BS Sessions - Gesso and Gel Medium Tutorial

Hello Friendly Friends and welcome to another monthly installment of the BS Sessions! 

What are the BS Sessions? Well Samantha knows how to work a marker like nobody's business and Becca loves to get messy with mixed media. We both wanted to learn the other person's crafty secrets so we're going to ask one another a question on the last Thursday of the month. Becca will provide you with some amazing Mixed Media techniques and Samantha will show you some tips and tricks about coloring! We'll both provide our followers with a little tutorial, because if we have these questions - our followers might too!

_______________________

Which brings me to this month's question, asked by Sammy:

What is the difference between gesso and gel medium?

What a great question, huh?

I know I did a canvas a while back and explained some of the differences then, but there is definitely more to add, so I thought I'd give it a go by breaking it down into a nice Pinnable (wink* wink) graphic for you! 

These are just some of the uses, and please bear in mind that I use these things primarily for cardmaking/art journaling and not canvas artwork (usually). So the uses I'll be discussing today will geared toward cardmakers and papercrafters.

Since I covered some of these things in an EARLIER TUTORIAL with pictures, I'll dedicate this post to some of the techniques that I didn't delve into.

==========================

Now, I want to also point out some things when it comes to the products I'm talking about. I don't care what brand of gesso or gel medium you use (I usually use whatever is on sale). You're gonna get the same results. 

But there IS a breakdown in what TYPE of gesso or gel medium you use. For instance, gesso comes in different varieties. I'll be using white gesso, but black gesso is also commonly found. OR if you want a different color gesso, you can color it by using Distress Stains, gelato shavings, and any other tinting medium. (but that's for another day).

Gel mediums are usually clear (but can also be tinted) at they come in glossy (shiny) and matte (not shiny). There is also a breakdown in what TYPE of gel medium you use:

Soft gel - doesn't create much texture, smooth clear

Medium gel - thicker texture, can be used as adhesive

Heavy gel - thickest texture, used to adhere objects (like chipboard)

=============================

Ok. Now that those bases are covered, here's two techniques you can try. One with gesso, one with gel medium. 

Gesso Technique: Stamping

For this technique, you'll need a paintbrush a stamp that's doesn't have a ton of details, and some wet wipes. 

Start by painting a thin layer of gesso over your stamp. 

Working quickly to keep the gesso from drying on your stamp, press firmly into the paper, making sure not to wiggle the stamp. (please excuse my messy acrylic block - I'm a real crafter). 

IMMEDIATELY after stamping, make certain to go wipe off your stamp. If the gesso dries, it could gum up the details of your stamp and ruin it. 

Gel Medium Technique: Sponging Resist

For this technique you will need gel medium, your favorite stencil, baby wipes, a palette knife, sponges, and inks. 

Start by using a palette knife to scrape a thin layer of gel medium through your stencil. I am using medium weight gel medium. 

 

After the gel medium is dry, use your favorite inks 

to sponge softly over the stenciled pattern. 

Lastly, use a baby wipe to wipe off excess ink that remains

 on top of the gel medium. 

Ooooo pretty! Stay tuned later to see this pretty background made into a card! But for now, make sure you head on over to Sammy's blog, where she is showing you all about how to color fur onto stamped images of animals! 

Thanks for tuning in! 

BS Sessions - Gelatos Tutorial 101

Welcome, Friendly Friends to the

third installment of the BS Sessions!

What are the BS Sessions? Well Samantha knows how to work a marker like nobody's business and Becca loves to get messy with mixed media. We both wanted to learn the other person's crafty secrets so we're going to ask one another a question on the last Thursday of the month. Becca will provide you with some amazing Mixed Media techniques and Samantha will show you some tips and tricks about coloring! We'll both provide our followers with a little tutorial, because if we have these questions - our followers might too!

_______________________

Which brings me to this month's question, asked by Sammy:

How do you use gelatos? What are some different things you can do with them?

Gelatos! I love them! Next to Distress Inks, they're probably my very favorite crafty supply because there is SO much you can do with them. 

Things to know about Gelatos:

>They have the consistency of soft crayons

>You don't have to be gentle with them. Definitely scribble away!

>They are reactive with water

Some of the things I'm going to show you have been published on my blog before, but I thought it would be helpful to compile a whole list of them right here. 

_______________________

Making Backgrounds with Gelatos

If you're looking for quick and easy way to make a background that's also super stunning, look no further. 

One thing I would HIGHLY suggest when using this technique is to paint the cardstock with a thin layer of gesso first. Gesso seals the tiny holes of the cardstock, so the gelatos will blend together more easily, rather than being absorbed right away. 

  

Background on the left is made without gesso - 

background on the right is with gesso. 

As you can see - background two is much better. 

I scribbled on some gelatos and blended them together with my fingers. I wanted it to look distressed, so I wiped away a little bit of the background with a baby wipe.

To see how this background got turned into a card - check out this blog post.  

_______________________

Making Drips With Gelatos

As I said earlier, gelatos are reactive with water, which means you can do some really cool techniques! One of my favorites is making drips. For this technique, it's almost essential to base your cardstock with gesso, or the drips will not go as far and will not blend well. 

To achieve this effect, scribble gelatos across the top (in this case I used three shades of purple and a gold). Next, use a mini mister to spritz the gelatos strip with water and hold it vertically so that the water can drip down the paper. Add more or less water based on the effect you want to achieve. 

To see the card I made with this panel, check out this blog post.

_______________________

Watercoloring with Gelatos

You can use gelatos exactly like you use watercolors in a couple of different ways. 

