Wet Mixed Media - Shimmerz Paints

Hello, it’s Rebecca with you today sharing my second layout of the month. In my previous blog, I talked about ‘dry mixed media’ - using mixed media products without any water. Today, I’m focusing on ‘wet mixed media’ and getting messy and having fun. Papermaze stock a HUGE range of mixed media products - head over to the shop and take a look here (click the 'Mixed Media' tab at the top!)

I often see people on social media commenting that they are too scared or apprehensive to try mixed media. I was exactly the same a few years ago, until I decided to pick up some scrap cardstock and have a play. And that’s exactly what mixed media is for me - playing and having fun. At the end of the day, it’s only paper! If you create a background and decide you don’t like it, start again! 

There are so many different ways to apply mixed media products to your background, but the most popular way is using the ‘packaging technique’ - which is exactly what it says on the tin! Add your medium to a scrap piece of plastic packaging (the packaging that ephemera or thickers come in is perfect) and add some water. Then turn this packing over onto your layout and ‘smoosh’ it down onto the page. I love this method as it’s quick and simple and I love the watercolour effect it gives on the background. If you’d like to apply your medium with slightly more control, you can apply your medium to some plastic packaging or grease proof paper and mix with a little water, and then apply to your background using a sponge, some scrunched up tin foil or cling film, scrunched up plastic etc - most things will work! You could also use a paintbrush to apply the colour directly to the page, use a brayer, or scrape ink pads across the background and then add water to it! The possibilities are endless and the effect you get will be different depending on how you apply the colour and that’s what makes mixed media so fun!

For me, the key to creating a mixed media background is to build it up in layers; and that’s exactly what I have done with my layout today.

I begun by applying a layer of clear gesso to my white cardstock background. Gesso is a primer, and acts as a barrier between the cardstock and the mixed media products you are using. It prevents the inks/paints from soaking straight into the cardstock and allows you to add plenty of water to blend and mix the colours together. I have two types of gesso in my stash - clear and white. Although it’s called white gesso, I'm yet to find one that is actually white! It usually has an off-white/cream tint to it. Because of this, I only ever use clear gesso on white cardstock and white gesso on patterned papers.

I allowed my layer of gesso to dry, and then using a stencil I made from Premium White Cardstock on my silhouette cameo 4, I added some white Texture Paste to my background.

I love using texture paste on my backgrounds - especially through stencils. I use a plastic spatula to apply the paste and on this occasion, I was going for a ‘rough/messy’ look. I use a white texture paste by Ranger as it’s nice and thick and dries quite quickly.

Once the texture paste was dry, I moved on to the next layer of mixed media - adding some colour! I swiped two Distress Oxide Ink Pads across my texture paste in the shades Chipped Sapphire and Mermaid Lagoon. I decided on a dark blue background to co-ordinate with my son’s clothes in my photo. Using a spray bottle, I added water to my page and tutoring it from side to side, spread the colour around and let it run across the texture paste.

I could tell the colour wasn’t quite what I was after, so I used some kitchen towel to soak a lot of the ink up. This was only possible because of the gesso - if I didn’t have gesso on the page those inks would have soaked through the cardstock and wouldn’t have mopped up.

Next, I moved on to my stash of Shimmerz Paints. I absolutely love Shimmerz products! There are various different products within the Shimmerz Range and they are all available at Papermaze:

Shimmerz - The original Shimmerz product! They are wet paints with tons of shimmer. They will need a quick stir before use just to evenly distribute all the shimmer as over time, it will sit on the bottom of the pot. Blingz are the same as original shimmerz but with much more shimmer!

Inklingz - Are solid pots of paint with intense shimmer that are activated by adding water. 

Creameez - Like Inklingz, these are intensely pigmented, solid watercolours that are activated by adding water to the pot. Creameez tend to have just a hint of shimmer, put are richer in colour.

Vibez - A spray bottle of intense colour, highly saturated with shimmer. They also come in variations of iridescence - gold, silver, bronze, pearl or a mix of these!

Spritz - Pastel coloured iridescent sprays which are pigmented and shimmery.

I added 'Teal The End Of Time' and 'Winters Mist', sprayed more water on my background and tilted the page to move the colour around, being careful to try and keep it to the area of the page with the texture paste on it. I added more using the packaging technique, and also used a paintbrush to help move the colours around. I kept adding more paint in the different shades, and adding more water, until I was happily with the colour and the coverage. At this stage the page looked a bit of a mess… but this is quite normal! Sometimes mixed media looks awful until you add your photo and embellishments on top and then it’s transformed. The key here is to keep going until you are happy and have fun! Once I was happy, I used my heat gun to dry the mixed media. I always dry from the front AND the back of the page as this helps to prevent warping.

On to the next layer! I finished off my background by adding some gold splatters using 'Good As Gold' and again, dried it with my heat gun. Sometimes I will soak up excess paint/water with kitchen towel but I find this often soaks up a lot of the shimmer - using a heat gun might take longer but it means the shimmer remains on the page. I also find that sometimes water can dilute the shimmer in the paints - the more water you add, the less shimmery the background will be, so bear that in mind when adding your water.

I actually added a fair amount of water to this background, but because I also added a lot of paint, it’s kept it’s shimmery appearance.

Mixed media isn’t just for backgrounds - you can add mixed media to lots of things - Cutfiles, chipboard, die cuts, ephemera etc. For this layout, I cut some layered flowers on my Silhouette using a cutfile by Paige Evans. I wanted to paint them yellow and purple to match the flowers in my photo.

I reached for my Shimmerz again, using 'Dandy-Lion' and 'Sun Kissed' Inklingz and 'Mango Tango' Vibez for the yellow and a mix of 'Plum Candy' and 'Beets Me' Inklingz and 'Berry Hot' Creameez for the purple. I also added in a small amount of Distress Oxide to give a bit of variation in the shading and tone. (Fosilized Amber and Dusty Concord). 

I then added the flowers to my layout, along with my photo and embellished lightly with some butterflies from Vicki Boutin's Color Study Collection and some sequins.

I hope you've enjoyed this blog and it's given you some useful information and inspired you to have a play. Just remember - it's only paper! Have a play and try adding ink or paints in different ways, mix your colours and just have fun!

I will have a process layout up on my YouTube channel over the weekend showing how I created this layout and my mixed media. You can find my channel here.

Thanks for reading, see you next time.

Take care,

Rebecca x
@preciouspagespapercraft