Love this girl by Veronika Senova

 Hello everyone, Veronika here. 

This is my first layout as Creative Design Team member. As I don't have my kit yet , I was creating with my Shimmerz stash. I wanted to scrap photo of me and my younger daughter Marina, so I wanted something sweet and girlish :)

     I knew I will use cutfile and I was looking for something with hearts or flowers, but when I found this "LOVE THIS GIRL" cutfile by Paige Evans, I exactly knew this is IT! I cut it out with my Silhouette Cameo and then put on clear gesso for better paper resistance and colour mixing. 

When it dried I took four of my VIBEZ ( "Egg noggin'" , "Mustard Seed" , "Mango Tango" and "Pop Art Pink"...which is discontinued, I think) and simply began to spray them on my cut file.

I wanted to have some pink and some yellow areas with smooth shift so I took a brush and with a bit of water to mix areas between colours. I repeated this until I was satisfied and let it dry. 

I went through my paper stash and looked for flowers matching used colors. I found them in "Little by little" collection by Shimelle and fussycut some of them. When my coloured cutfile was completely dry I added a foam from the backside and adhered it to white cardstock. This created a dimension which I really like. Then I aranged my fussycuted flowers and adhered it with foam squares also for dimension effect. I couldnt resist to use two little rabits and one racoon from the same collection:)

 At the end I added few enamel dots and my journaling. And thats it! I hope you enjoyed this reading and see you soon. Veronika

A Sweet Date | Valentine's Day themed layout with process video

Hey everyone!

Here's another romantic layout which has some fussy-cutting and floral painting. Link to process video is at the end of this blog post.

Ever since I first saw that wreath paper from PinkFresh Studio, I knew that I wanted to fussy-cut it out and add it on some white cardstock and fill it out with more flowers.

But before doing that, I made a frame from a paper by Amy Tangerine and trimmed a white cardstock to 11.5 by 11.5. I then colored the cardstock by placing an overturned bowl in the center and spraying Jenni B Bleu, Cotton Candy and Granny Gray over it. By adding the bowl in the center, I created a whited-out section in the center and this further accentuates the circle look of the layout. Removed the bowl, waited for it dry before spraying some more Granny Gray all over the layout and splattered some Bumbly Bee as well.

Set it aside to dry and began to work on some fussy cut flowers I had previously worked on. They are also from a PinkFresh Studio patterned paper and they were white. To add more color to layout, I colored them using: Boogie Boarin' Blue, Ride the Tide, Jolly Green Giant, Bubble Gum Blast, Pink, Olive U Truly, and Dear John Letter. 

Once all my elements were dry, I added the cardstock unto the patterned paper frame, placed the wreath in center and popped it up on craft foam. Layered in the flowers into two clusters around my picture and a third in the upper left corner; the tips of these were popped up on craft foam for added dimension. Finished off the layout with some puffy heart stickers and pearls from my stash, added my journaling in light blue ink, and placed my title above the picture. Splashed some Old Yeller for a pop of gold.

And that's it! Love, love, love how it turned out! Hope I've inspired you to get crafty and get your story documented. Thanks for looking! Process video: https://youtu.be/mmW9NnehZXs 

Remember, you can get some free paint by writing my name in the comments section of your next Shimmerz order. 

With February ending in just 9 days, I'm gearing up to welcome the Spring sunshine and join in on the Shimmerz Spring Forward challenge! Join us as we create projects without ANY patterned paper.

- Lorimar

August Color Kitz Inspiration & Process Video | Amanda Baldwin

Hi Shimmerz Friends & Fans!

Amanda here, & today I am sharing a lil inspiration 

(complete with process video) 

with our gorgeous August Color Kitz!

This month's Color Kitz is absolutely stunning! 

Such pretty colors! &  just check out that exclusive ice cream cut file!!!

Colorz featured are:

 Vibez Hermit the Frog

Coloringz Heidi Ho Blue

Inklingz Sunkissed

Shimmerz Pink

Plus Sprinkle Time! sequins from our friends at SpiegelMomScraps.

