Adding Art Stones to Mixed Media Projects

Have you wondered what to do with art stones or how they get those little balls onto their projects?

Art stones are a light weight product that is created in various sizes ranging from very small and fine to medium and large.  They can be mixed in with heavy gesso or texture paste for a gritty effect and bumpy texture allowing you leave it white or to colour over the top with your chosen colours.

Check out how Alicia Vega has added the art stones after colouring her project here for a fabulous washed effect of the water.

Alternatively, you can pour art stones onto your project and allow them to dry into the medium either painting over them or leaving them white against a coloured background.

Check them out in store now.

Happy Creating Gayle

and the
A Place to Create Team

IT'S NEARLY SHOW TIME!!!

Craft show time that is.......The Scrapbook and Papercraft Expo is coming to Brisbane in less than a month and A Place to Create will be there again!

Our stand number is A15 so if you're going, 

be sure to pop your head in and say hi.  

If you're not planning on going to the show, remember we will have all our show specials in store for the week leading up to the show so you don't have to carry your goodies around at the show and you can be assured you have the same bargain prices.

Did you know this year the show will run for 4 days this year instead of 3? 

 And it is combining with the Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show?

You will be able to buy one, two, three or four day entry tickets.

There are also two competitions running, one for scrapbookers and one for card makers so why not have a go?  You have to be in it to win it.
Full details can be found on the Expo website but here is an idea of what's involved.

Hope to see you in store or at the show soon,
 Gayle and the A Place to Create Team

OUR NEXT CELEBR8 ORDER IS ON ITS WAY DOWN UNDER

We have a large shipment on it's way for the June show so each day for the next few days, I will show you some of the yummy things that are in our delivery.

Celebr8 is a family owned scrapbooking manufacturer in South Africa who we have come to love for their unique style and quality.

The owners, Denis and Erin are a perfect team with Denis using his design talent to create the collections and Erin being a creative genius when it comes to creating samples.

Here is their latest collection,

Always and Forever.

Celebr8 chipboard is created from a white based board so you don't have to prep it to get great colours.  This makes creating so easy and you can use so many products on them.

Did you know that complementary pages to create a double layout are a standard design concept in South Africa, making it super easy for you to plan the base for a page without even thinking?

Hope you like it as much as we do.  Stay tuned for when it lands in store.

Happy Creating Gayle

and the
A Place to Create Team

NEW MAY RELEASES FROM KAISERCRAFT

The only consolation in the year flying by so quickly is that you don’t have to wait very long for our new release collections to hit the shelves! 

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Kaisercraft's May release is drawing closer and we thought you might like an early preview.

You can also see samples of the new collections in store now if you would like to pre-order any items.

 

And how deep and mystic are the indigo shades of this collection??? 

 Remember if you want any particular items in this range, please make sure to pre-order them by simply calling the shop on 3851 2200 or popping in and ordering from the in store samples.

Happy Creating Gayle

and the
A Place to Create Team

ITALIAN CARD KITS - WHERE THE INSPIRATION CAME FROM

Today I thought I would share with you the inspiration behind some of the Italian card kits 

that I've have created this year.

The first is the TUSCAN range and if you've ever watched the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun", you'll understand why.

 As many of you know, since I married a gorgeous Australian man with Italian parents, we made

a point of visiting his parents' country and hometown a few times and not only did their gorgeous Florentine papers excite me, but the scenery gave me inspiration for the collections.

The Tuscan card kit reflects the gorgeous gold of the fields while the green represents the tall Italian Cypress trees that often line the long winding driveways and roads on properties.

Then we move onto the AMALFI coast inspired range.  The Amalfi coast on the west coast of Italy

has waters  that reflect the most stunning shades of teal and turqoise.

The water itself is crystal clear but the colours have such depth as the water deepens.

And of course as the sun hits it, the shades of colour become even more stunning. 

Not only does Italy have some amazing coastline to explore, but the tiny towns all have their own unique styles and traditions. 

Pienza, like many other Italian towns abounds with red geraniums and poppies and the reds and flora inspired this kit.

Many of the farms in Italy like this one are actually part of the Agriturismo and as such offer a range of accommodation and or  cooking / dining experiences.  Well worth checking out.

Hope you like them and if not, at least enjoy the photos of some 

gorgeous parts of our fabulous planet.

Have a great day, 

Sharon

GREAT FUN WITH DYLUSIONS PAINTS

We have a great range of  DYLUSIONS PAINTS
in store and thought you might like to know more about them.

These paints were especially developed for Dyan Reaveley since no other paints worked quite the way she wanted them to.  Many other paints will definitely work in your mixed media journals but these ones have a few advantages - especially if you like to work quickly.  

* firstly, they come in a jar with a wide opening so you can get your palette knife in to scoop out exactly what you need / want.

 * the large opening means that you have a lid that is big enough to use as the paint directly out of it.  Ie. you can use the small amount of paint that sits on the lid to dip your brush, blending tool sponge or even small objects for printing off.    

* the paint comes in a fabulous range of colours which can all be blended to make shades or pastels but better still, they all have matching sprays and pen colours so you can create with a fully complementary set of mediums. 

* the paint is a perfect consistency for using through your stencils and have a great opacity that can be altered with water.

* now for the main reason they have been so well received by mixed media artists.......they dry super quickly so you can work on multiple pages in jour journal / diary at once and know that when you flip to a new page, the last one will be dry in no time.

If you would like to listen to Dyan talk about the motivation behind this range, click here.

Here is a link to Carolyn Dube who has done a video testing out the paints.

If you've made something with the Dylusions paints be sure to bring them in store to show us sometime.  We would love to see them!

See you soon!

Happy Creating Gayle

and the
A Place to Create Team