[Uniko Studio] Challenge No. 8 - Hello Spring

Hi everyone - I'm a day late with my Uniko Studio challenge card. Puh, lighting issues. With the weather over cast and me getting home late, I am missing my window of opportunity for clear, crisp pictures. You saw how distorted my purple looked in the previous post, but this is just more reason to go invest in a photo tent. Is this something appropriate to add to a wedding registry? HA!

Here is this month's color combo...

Photo Credit: Design Seed

And our theme this week is Hello Spring. I have a lot of friends whose birthday are at the start of spring. There is always a shortage of birthday cards, isn't it? So I used this prompt to make a birthday card for a friend who I was meeting for dinner today. This is also my super basic attempt on mixed media.


Stamps: (Background Builders - Lattice, Flower Power #3) Uniko Studio; (Across the Card) Neat & Tangled
Paper: (Paper Basics Card Stock - Vintage Cream, Spring Moss, White) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Versamark) Tsukineko
Embellishments: (Stamp 'n Stuff - White Opaque) Stampendous!; (Inka Gold - Turquoise, Champagne) Viva Decor; (Idea-ology Tissue Tape - Sketchbook) Ranger; (Gelatos) Faber Castell; (Candi - Gold Wedding) Craftworkcards; (Gesso) Golden

Ever since I bought a set of Gelatos I have been wanting to dapple more in the mixed media trade. So where does one begin with Mixed Media? A bunch of Youtube videos...that's where ;)

I started to realized that mixed media involves a bit of planning. Think of what parts you want to shine through and have as a focus, because those may require some preparation. In my case, I knew I wanted those flowers from Flower Power #3 to shine through. The way to highlight that area is to create a resist where the Gelatos have no chance for coverage. 

I heat embossed a bunch of flowers using both the positive and negative stamps from the set. I also brushed on Gesso onto the Lattice Background stamp. Make sure to clean the Gesso immediately off the stamp, since this is a medium that will set. On another note, make sure that this part is completely dry. If you're unsure, you can run your heat gun over the Gesso.



I then applied green, blue and white Gelatos liberally across the card stock, heavier in the bottom right corner, less on the top left. I then applied water ontop of the Gelatos, which allows me to pull and blend the colors according to how I wanted to mess with it. 

One thing I will remember is that you can always apply more medium, but you can't apply less. So I should have started off a little less heavy with the Gelato for a more gentler, water color background. Also, paper towel is your friend. Cleaning off the embossed surfaces with paper towel allows the white to be cleaner and crisper. Remember those areas do not take on the medium. I do like how the Gesso Lattices add texture but are not as defined as the heat embossed area. What do you think?



Here is another up-close look of the embossed part in better lighting. You can see the different layers of colors and textures quite nicely.



I finished the card up by adding a bit of Turquoise and Champagne Viva Gold. It gives it that bit of metallic shimmer. I also popped on some Candis in Wedding Gold, added some Ranger tissue paper (which I love since it is so transparent), and added a sentiment to pop off the card.

This mixed media thing can be pretty fun. I'm looking forward to playing more with my Gelatos. Hopefully you feel inspired to try this new fun medium too.

Please also check out the rest of the girl's cards and leave them a sweet comment or two. Remember you don't have to use all the colors - any or all as an inspiration.

Lastly, a few helpful things to remember:

• Challenge ends Apr 14th, 2013, 11:59p BST; Check back for the winners after
• Prize is £10 Gift Certificate to the random Winner & a Guest Design spot on our following challenge
• Three people will win a spotlight
• We would like you to use a Uniko Studio product; If you don't have any, check out the freebies here

I hope to see you play along, so that I can pop in on your lovely blogs! Also let us know what you think of this new format of a challenge. See you soon!