Prima Water Soluble Oil Pastels Review and Techniques

I recently ordered some Prima items and among them were the Water Soluble Oil Pastels. Since one of the boxes came dented up I decided I would keep that one for myself (since the contents were likely damaged- and they were) and write a review about it. 

These pastels come in a box of 24 and retail for $20.00. Simon Says Stamp sells them. We also sell them but by the time this blog post goes up we’ll probably only have a couple left! 

Once I opened my box I got right to work seeing what these worked well for and maybe not so well for. 

First technique was general coloring. The pastels are very creamy and would even draw on the tip of my finger. I tried scribbling on a thin sheet of non primed paper and it easily took the pastel. I added some water with my paint brush and it easily made the numbers I had written disappear. They are very soluble even on a non primed surface. 

Second technique was mixing with a gel medium. I chopped off the end of one of the pastels with my palette knife and smashed it into some Prima 3D Gloss Gel Medium . It’s not as creamy as a gelato so it took quite a bit of smashing to get it mixed in. I used the red color and you can see the result of me applying it through a star stencil on the picture below on the right. 

On the left side of the picture you will notice some light green dots over a purple wash of color. The purple wash of color was added on top of some dried Prima 3D Gloss Gel to see how it would react. I wanted to see if the water soluble oil pastels would stay on that medium or if it would act as a resist. It dried and stayed on it just fine. Then I was able to scribble the oil pastel on a non porous surface and mix in some Liquitex Gloss Gel Medium to create another colorful mixture to put through a stencil. This blended much easier than chopping off the end of a pastel. 

For my next technique I thought it would be fun to see how they worked on enhancing texture. I added some Golden Molding Paste to my journal and dried it with a heat tool to create some bubbles and get a lunar type of texture. Then I lightly scribbled on top of the texture, squirted some water on it, and blended it out with my finger. Here’s the effect: 

It really gets into all of those small nooks and crannies and really accentuates the texture! 

 

Next I wanted to see how these worked for stamping. This one of my favorite techniques with these pastels and it’s enough to make me happy to own them! All you do is scribble on the back of a stamp and give it a few mists of water and stamp down. You can then use a waterbrush to draw some of the color from the edges to the inside or even grab color directly from the oil pastel to add to your image. Here’s how it came out on 140 lb watercolor cardstock using a photopolymer stamp: 

 

Lastly I tried it on a rubber stamp with 3 different colors to see what would happen and that came out nice too. Here’s what that looked like with a woodgrain stamp: 

 

If you like these techniques then I definitely recommend checking out the Prima Water Soluble Oil Pastels! 

Here’s a video I put together showing all of these techniques in action! 

Lawn Fawn Mom + Me Mother’s Day Card

Here’s a card I made last night for my Mom. This card took me about 35 minutes which is a good time frame in my opinion. There’s times that a card can take me over an hour to complete. This one hit that sweet spot where there’s still coloring and detail but it didn’t take me an astronomical amount of time to complete. A list of supplies will be listed below the pictures.

Here’s the clickable list of supplies I used:

•Lawn Fawn Mom + Me Stamp Set (25% off in our store right now!) Also available at Simon Says Stamp by clicking the picture below.

• Lawn Fawn Celebration Scripty Sayings (for inside sentiment) (25% off in our store!). Also available at Simon Says Stamp by clicking the picture below.

• Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid Paper (discounted in our store as a set) . Also available as a set from Simon Says Stamp by clicking the picture below.

• Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers from Amazon or Simon Says Stamp by clicking the picture below.

• Water Brush from Amazon or Simon Says Stamp by clicking the picture below.

• Staedtler Ergosoft Watercolor Pencils from Amazon by clicking the picture below.

•Colorbox Petal Point Pinwheel for the Purple and Blue inks used on the front and inside sentiment from Amazon by clicking the picture below.

• Colorbox Cateye Ink in Brown for the Tree Trunk from Amazon by clicking the picture below.

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut Stain used on the owl stamp from Amazon or Simon Says Stamp by clicking the picture below.

• 140 pound watercolor cardstock from Amazon or Simon Says Stamp by clicking the picture below. (Also a great item to buy with a coupon at Michael’s)

• Scotch ATG Gun to adhere everything firmly and securely from Amazon or Simon Says Stamp by clicking the picture below.

• Card Bases and Envelopes to make assembly and sending easy from Amazon or Simon Says Stamp by clicking the picture below. (Tip: I also like to buy the bulk sets at Hobby Lobby with a coupon!)

That completes the list of necessary supplies. This card came together so nicely and I had a lot of fun making it. Don’t forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel so you can see the making of this card when the video is posted! Thank you for stopping by!