If you're super quick, you *might* be able to snare one still before they completely sell out!

Shop August Color Kitz HERE

I couldn't wait to get creating with this beautiful kit! 

Here's what I came up with.....

"Bloom & Grow"

Oh my heart! Isn't this so pretty!

And before you ask about the ice cream cut file, let me tell you that my moody cutting machine ate every single one of those ice cream cones! I know, right?! So frustrating!

On the upside, digital files keep forever, & I'll try cutting it again after I've updated my software, lol!

I've also opted for a 'clean look' mixed media page - lots of controlled painting for this sweet page!

Here's a closer look at my layout.... 

Whoa! So.much.pretty!!!

Turns out you don't have to use the cut file to maximize the awesomeness of this kit! 

I began my layout by painting a bunch of blooms and leaves from the Cocoa Vanilla Studio "Sophisticated" pattern paper (Midnight collection) using ALL the colors! 

Where's the Heidi Ho Blue, I hear you ask? 

Well, to create those darker green leaves I mixed Coloringz Heidi Ho Blue with Vibez Hermit the Frog - so you kinda get a bonus 'extra' color in your kit ;)

Once dry, I fussy cut all the florals and arranged onto the 12 x 12 white cardstock base.

Next, I sprayed some scrap paper with pure Coloringz Heidi Ho Blue. 

With this newly created blue paper, I punched a few butterflies, and even backed it to my photograph for added interest. 

In keeping with the butterfly adornments, I just couldn't resist using the beautiful

 Butterfly Beauties Dotz

Aren't they the perfect embellishment?! 

You can shop them HERE

Here's a closer look at them on my layout....

Beauties, indeed! 

The pretty yellow & lime butterfly coordinates perfectly with the Vibez Hermit the Frog painted leaves. Love it!

For finishing touches, I add my title Bloom & Grow also from the Cocoa Vanilla Studio Midnight collection, & end with scattering lots of Spinkle Time! sequins onto my page....

So many lovelies to look at!

Absolutely gorgeous!!! 

And such a 'clean' approach to using paints on your projects! 

Wanna see how it all came together?

Please watch my process video HERE

I hope you enjoyed watching my process video

& feel inspired to get creating with your August Color Kitz! 

Thanks so  much for visiting!

til next time, 

Happy Arty Days, 

Amanda xo 

Paper purging with Samantha

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you all had the best Memorial Day Weekend. I spent sometime purging my paper bucket. I never realized what a crafting hoarder I was! SO, the solution for that is play time! 

I've been hoarding my Paige Evans "Horizon" Collection for a while now. It's so pretty, I'm afraid to use it. Can anyone else relate to my anxiety? Ha ha! I finally decided I had the perfect colors to coordinate with the new collection. This is one of my all time favorite photos of me and my favorite person, my husband, Nick. The black and white photo helps add some contrast to tons of color. It's balances everything into perfect harmony.

I recently snagged this fun layered cut file from Paige Evan's Etsy Shop. Taking each piece, I just went to town using some of my favorites.

 * Iris My Case Shimmerz from the May Missy Whidden Color Kitz Set. This color is available in the set only, but it's to DIE for!

*Berry Hot Creameez

*Chick-a-dee Spritz

*Snow Way Man Vibez

* And a tiny Dotz epoxy embellishment I've been saving since the March Missy Kit. (This Kit is no longer available but we've got TONS of amazing Dotz available in the Shimmerz Shop)

* The green leaves were painted with lime green acrylic paint

The awesome thing about Shimmerz products is how fast they dry. There's no long wait times. So you can keep trucking right along with your projects. Cause if you're anything like me, when you're motivated to  produce a project that's been stewing in your mind, you want to pump it out as soon as possible. Simple to admire the heck out of it!

After waiting around the 5-7 minute mark for my cute flower pieces to dry, I then hot glue my pieces together. Alternating colors so there's not a bunch that look like the others.

