Living My Dream: Studio Calico Mixed Media Class and Supplies

Recently Studio Calico announced they will be teaching a new class on Mixed Media. I was so excited to hear this. Especially when I heard who the two main teachers are - Anna-Maria Wolniak and Celine Navarro. Both of these girls are mixed media experts and I have a lot to learn in this area! I have always wondered how AM makes those amazing watercolor looking backgrounds on her layouts. And I am about to find out her secrets! You can learn all the details about this class HERE. They also list all of the mixed media supplies they recommend for the class.

As soon as I realized SC would be carrying mixed media supplies, I was even more excited. In preparation for the class, I immediately went to order some of the supplies before they ran out. They arrived at my door step today and I wanted to try them out right away. So here is a small tutorial and a layout on using the new Neocolor II crayons as well as a few of the other supplies.

When my crayons arrived, I realized I already had some of these that I bought years ago at an art supply store. I had tried them out once and was dissapointed as they just looked like regular inexpensive crayons my kids use. But I didn't know HOW to use them - that was the problem! Here is a chart of all of the colors I now own. Most of these are available at Studio Calico for $2.99 each. You can purchase them here: Neocolor II Crayons.

Look at all those beautiful colors! The secret to these crayons is water! I show the color first without water on it. Then I added some water using a Water Brush. I show them both at full opacity and then with more water added so you can see how light the colors can be used. Once I discovered the watercolor effect they can be used for, I set out to make an AM type layout with a watercolored background. Here are the steps I used:

First I colored with a Pink Neocolor II Crayon
Next I added a drop of water using a Water Brush
I swirled the water over the colored area until the crayon lines dissappeared
I extended the area so it was even more light along the edges
While it was still wet, I added some more color with the pink crayon and then used the water brush again to soften the edges
I added some more color on both the wet area and some of the dry area using a Yellow Neocolor II Crayon
Again, I used the water brush to blend the colors
I alternated the pink and yellow to create a background for my layout following all of the steps above

See, it is THAT easy to add color to the background of a layout! I want to add that I used 12x12 Letterpress Thin Paper as the background for my layout. I use this paper any time I plan on using watercolor on a layout as it holds up like watercolor paper, but it is more white. Most watercolor papers have more of a yellow tone and I like pure white. This paper is perfect for layouts!

You can see the Neocolors on the background of the layout in the top right corner as well as the left and bottom of the layout. Now I'll show you some of the other mixed media tools and techniques I used on the background.

To create this tree, I used one of the new Teresa Collins stencils called the Family Stencil. There are three different options available and they are all three awesome! I sprayed it with Garden Mister Huey.

Next, I used the new Patterned Brayer Set: Large to create some more pattern on the background of the layout. I sprayed some Mary Mary Mister Huey on a plastic baggy and then I rolled the dots brayer over the ink. I then rolled it on my page along the bottom edge and again along the top so less ink was transferred this second time. You can see that the dots are very small along the top edge on this close up:

Last, to add a little more detail to the background, I used some of the new Color Theory Inks and SC stamps along the edges of the papers. To create this layout, I primarily used my Office Hours scrapbook kit. I added in a few other shop items including some of the Wanderlust papers from the 6x6 paper pad and the Phrases Roller Stamp.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial on the new Neocolor II crayons. They are definitely my new favorite supply. I hope to see you all at the Studio Calico Subscriber Reveal chat on Thursday morning at 8:00 am pst. And then shopping begins at 9:00 am for subscribers and at 9:00 pm for everyone else! Happy Reveal Day! xo suzy