Brand Ambassador Inspiration - Pure Florals Cosmos

Good morning crafters, Julie here with a little bit of BA inspiration.

During these very difficult times we need to keep ourselves busy the only way we can, so why not indulge in learning a new technique? I found the following technique whilst seeking inspiration for this post, courtesy of the girls over at CAS Mix-up, acrylic paint backgrounds.

Many years ago I tried using acrylics for painting but didn't get on with them and the tubes lay abandoned in their box, unused and unloved. However, after deciding I would have a go, I ferreted them out from the back of the cupboard all ready to try and create a background as per the video. Sad to say that they had mostly dried out, only a Crimson Alizerin one that was usable.

I did come across some DoCrafts acrylics I bought to paint an Advent calendar for my Grandson a few years ago but the colours were too dark, except for the white. Not willing to give up, I eventually came up with this card.

Having a limited palette made me think hard about how to get a colourful but cohesive background.

The blue is straight out of the bottle, the teal is a conifer green mixed with white and the lime is white added to Altenew's Bamboo ink!

The stripes were made by placing small dots of colour at the top of the panel, then dragging an old credit card down in a smooth motion. There must have been less of the lime paint to create the patchy effect but I didn't really mind, I think it adds to the arty effect.

When dry, the sentiment and flowers were stamped in black and heat embossed with clear EP. Love the fresh look of these colours.

My second card used some of the crimson acrylic and some Mustard Seed Distress Paint, which is also classed as an acrylic. The DP is rather chalky compared to the other acrylics I used so tends to dull the overall brightness of the finished panel.

This time I tried to blend the three stripes together to create my background panel and used white heat embossing for the stamping. The finished panel was mounted on a slightly larger piece of card, edged with a YG18 Copic marker to match the orange of the background. A few sequins add a little bling to the proceedings.

So that's it from me for this month. Hope I've encouraged you to have a go, you could even enter the stripes in our latest challenge if you add a few spots or dots!

Keep smiling.