I layered a piece of plain white cardstock on top of this fun piece of paper from Paige Evan's Horizon Collection. Then center my picture and add the fun florals all around. I had some of these fun stickers hanging around too, so I figured "WHY NOT?!" and painted them with the pink and iris colors. These stickers are from American Crafts. I'm not 100% sure if they are still available on their website but I did in fact find them a while back at Wal Mart. The SECRET Sticker haven!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope this inspired you to clean out your paper collection and play! Now that I have, I'm so glad I did. Don't forget! The June Color Kitz will be available to play with starting Saturday, so swing by the Shimmerz Shop starting at 9 AM MST to snag them. You won't be disappointed! Thanks everyone!

Layout "Fantastic" | Anna Komenda

Hello Shimmerz fans. It's Anna here with my next project created with gorgeous Shimmerz products. 

Today I want to share with You a layout full of hand painted flowers. I've gone wild with drawing, painting and fussy cutting many florals. I had so much of them, that I didn't need to add a lot more embellishments to my page :)

There is also a process video for You.

I am not a watercolor artist, I didn't take any classes, I am no expert at all. I just love flowers and decided to give them a try. I watched few YT videos about painting flowers. I also checked some flower sketches to get some ideas about shapes and forms. I sketched my own flowers. They are not the copy of real flowers - just a variation.

I used a lot of Aqua Huez and Creameez to color my sketches but I also used mists as a liquid watercolors. I mixed colors to get new shades. I chose two small pictures of me and my little girls because, after all that work, I didn't want to cover the background.

I used a hot glue to attach the flowers. It helps to add dimension to the page without using 3D foam squares. Just be careful with You fingers. I lost my thumb prints long time ago :D

I like using multiply colors so I painted flowers using blue, pink, red and purple. Leaves and twigs combine all the flowers together creating this "wildflower bouquet" effect.

I really love how this page turned out. It's quite thick - perfect for framing and hanging on the wall.

I used a lot of products:

Aqua Huez - Blue me away, Blue moon, Crazy daisy, Hottie pink, Leapin' lizard, Seeing red, Very blueberry

Creameez - Refresh mint

Colorings - No yokin, Oh say can You sea,

Vibez - Before dawn,  Grape escape, Jeni B bleu, Razzeldazzel berry,

Spritz - Bamboo leaf 

Remember - if You want to get a free product while shopping at Simmerz store, don't forget to mention my name.

XO

Anna

Loveliness Layout | Katty Miranda

Hello friends! Katty here, Today I created a fun floral watercolor background for my layout.

 I began with an old Teresa Collins stamp set. I chose a simple flower and continuously stamped the image using Versa Mark Ink. I focused my stamping on two opposite corners of my white 12x12 sheet of paper. I then heat embossed using white embossing powder.

I colored the centers of the flowers using Aqua Huez Pot-O-Gold and used a watercolor brush to color the flowers using a mix of beautiful colors including Creameez in My Clementine, Great Fruit and Trippin in the Tropics. I used the original Shimmerz Paints in Magenta and Jilted Jade for the leaves and Inklingz in Precious Posey and Bahama Mama. No coloring inside the lines here, I just colored over the grouping of flowers.

I love the mix of the shimmery and non shimmery paints. I added a few splatters with some of the colors as I painted. Lastly, I added some shading with Aqua Huez Gray Matter where the mix of colors met the white cardstock.

I am using a photo of my adorable niece. I printed it in black and white. I added a few florals which I cut out on my Silhouette Cameo. I decided to leave them white. I love the simple texture they added. I embellished using lovely die cuts from the Cocoa Vanilla Love Always collection. My tittle is a silver glitter foam word from the Pinkfresh Studio Felicity Collection.

I love how this turned out! 

There is a video on my YouTube channel if you'd like to watch my process. 

Products used:

Aqua Huez: Pot-o-Gold, Gray Matter

Creameez: My Clementine, Great Fruit, Trippin in the Tropics

Inklingz: Precious Posey, Bahama Mama

Shimmerz: Magenta, Jilted Jade

Remember, if you make any purchases from the Shimmerz Shop be sure to mention my name and you'll receive a FREE product! 