Merry & Bright Stencil Card

I thought it would be fun to make a card only using my new Christmas stencils! I am pretty happy with how it came out !

I started off with the Merry & Bright Stencil and mixed some Ranger glitter with some Liquitex Gloss Gel. I originally did this so there wouldn’t be glitter everywhere and I could have some cool dimensional glitter. In the end I poured more glitter over the top since it looked like it was lacking in some areas. So, now glitter comes off but I think it looks better. I may spray some kind of sealant over it.

Once that was dry, I grabbed my sponge daubers and the Tangled Lights Stencil.  The sponge daubers make it so easy to be precise and I didn’t even have to mask when I alternated distress ink colors for the light bulbs. I used Seedless Preserves, Salty Ocean, and Barn Door for the Lights. Forest Moss was used for the wire. I finished it off by adding some Glossy Accents to all of the light bulbs to make them gleam.

 

Here’s what the stencils look like:

The stencils are just $3.99 each. (They’re 40% off the month of December! Discount is shown in the cart.)

I like how this card came out. It was so simple and can you believe there was absolutely NO STAMPING!

I challenge you to make a card with ALL STENCILS! It can spark some creativity. Give it a try!

Thanks for stopping by!

Color Burst Birthday Card

Here’s the card I made for my Sister’s recent Birthday. This was surprisingly quick to make and I think it looks pretty nice! I’m still on a bit of a Color Burst kick. We actually sell them in our store now! You can see them HERE.

The sentiment stamp is one that I found at a Rubber Stamp Convention and it’s by Rubbernecker. I love how affordable their stamps are and they have some very clever sayings as well. Hopefully I will use some of the other ones I got soon! Click here to buy this stamp from Rubbernecker for just $3.90! The stars in the background were individual star stamps that I rounded up from multiple Lawn Fawn stamp sets. I repeatedly stamped them, rotating the acrylic block to get variation. Everything was embossed with white embossing powder and then I let my Color Burst do the rest of the magic!

I’d love to redo this same card and figure out how to make the color bursts create a galaxy! That would be super awesome!

Thanks for stopping by!

Buy 1, get 1 at 35% Off! All Memory Box & Avery Elle!

Looking for a great deal on Christmas crafting supplies that isn’t last minute?

Well, it’s just a click away! Right now we have Buy one, get one 35% off on all of our Memory Box and Avery Elle products! That is a seriously awesome deal. It’s like getting 17.5% off each which is a bigger discount than we normally do! Plus, you can mix and match. You still qualify for the deal if you want one Avery Elle product and one Memory Box product. Isn’t that great?

Click here to see all of the great NEW RELEASE products that are discounted! 

Color Bursts Holiday Card Video

As promised, here’s the video of me making the card I shared with you yesterday!

12 Tags of 2015- July Tag

I managed to do two tags in a row. Wahoo! Below is my tag for July.

As always, I was missing many of the items necessary to duplicate Tim’s tag. I always try to make do with what I already have in my craft room because most of the time I can substitute items and even techniques. I made a video of the making of this tag. It just needs to be edited and I will add it to this post when that is done. I really enjoy doing these tags! Here’s a link to Tim’s tag and the tutorial : http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2015-july/ 

Here’s a few things that I did differently because I was missing supplies:

1. I used a different stamp set that had mini blue prints in it. Since I didn’t have the USA blueprint I decided to stamp it with some letters from one of my Tim Holtz stamp sets and add my own blueprint looking lines and arrows.

2. While I do sell the Distress Microglaze, I try not to take items that I have limited inventory on out of stock. (Which I am glad I didn’t because I am down to one as of this morning!) I had some wax laying around because I’ve been meaning to get in to encaustic wax painting. I had made my own encaustic wax using Damar Resin and Beeswax. I grabbed a chunk of wax and rubbed it over my stamped and colored images. I proceeded to watercolor over it hoping the wax layer would be sufficient. Apparently, it was too sufficient because I had rubbed all around the image and I ended up with more white background than colored background. At least now I know that is an option!  I didn’t have much control over where the wax would be placed when I was rubbing with that solid block. I think that’s a good reason to get the Distress Microglaze as you will get more control with your placement. The microglaze is paste-like and you only need a tiny bit to cover and protect a space from water methods.

3. I do not own a sewing machine. I considered buying a small one for the craft room, but I am really trying to limit myself of larger tools that take up space. So, I just did faux stitching with a pen.

4. My embellishments are different. The number 4 is a grungeboard piece that I painted with a metallic distress paint. The little star is one that I had laying around, and I didn’t have any good charms to add to the top. I really wish I did because it looks a little empty up there.

