Mixed Media Cards

The other day, I sat down to just play with some of my media supplies, and I thought it would be fun to create some cards.

For most of the cards I did some variation of inking a background panel and then used some modeling paste through a stencil over the background. I kept everything else really simple and clean so the background can stay the star.

Backgrounds

Distress Oxide Ink

Distress oxide inks are a dream to blend with — especially on a nice smooth cardstock like Neenah. Since some of my inks are distress (and not distress oxide), I found that if I lay down some of the oxide ink first then the distress ink will blend over it pretty well. I used it to create the sunset for my cityscape card.

Distress Spray

I happened to have some Distress Oxide sprays… I did some ink “smooshing” with these since it’s already in liquid form. The sprays seem to be a lot chalkier than the ink pads. I was a little skeptical I’d get anything I liked so I just kept adding layers and layers of media (modeling paste and then painted that with mica). LOL. When it dried though, the colors did end up more vibrant than I originally thought.

I did find that the colors get muddy quickly, so I suggest doing one color at a time and letting it dry between applications.

Mica Painting

The last background technique I used was to paint with my mica powders. I’ve been experimenting with making my own pearl drops, so I just squirted some of that out and added a touch of water to thin it out a little. You can do this with Nuvo products too — drops, pastes, mousses, etc.

I also mixed mica directly with a solution of gum arabic and water. You can control how much mica you add and get more or less of a pearlescent finish. I just painted it directly on the background for the “snow white” shine.

Modeling Paste & Crackle Paste

I used Liquitex Modeling paste and Nuvo’s Crackle Mousse. I think any thick paste that will hold its shape will yield the same or similar results. Lots of brands sell similar products but they may use different names.

I experimented with the modeling paste in a few ways:

I mixed in some matte glazing liquid to thin down the paste a little and also extend the working time.
I mixed in some iridescent medium to give it some glittery shimmer
I mixed in some mica to give it color and shine.
I mixed in gouache paint to color it.

Gouache

I did learn that a little bit of gouache goes a LONG ways. Gouache is highly pigmented water coloring paint, so that makes sense that you don’t need much. I literally just let some of the dry flakes from unscrewing the top of the tube fall into the modeling paste and that was sometimes enough. For the black in the cityscape, I did add a little extra to really make sure it was black but even at that I only just barely touched the tip of my palette knife to the paint and that seemed enough. You definitely don’t need to squirt out any paint.

I also did some imperfect blending of the gouache with the modeling paste. Not only is it quicker but you get some intense variety in color, which I really love. This is a lot easier to achieve when you’re using the dry flakes because it takes time to rehydrate those flakes. Where you have dryer paint, you’ll have more intense color. If you use a watercolor tray and let your inks dry, you can always flake off some paint from their into your modeling paste.

Nuco Crackle Mousse

Crackle mousse is so unique and fun to work with. I like applying it in a more thin application because there’s less chance of the mousse flaking off of the card stock. The thicker your application, the larger the cracks. You can sort of see that variation in the buildings even though I was trying for as even a coat as I could (guess I didn’t do too great on that. LOL).

Titanium Dioxide Powder

For the white splatter, I actually just used some Titanium Dioxide powder (which I use in my coldpress soap making) mixed with gum arabic (binding agent) and distilled water (thinning solution). It works great! I also have gouache paint, a Hero arts unicorn white ink pad and snow white mica powder. I think I could have used any of those, but I wanted to try something different and find ways to use other supplies in my craft room.

Iridescent Medium

I used the iridescent medium with the black gouache & modeling paste. It was hardly visible — I should say, it wasn’t visible at all. You usually don’t need a ton of it, but I thought with the black maybe that’s just too dark for the iridescent shimmer to come through. I tried it again with some lighter colors and still no luck. It’s probably because the modeling paste is very opaque so that’s what’s blocking all the shimmer. I generally use the iridescent medium mixed with heavy gloss gel medium (which dries clear) and you don’t need much in that case. So, save your iridescent mousse and don’t mix it with modeling paste.

In the end, I used my DIY shimmer pen to paint over the buildings and that really made it shine (in the same way a Wink of Stella pen would work). A few generous coats of my clear shimmer pen and I got the look I was going for!

Same goes for mixing mica into the modeling paste. I didn’t get the iridescent sheen I was looking for. It did color the paste but it lost its shine. Better to mix some mica with gum arabic and water (or maybe with some glazing medium — I haven’t tried that yet, but it seems like it should work) and then paint over the modeling paste.

Glazing Medium

The glazing medium worked fantastically. I’ve been converting to using my glazing medium as a thinning medium instead of water since it’s also a binding medium, so it will maintain the binding aspect of the medium it’s being mixed into. In the past, I’ve only used this to prepare paper for coloring. It helps prevent alcohol ink from bleeding through to the back and it also makes watercolor blend and move a little more smoothly when you’re just using regular card stock. I don’t know if mixing it with other media is the “right” way to use it, but I liked that it made the modeling paste a little thinner, which helps stretch my product but also makes it easier to work with.