Amazing Casting Products: Mixed Media #Cre8time is Finding PARADISE... by Maria Soto

Hi, this is Maria and today I bring you a mixed media project. When I opened my Frog Dog April Mixed Media Kit, I looked at all the products included and the blue paper caught my eye the most. I couldn't shake the idea of "Paradise" – we all look for it, and hope to find that one place where we can find ourselves; a place where we can relax and take in everything that life has given us and everything that we still have to look forwards to.

Here is what is included in the Frog Dog Studio April Mixed Media Kit and April Add-On Kit:

The Frog Dog Studio April Mixed Media Kit includes:

(1) **Alumidust Powder - Red Plum; (1) StazOn Midi Ink pad - Claret; (1) StazOn Midi Ink pad - Blue Hawaii; (1) iZink Pigment Ink bottle - Gold; (1) Stampendous Mica Fragments Jar, Pearlized; (1) Dusty Attic Chipboard set - Birds; (1) Stampendous Mini Clipboard Canvas pack; (1) Set Canvas Mini's - Canvas Corp; (3) Sheets of Decopatch Tissue Paper; and (16) Tim Holtz Clear Fragments (random sizes/shapes). ** Alumidust is one of the many additives from the Alumilite Corporation. Valued at over $45.

The Frog Dog Studio April Add-On Kit includes:

(1) Amazing Clear Cast Resin – 16 Fluid Oz Box; (1) Amazing Mold Putty – 2/3 lb Box; (25) 1 oz Measuring Cups; and (50) Wooden Stir Sticks. Valued at over $47.

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Additional products used to create this project (not pictured are the Marvy Uchida Garden paint markers in white, blue and yellow, Plaid's Mod Podge matte, dried lavender branches for molding).

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I imagined mountains, lots of beautiful flowers, birds and water with a beautiful clear sky and a shiny sun up high. So, now that I had a vision it was time to get started and try to create the image I had in mind.

I decided to use the backing chipboard piece that came with the beautiful Decopatch tissue papers and took both StazOn Midi ink pads and colored it in. I created a frame around with the StazOn Midi ink pad in Claret; then filled in with both colors – leaving an area for the clear sky.

I took some of my Marvy Uchida Garden paint markers in white and blue to add more contrast, add the waterfall, a bit of dimension to the sky and to outline the frame as you see in the photo above.

Next I used some Plaid's Mod Podge to adhere the beautiful Decopatch blue tissue paper as you can see in the two photos below.

I wanted to add a tree, with a couple of branches. I took some lavender branches I had and made molds of them using Amazing Mold Putty. The branches I used had some dried out little flowers left on them – so I used it that way to see if I would get those tiny flowers to mold (making it easy to add flowers to the cast resin pieces).

Make sure to use equal amounts of parts "A" and "B" of the Amazing Mold Putty, and mix until you only see yellow without swirling. Then you are ready to make your molds.

Here are the molds I made using the lavender branches

I had on hand – ready for the resin.

I decided to use the Amazing Casting Resin to cast my branches. I mixed a drop of the Alumilite Brown Dye to part "A" of the resin and mixed well before combining with part "B". I added a little bit of the red dye to one mold to see how it would turn out.

What I love about the Amazing Casting Resin is how fast it cures! 15 minutes later I had my branches ready to color and add to my canvas.

Amazing Casting Resin as it's curing.

I didn't add too much brown dye to the resin, to make sure I would be able to paint it afterwards, I used a few drops of the Alumilite Brown and Red dyes to color all the branches.

Time to add some flowers! I used the iZink Pigment Gold Ink to the buds. Once dried, I used Ranger Glossy Accents to add a few of the Stampendous Pearlized Mica Fragments. My goal was to make the flowers look more dimensional.

Next it was time to color in one of the beautiful Dusty Attic chipboard birds. At first I thought about using Mod Podge to add the Decopatch red tissue paper, but I just loved the richness of the iZink pigment gold ink. I decided to use the Claret StazOn Midi ink pad to color the body adding the gold ink to the long feathers – mixing in some of the Claret color in with the gold in some areas. I wanted a bit of contrast so I used Glossy Accents to add some mica fragments on the body and head of the bird.

Now it was time to add all the pieces together. First I chose the best for placing the tree/branches that would eventually hold the bird in place.

After adding the branches, I felt I needed to add more dimension to the piece. I decided to take some more of the Amazing Casting Resin and mix equal parts of both "A" and "B". The first time I didn't add any color to the resin so it cured white as you can see in the photos below. I had mixed a bit too much so I added some around the frame of the piece – avoiding the side with the branches,. I wanted a distorted frame on the piece, I thought it would add more character to the piece.

I mixed some more Amazing Casting Resin, but this time I added some Blue Alumidust to the part "A" of the casting resin before combining parts "A" and "B". Once it was ready, I poured it in the center where the water is. You can see the different colors of blue and white. I also use the StazOn Midi ink pad in Blue Hawaii to color some of the white resin – having different coloring products on hand gave me the dimension I was looking for. I used some of the Alumilite Red Dye to color around the edges of the white resin I had added around the frame as you can see in the photo below.

I used Ranger Glossy Accents to add the bird on the branch. I felt the water needed a little bit of texture so I mixed a little more of the Blue Alumidust with a little bit of the glossy accents; then brushed it over the blue resin. When I mixed the Glossy Accents with the Alumidust it made somewhat of a paste, which is what I wanted, as you can see in the photo below.

Now let's not forget about the sun! I decided to use one of the mini canvas circles from Canvas Corp that came with the April kit. I cut a smaller circle and used my Marvy Uchida Garden paint marker in yellow from my stash to color one side and used the Claret StazOn Midi ink pad to color in the other half of the small circle.

I had to add more to the sun, so I got some of the gold ink and added it to the area shaded in with my yellow paint marker; waited for it to set – then took my Glossy Accents and covered the entire circle, adding a few of the mica fragments down the center. Now I had a beautiful shiny and dimensional sun! This is placed up on the top corner using Glossy Accents to adhere in place. Below is a close up of the finished sun.

Here is the final piece, I added Ranger Glossy Accents to some areas of the tissue paper and to add dimension. In the end I also decided to use the Alumilite Silver Metallic Powder around the frame, and adding a bit of color to the resin and the tree as well. I needed a little bit of black around the edge of the piece to finish it up, so I decided to use my Mini Ranger Distress ink pad.

Here are some close ups to show the detail on the branches; the dimension added with the Amazing Casting Resin and the Ranger Glossy Accents; and a close up of the beautiful colors from the Decopatch blue tissue paper.