5. For the spritzing, I had to make my own black marker. I applied some Black Soot ink onto an acrylic block and picked it up with my water brush. The water brush I have will not fit in the spritzer, so I had to hold it carefully and spritz. It ended up working well enough.

6. The crinkle ribbon technique had to be done differently too. I used some seam binding and ran the piece through an ink pad. It laid down the color just fine and it looks about the same in the end. I did have less control over the placement of the color though. If I had the Distress Markers, I would of had a more defined white space in the middle.

So, there’s the differences and how I overcome not having all of the supplies. I hope that might help some of you who are lacking supplies. Just try to think of another way to get it done with what you have. Thank you for stopping by!

P.S. One product I can not substitute is Distress Ink! If you need some, we have it in stock and at a great price!  JUST CLICK HERE!

New Lawn Fawn Stamps with Exclusive Laser Cuts!

I’m so excited to have the new release Lawn Fawn Stamps in stock. I don’t always order all of the new releases and I am inevitably kicking myself for not. I just posted up 13 new listings of Lawn Fawn product and we now have 27 different Lawn Fawn items to choose from in the store! Two of the new listings are Lawn Cuts Dies. To make it even more exciting, I have designed laser cuts that coordinate with each set and they are available exclusively with a purchase of the stamp set from us. There are six different sets that include these special laser cuts. In addition to that little bonus, these new release stamp sets are discounted 10%!  Without further ado, here are the stamp sets that include exclusive laser cuts! (Remember: Just click on the picture to get to the listing and purchase!)

Bugs & Kisses $13.50

Bugs & Kisses comes with a laser cut thick plastic mason jar and a mdf wood twig! 

Next up is Flirty Frames

Flirty Frames $13.50

Flirty Frames comes with a “love ya” sentiment which fits into the larger rectangle frame perfectly!

Then we have Critters in the Jungle.

Critters in the Jungle $13.50

Critters in the Jungle comes with a laser cut MDF wood palm tree!

Next Up is Baked with Love

Baked with Love $13.50

Baked with Love comes with an adorable wooden mixing spoon and a rolling pin!

Here’s one of my favorites, Gleeful Gardens.

Gleeful Gardens $13.50

Gleeful Gardens comes with a cute flower.

Here’s the last one that comes with a free laser cut. It’s called Let’s Play.

Let’s Play $13.50

Let’s Play comes with a rectangle sentiment.

Those are all the stamp sets that come with free laser cuts, but they aren’t all the sets we have! One of my very favorite sets is called “Scripty Sayings” .

Scripty Sayings $13.50

There’s also some super cute small sets that we sell for just $7.20 and even one that’s only $3.60! CLICK HERE to see all of our 27 different Lawn Fawn listings! 

I hope you saw something that excites you. Thank you for stopping by!

New Texture Tools 5 pack is now available!

Intoxicating Arts is now offering Texture Tools in a 5 pack! Click the picture to buy for $5.49! 

This set of 5 plastic texture tools work wonderfully with heavy bodied acrylic paints, texture paste, modeling paste, and gel mediums. Just lay down your medium and drag the texture tool through it to get interesting textures. This set includes 4 different textures and one flat tool that can be used in a wissping motion to create frosting like effects or even used as a palette knife for stencils.

Each texture tool has a stencil in the center that coordinates with the texture that it creates. Made of .040″ thick flexible plastic. Your set will come with a blue liner that can be removed before use. This blue liner protects the plastic from scratches and burn marks from the laser cutting process.

These texture tools have a comfortable ergonomic feel. The texture coverage width is 2-13/16″.

Clean immediately after use with soap and water or a baby wipe. Chemical Resistant. Keep away from extreme heat.

A Few More Christmas Cards

I was hoping to have more time to write blog posts about these cards, but the time just flies! So, I am posting them to share with you and because I used my blog as a digital scrapbook of my creations that I will never see again!

I won’t get too much into the details, but here’s a few facts:

•The “HoHoHo” is one of my wood laser cuts that has been painted using Luster Mica Powders!

• The blue “Merry Christmas” is one of my acrylic laser cuts that was colored using alcohol inks.

• I used Lawn Fawn’s Snow Day paper and DCW Heirloom Christmas (one of my all time Favorite Christmas Stacks!)

• The Gold stars that I shot a close up of were not part of the paper. I used one of my trailing stars stencils and mixed Luster Mica Powder with gel medium.

Here’s a little tip: ALWAYS Check the $1.00 stamps at Michael’s and Wal-Mart. I have found some major gems in there that would normally cost $4-5 otherwise.

Thank you for stopping by and have a VERY Merry Christmas!