge thank you to Jo for her planning and organisation of the weekend...it was superb!

I ran a workshop on the weekend using two of the newest Australian products on the market...Colour Blast Shimmer Pots and the Cocoa Vanilla Collection 'You Rock'!

I have stopped by to share with you the process in creating my layout that I used in the workshop. The ladies that joined me were a little unsure to begin with but in the end I believe that they were all very impressed with their creations. They were all very different to mine...which I love...our aim was to have a play with the product and to delve into our own creativity not to create identical layouts!

If you would like to follow with this process you will need the following products which are all available on the Scrapbookit Online Store (http://www.scrapbookit.com.au/online-shop.aspx) 

*White Cardstock 

*Cocoa Vanilla 'You Rock' Ephemera

*Cocoa Vanilla 'You Rock' Washi Stickers

*Colour Blast Shimmer Cubes - Sunshine, Tangareen Dream & Just Blue

*Colour Blast Colour Paste - Sunshine, Tangareen Dream & Just Blue

*Gel Medium 

*Kaisercraft Mini Template - Woven
*Kaisercraft Mini Template -Rough Grid

I have also used plain water colour paints in my background. 

Here goes...I hope you enjoy!

Step 1: Planning

Whilst this may change at the very end...I always like to have a bit of an idea in my head as to what I would like my finished project to look like. Often it dramatically changes but that's ok.

I took my Cocoa Vanilla 'You Rock' Ephemera and sorted through the pieces and placed them roughly with my photo to create a bit of a plan.

Step 2: Let's get messy!

Now that I had a plan in my mind it was time to create my background. Prior to this project I had had a play around with the products that I was using, especially the new Shimmer Cubes from Colour Blast.

The first layer that I created was using the plain water colour paints.  It doesn't matter what water colour paints you have, they all work! The only difference being possibly the intensity of the colour or quality of the colour...saying that the most expensive aren't always the most ideal. I have a variety of options and what I looked for was the colour matching with the Shimmer Cubes. 

I started with the lightest colour first...I used a makeup sponge to apply the colour.

  

 It is important to remember that the more water that you add the lighter the colour on your page and then obviously the less water the darker the colour.

You may also need to add a few layers to get the colour that you are looking for.

I continued adding the two other colours. I didn't dry the colours in between to allow for a little blending to occur. I also often squeezed the sponge and colour onto the page to make puddles that I allowed to dry naturally.

I tried not to go overboard with this water colour background as I knew that I would be adding to this the Shimmer Cubes colour.

Once happy with it I dried it off before moving onto using the Colour Blast Shimmer Cubes.

Step 3: Colour Blast Shimmer Cubes

I followed a very similar process but this time I used a larger water colour brush.

The Colour Blast Shimmer Cubes are so easy to use. You can spray water into the cube or you can wet your brush/sponge and collect the colour.

Again, I layered the colour to get the intensity that I liked and I also squeezed the water and colour from my brush to make puddles. I was able to create drips of colour by doing this.

The shimmer is hard to see in photos...but it is absolutely gorgeous!

Step 4: Gel Medium and Shimmer Cubes

I decided to add another texture to my layout using Gel Medium and the Colour Blast Shimmer Cubes. Basically I used a small amount of Gel Medium and some of the Shimmer Cube 'Just Blue' and mixed them together on my craft mat.

Try not to use too much water in this process as it takes away the texture from the Gel Medium when it dries.

Once the colour is mixed through I applied it to my layout in random places using one of the new Kaisercraft Mini Templates - Woven.

 

  I allowed this to dry.

Step 5: Colour Blast Colour Paste and Splatters

I then used another of the new Kaisercraft Mini Templates - Rough Grid with the Colour Blast Colour Pastes. This is the darker colour squares that you can see on the page.

The last thing I added to my background were some splatters using the Colour Blast Shimmer Cubes.

To do this make sure you add plenty of water to the colour and flick your brush around the page.

  

A few tips with the cubes...(From the Colour Blast website)

*Make sure that after you have used them that they are completely dry before replacing their lids.

*Do not expose them to direct heat...they will melt. If you find that they melt, take the lid off and allow them to dry out before replacing their lids.

I was pretty happy with how it was looking with my photo...

I then added all of my Ephemera back on and started to adhere it to the page. I found it was easier to use a strong glue rather then double sided tape as the page had lots of textures and was a little warped!

 I also added some of the washi stickers (which don't feature in this photo).

After I had put it all together I decided that I needed a couple of feature areas close to the edge of the page to finish of the layout. I also went around the squares from the Rough Grid Template with a black pen to highlight them.

Here is the final product...

Well, I hope you have enjoyed today's post featuring Cocoa Vanilla 'You Rock' and Colour Blast Shimmer Cubes...I am so addicted to these products at the moment :)

Be sure to grab these products from the online store and share your layout when you are done on our Facebook Page! I love seeing what others have created.

If you were in the workshop on the weekend I would love it if you could share your gorgeous creations with everyone on our Facebook page.

I will back on Thursday with my next share for this month.

Have a great afternoon!

x Mel x