XOXO

Real Sweet Layout | Katty Miranda

Hello everyone! Katty here, I am beyond excited to share my very first post here as a part of the amazing Shimmerz Paints Design Team. I am loving the new products we just released. Today, I will be working with the Acritonez, these are the self priming Acrylic Paints. These paints are very versatile. I am using white cardstock as the base of my layout. I used my Silhouette Cameo and cut out two flower sets from the Silhouette Studio that were meant to be layered on top of each other.

I began by painting all of the flower pieces individually. I began with the Acritonez in the color Pink-a-delic. I used the color in several different ways, in it's true form, as an acrylic paint. I also mixed in some water, which slightly lightened the color. I even mixed in some other Shimmerz products like the Spritz in Ruby which darkened the color. I wanted a lot of different shades of pinks and corals to create a big cluster of flowers. I used some of the flowers as a stencil in a few areas within the cluster.

I also used a few other colors, Spritz in Cotton Candy and Caribbean Sunset, a Vibez in Sweet Heart and a Creameez in My Clementine. For the leaves I used the new Acritonez in Jivin' Jade and a leaf cut file also from the Silhouette Studio. I used the leaves as a stencil as well as the leaf cutfile itself.

I used three photos of my adorable niece from this past Halloween. I printed them in a smaller size and used a scallop punch to give them a fun shape. I lined them up above my cluster of flowers and added dimensional foam behind them. 

For my tittle I used silver glitter foam word thickers from the Pinkfresh Studio Felicity Collection. I added a few stickers from an Elle's Studio sticker sheet and I used a Heidi Swapp pink and white diagonal stripe patterned paper to mat the whole layout. I love how it turned out.

There is a process video on my YouTube channel if you'd like to watch.

Products used:

Acritonez: Pink-a-delic, Jivin' Jade

Creameez: My Clementine

Vibez: Sweetheart

Spritz: Caribbean Sunset, Cotton Candy, Ruby

Thanks so much for stopping by! Remember, if you make any purchases from Shimmerz Paints be sure to mention my name and you will receive a FREE product with your order.

XOXO

Love Letters In October (#5)

Hello October!

I have a new Love Letters Video for you today.
With all the busy-ness in everyday life, it's so nice to sit down and just play.

Creating things that are easy, loose, not too structured....just letting the paint do its thing......Its fun. Thats all!

In this video you see how simple it is to let the brush make its marks.  Add water and watch the paint move.  Mix Aqua Huez (flat colours) with Inklingz (shimmery colours) and see how the shimmer responds.  Its really a process of getting to know your paints and the specific colours (they have a habit of behaving differently!)  Its relaxing and very therapeutic!

You will need
Paper that is thick enough to be able to handle a bit of water
a round brush  size 6,8 or even 10
Gesso to seal the page (I used clear)
Shimmerz Aqua Hues, Creameaz or Inklingz in colours for flowers and leaves
Water
Pencil/eraser

watch the Video Here.....

TIPS.....

Gesso your page first.

This gives you room to move as the paint sits on top of the surface rather than soaking in.  This means you are able to move the paint around, even when it has dried.  Remove completely with a baby wipe!  (cool!!!)

Let the brush make marks.  Push it and drag it.  You will be surprised how many flower and leaf shapes the brush is able to make on its own!!!  Practice on scrap paper to get a feel for it.

Let layers dry (use a heat tool if you are not particularly patient!) and then add more to build colour and dimension!

outline with the lead pencil to define shapes and bring your painting to life.

The Lettering.....

As always layout your design lightly in pencil first (don't press hard as it's tricky to erase pencil on gesso) use a water brush or paint brush with a nice fine point.  You can see in the video that this gives you the option of pushing down heavily to get thick lines on your downstrokes and lifting to get light pressure on the upstrokes.  

(practice with a couple of different ones in your collection.....they don't all perform the same!)

Practise this

Heavy down

light up.

It's easy, but takes some rhythm to get the hang of.  

Practise, as with anything is key.

 Thanks so much for stopping in today.....Hope you can sit and relax with your paint soon!!!