You can either draw directly onto an image and then paint over it with a watery paintbrush or waterbrush pen to blend:

Or, for more precise watercoloring, you can scribble some gelatos onto a clear acrylic block (or any surface) and then mix the colors with a little water and pick up with a paintbrush.

 

_______________________

Using Gelatos to Color Texture Paste, Gel Medium, or Gesso

Gelato shavings can be used as a coloring agent by mixing with any wet or liquid product. 

Shave some of the gelato stick into the texture paste (or gesso, gel medium, etc) and mix thoroughly. Obviously, the more of the stick you use, the deeper the color tone will be. I only used a little bit of the dark blue, so I wound up with a lovely pale blue in the end. 

__________________________________

These are just of the few ways to use gelatos! There are so many possibilities! You can use them to color almost anything in a quick but stunning way! 

If you'd like to see all of the projects I've made with gelatos, you can check out my gelatos project library. 

_______________________

Now - if you're interested in improving your coloring skills, make sure you head on over to Sammy's blog 
because she's answered my question:

What the heck does a blender pen do? Do I need one?

BS Sessions - Tutorials on Distress Spray Stain Backgrounds and Coloring with Black

Welcome, Friendly Friends to the very 

second installment of the BS Sessions!

What are the BS Sessions? Well Samantha knows how to work a marker like nobody's business and Becca loves to get messy with mixed media. We both wanted to learn the other person's crafty secrets so we're going to ask one another a question on the last Thursday of the month. Becca will provide you with some amazing Mixed Media techniques and Samantha will show you some tips and tricks about coloring! We'll both provide our followers with a little tutorial, because if we have these questions - our followers might too!

----------

Which brings me to this month's question, asked by Sammy:

What are some good ways to make backgrounds for cards with Spray Stains?

Being the Damsel of Distressed... Yeah... I own a ton of Distress Spray Stains (I don't have them in every color.... yet!) Samantha, on the other hand, just bought a bunch of Dylusions Spray Stains. 

It's important to note that some spray stains are different. Distress Sprays are reactive to water so you can do some funky cool techniques with them that you wouldn't normally be able to do with others. Likewise, both Distress and Dylusions have really pigmented colors - meaning you'll get a much more vibrant result with them than some other brands. For example, I've tried a couple Heidi Swapp spray stains and I use them when I want more of a pastelly tone or not as vibrant of a color. 

Some of the techniques (water reactivity) will only be able to be done with Distress Spray Stains, but some can be done with all types. 

Background one - Double Dip Dyeing with Distress Stain

Start out with your blank piece of paper. Since I know I want to use a heavy spray of water with this one, I'm using watercolor paper. You can also use heavy weight cardstock, but I wouldn't try this with lightweight cardstock because the paper will pill. 

Spray your paper all over with stain - I used Spun Sugar and Dusty Concord because they blend nicely. 

Then spritz with water - you'll see your colors start to run together and lighten. There will also be "holes" in the color in places where the most water was applied. This is unique to Distress products - water reactivity.

At this point, take time to COMPLETELY dry your background with a heat gun. Then move on to the next step - There will be extra stain on your craft mat that has formed little bubbles. Press your paper color side down into these bits, give it a little bit of a wiggle back and forth and then lift. 

So for this background, the water reactivity parts are unique to Distress Spray Stains, but a similar result can be obtained with Dylunsions, Sammy! 

Background 2 - The Galaxy with Splatters

Can you all tell that I am totally making up these names? :)

For this background, we're not going to use any water. Spray stains will be more concentrated the closer the nozzle is to the paper.

So I sprayed some bits close to the paper, and then pulled back and did some sprays further away, varying the effect a little bit, getting variations in the concentration of colors.

Lastly, I unscrewed the caps of some of my metallic colors - Picket Fence which is a nice white and Brushed Silver. This part gets a little messy, so make sure there's nothing in the general vicinity (and that you're not wearing a white shirt - woops!) 

The end of the straw will have ink on it. If you position this over your paper, then tap the nozzle with your finger, it will start spraying off all over the place and you can get some really lovely splatters. 

Background 3 - The Full Mixed Media Madness

Distress Sprays work SO well with various types of media. You can blob on bits and bobs, put a layer of gesso down and then spray to get a beautiful effect. 

For this next background, however, I chose to go with some texture paste and washi tape. 

Firstly, I sprayed a nice, even spray of Scattered Straw

Then I made certain that was fully dry and added a layer of washi tape and texture paste through a stencil (for a texture paste tutorial, see last month's BS Sessions). 

Next, I spritzed with darker shades of the same tones - Spiced Marmalade and Mustard Seed. This helps to vary the colors and add depth to give a nice visual appeal. 

Lastly, I used the same splatter technique from above to add black splatters all over the place. 

(This time I also to a process photo so you could see what the straw looks like without the bottle)

-------------------------------------------------

So there are 3 different backgrounds for you! :) 

A couple other notes about Spray Stains:

> They are messy! I've seen people use a cardboard box to set their card bases in before spraying because it really does get everywhere. 
> Keep your paper towels on hand - You can dab up excess spray if it starts to get away from you or if you accidentally spill a whole bottle of black Distress Spray Stains all over the place after you uncapped it to take a process photo for your blog readers. 
>Keep baby wipes on hand - If you're switching from color to color, you can wipe your hands off in between.
>Your hands will get stained! So wear gloves or something if you have an important business meeting the next day. 
>Think about how colors will blend. You don't want to spray green and red in the same vicinity, for instance, because they will make brown (unless you want brown - then spray away!)
>Have fun. These things SO are not meant to be for a perfectionist. 

Now - if you're interested in improving your color skills, make sure you head on over to Sammy's blog 

because she's answered my question:

How do you color with black? I wanna know how to do hair and clothes!