Mixed Media Cards - Pink Paislee

One of my favorite things to do when I have some spare time (like waiting for school to get out during pick up) is to scroll through Instagram or Pinterest admiring mixed media scrapbook layouts and art journaling. I admire so much what talented people can do with paint! Someday I'll learn, but in the meantime, I play:

I was tasked by Pink Paislee with the assignment to apply some mixed media techniques to a set of cards. I chose to create with the C'est La Vie collection because I wanted to experiment with the gorgeous deep teal color in that line:

I mixed blue and green acrylic paints until I had the color I wanted, and then I mixed that with gel medium. The gel medium gives body to the paint. I generously applied the paint in thick brush strokes so that when dry, the paint was raised. It's the kind of texture that makes you think the paint is still wet.

I let each card dry and then I added layers of patterned paper, metallic thread and washi tape. I used foam adhesive to lift the embellishments off the card faces.

You can read more, see more photos and visit the other mixed media posts from this week, on the Pink Paislee blog here. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

Mixed Media Canvas - DCWV

Hello! A couple of days ago I was up on the DCWV blog with a new video. This time it's a process video, sharing how I created this altered canvas:

I used a DCWV Premium Paper pack, acrylic paint, Gelatos, and Heidi Swapp mists. I also used a Heidi Swapp die to cut the word "create".

If you take the time to watch the video, I apologize for my sleepy-sounding voice! It's been a crazy couple of weeks with long hours and one of the first things to go when I'm over-worked is my voice ;).

Thanks for checking out my project and video :). I hope you are having a great week! Tessa

Wonder - The Studio Challenges

Hello! There's a new challenge up at The Studio Challenges and this one is all about mixed media. The challenge is to use two or more mediums on a scrapbook layout. I love a splatter of mist, but mixing several mediums at once...I'm still learning how to do that and stay true to my simple style. Having said that, this is a challenge after all, so I busted out india ink, whipped spackle, and three colors of mist by Heidi Swapp to create this page:

I first decided where I wanted the photo and all of the patterned paper to go. I fussy-cut the flowers to fit into the corners and then penciled out their shape on my background of watercolor paper.

Next, I used Faber-Castell's whipped spackle and a Heidi Swapp stencil to create all of the dots. I tried to make it look like the whole page had been dotted, but several places were worn away.

The scariest part was adding the color. I poured a bit of mist into a small container and then added a touch of water. I dipped a large brush in the mist and then pooled it onto my page. I did pink first, then orange, then navy. When I was done with the navy puddles, I added some runs.

When that was dry, I splattered black india ink on the page. I wanted the big dots of ink to mimic the dots of the patterned paper.

I LOVE the September Skies line by Heidi Swapp! This floral pattern (and the dots on the B side) is so pretty! I really love the colors.

If you'd like to read the journaling, be sure to visit my flickr gallery for close-ups of the words. I used my title as a prompt and refer to Addie's adorable bedhead curls ;).

If you'd like to play along, you can find the challenge post at The Studio here. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

DCWV and Faber-Castell Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to Precocious Paper! My name is Tessa and I am glad you are here. If you're a regular, or here by chance, I hope you'll join us from the beginning for this hop. If you've just arrived from the very talented Tiffany's blog, you're in the right place :).

I've been designing for DCWV for almost two years and I have to say, the textured papers that DCWV has come out with are some of my absolute favorites to work with! Add Faber-Castell to the mix and oh my goodness, great messy fun is to be had! My mother-in-law's birthday was coming up, so I decided to make her a mixed media mini album:

What you see here is the Navy and Coral Stack by DCWV. From my own stash I added tissue paper, mother of pearl buttons, white washi tape and thread. Now for the texture and Faber-Castell....

I made my pages from 6x6 pieces of the textured DCWV papers, as well as the Navy and Coral Stack. This spread features a piece from the neutral corrugate paper stack. I used Faber-Castell's whipped spackle and a DCWV stencil to create the pattern in the corner. I scraped it thin in most places to show off the texture of the corrugate. I love that look!

This next spread features a piece from the Woven Stack.

Faber-Castell gelatos and this paper are a match made in heaven! I loved how the woven texture grabbed the gelato, then how the watery color trickled down and pooled in the little squares - kind of like syrup on waffles!

The next page spread features DCWV's Cork Stack. I love how the cork texture peek-a-boos through the spackle.


I enjoyed spreading it onto the page in kind of an uneven way - the little peaks and valleys add even more texture.

This spread features the Woven Stack again. I loved the effect of the gelato so much that I just had to use this technique twice!

This page features DCWV's Burlap Stack. I think the burlap was my favorite material to add the whipped spackle to!


The bristly texture is really visible through the spackle when applied thinly.

If you're interested in seeing more views and close-ups of this album, you can see more in my flickr gallery here.

I hope you enjoyed my mini album and that you'll enjoy the rest of the hop, too! Be sure to leave comments at every stop you make and follow DCWV and Faber-Castell at all your usual social media haunts. $75.00 in product from these fabulous companies is up for grabs. Finish the hop by Friday and the winner will be announced Monday. Now onto Karen's blog! Good luck and happy hopping! Tessa