Hello

There's a new challenge out over at CAS Mix Up

This time it's to use Gesso together with a stencil

Hilary, one of the designers, is hosting this challenge and here is her message.

Hilary's Message

Gesso is primarily a surface primer that gives a uniform surface and is often used in mixed media projects, but in reality it can be much more than that. This month we would love to see you use gesso on your card along with your stencils. I have included some video links below to help inspire you.

Video Tutorials:

Creative Ways to Use Gesso by Tiffany Sorlario (7:04)

Distress Oxide Gesso Resist with a Twist by Gerry van der Velden (11:35)

Gesso Resist by Kim Schofield (6:11)

Gesso Resist Background by Eileen Godwin (31:02)

Lavinia Stamps and A Gesso Resist by Eileen Godwin (first 12 minutes)

Stencil and Gesso Technique by Club Scrap (6:02) 

I have to admit that I'm a little in the dark as to the use of Gesso. I bought some many moons ago, meaning to get to grips with its use, but so far haven't really done so. When searching for the Gesso I found a pot of Micro Beads in the same drawer. They may well be banned now as I'm not really sure that they are environmentally friendly, but I just used some of them for this card. I cut a stencil from Mylar using my Silhouette Portrait cutting machine and applied some Gesso through it, sprinkling on some micro beads whilst it was still wet. In the pot they looked just translucent, but once on the gesso took on a silvery look. I don't suppose that this is a recognised technique, but I thought it looked ok!

The Gummiapan butterfly was cut from a piece of card on which I had used this tissue paper technique.

The sentiment is by Poppy Stamps, with a little silver gilding wax added to match the butterfly.

Do join in the fun if you have some gesso, if you don't there are recipes that you can use to make some for yourself. I'm going to try out some and I'll report back!

So have fun, have a go and come on over to CAS Mix Up for this fun challenge!