Tres Jolie Kit Club–Let’s Play With Color!!-April 2023 Mixed Media Kit

Hey, y’all! This week I wanted to dive into the Mixed Media Kit and just play with the colors! Sometimes colors or color combinations can be daunting, especially when sitting in separate containers! You might find yourself asking questions such as: “Do they really go together?” “Can I put orange, blue, and green together?,” and “Are there other colors I have around that can be used too?”

Then there’s the biggest question of them all: “What happens if…?!?!”

Hopefully, my project this week will provide you with a few “answers” and spark some ideas for you!

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Make sure to swing by YouTube and check out just how big of a mess I can make!



For this first project I played around with, I used a Clear Scraps wooden blank, the paints, texture paste, and stencil from the Mixed Media Kit, and some flowers from both the Scrapbooking and Cards, Tags, & More Kits. (y’all know Tres Jolie is having a collaboration with Clear Scraps this month, right? Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for the Tres Jolie and Clear Scraps “official” collaboration projects coming up!!)

I coated the “You n Me” frame with some white gesso and then started my color experiment using a gel plate! I have always loved how gel plates allow a thinner layer of paint(s) to be applied, and how easy it is to put your layers together and lift it all at once! For the two base ovals, I only used the paints on the gel plate, but for the main feature, after I had my color down, I rolled some white gesso on, then lifted. The white gesso gave the paints a more faded look – and since I liked it, I kept it!

After all that gel plate “work,” I added some random areas of stenciling. Now, with the stenciling on, I had to figure out how I wanted to go about adding some color to it, so I grabbed up a sponge and just started dabbing. I think the sponge worked great, it created a nice even coverage, but it also allowed for more control over how thick the paint went on – plus, it just worked better for me over the uneven surface of the stenciling!

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For the frame, I lightly and unevenly added some of the “Fairy Wings” paint using a brush. I didn’t want a “perfect” coat of paint, I figured this project should look as aged as the photo Rolling on the floor laughing (the photo was taken 20 years ago this month!). To help protect the photo from dust, fingerprints, etc., I added a layer of acetate and glued everything in place.

The white flower cluster came from the Little Birdie Crafts flower pack in this month’s Scrapbooking Kit, then I decided I needed to add a little more color, so I popped in some of the green flowers from the Cards, Tags, & More Kit (for me, it was the rest of the green flowers from last week’s cards). Then, because I was adding them to the other three projects, I decided a little extra texture from art stones would be a nice final touch.

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Before I give an overview of the ScrapBerry’s Bird and Butterfly blanks found in the Mixed Media Kit, I am going to very quickly cover the daffodils in the clockfaces.

I hadn’t tried adding dried flowers to thinner resin pieces before, so I was experimenting with the process – and that process involved a bit of trial and error to work out the best way to cover flowers that are thicker than the mould! It also resulted in some gaps and uneven resin areas, but since I love old and vintage, I always figured I’d just work them into the design!

So, in short, I dried my flower in silica gel crystals, sprayed them with preservative for storage, then added them to my moulds.

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With that covered some, it’s time to go over the remaining projects!

For the bird blank, I coated the wood with the black gesso from the kit, added some spray adhesive from my stash, then pressed the metallic flakes into place. After the glue had a chance to dry, I brushed off the excess flakes and started adding some stenciling. Then, I got the bright idea to add more metallic flakes to the texture paste while the stencil was still in place! It mostly worked. Mostly. Open-mouthed smile

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In continuing with my color experiments, I mixed some of the “Fairy Wings” paint into some 3D Matte Gel and added some extra sparkle with a bit of “Golden Marble” Pixie Sparkle. Well, I had hoped for extra sparkle…

Anyhow, the green behind the daffodil is really very subtle, and it doesn’t stand out a lot. But, this week was about experimenting, so it’s okay!

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I wasn’t entirely happy with my bird base and the metallic flakes, so I came in with my sponges and added a few light areas of the paints. It wasn’t an all-over coating, just a few areas for some blending.

To try and get the details of the clockface to stand out a little more, I used a brayer to roll some black gesso on, then after the gesso had dried, I rolled on a couple of layers of the “Fairy Wings” paint and sprinkled some “Golden Marble” Pixie Sparkle to try and get a little more “pop.”

In addition to my daffodil clockface, I also have a Sharon Ziv window frame mould piece coated in a layer of white gesso and two layers of the “Ginger Magic” paint from the kit.

After I adhered the frame and clockface to the bird, I wanted to add a bit of shadow and a vintage look, so I grabbed up some “Burnt Sienna” Liquid Acrylic Paint and a water bottle. And, this is where I discovered there were a lot more gaps in my clockface than I originally thought! All of the darkest areas of Burnt Sienna are not on the surface! The paint ran through holes! Unexpected, yet kinda cool too.

This project needed something else, so I added the entire pack of the “Mango” 49 & Market flowers from the Scrapbooking Kit and some art stones. I don’t know if I can call this project “finished,” but I hope it gave you some ideas to pull from!


Next up, my “Shiplap Milk Can” Clear Scraps blank. I used almost the same technique on the background as I did with the bird – except I used white gesso instead of black gesso. I added my metallic flakes, then added stenciling – but instead of pressing more metallic flakes onto the texture paste, the flakes are mixed in because I worked on the stenciling for the milk can right after doing the bird and I just scraped the metallic flakes off the stencil right as I was working! After the texture paste had dried, I came in with my sponges and paints and blended things together a bit. (**Note: The gel used for the art stones isn’t dry yet in the photo!)

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I hadn’t originally planned on adding the butterfly to this piece – I wasn’t sure the purple would go with the blue and green of the metallic flakes – but once I saw it together, I knew it had to be done! (The butterfly has a variety of purple powders all mixed together on top of the black gesso coating!)

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However, I did have to add something between the background and the butterfly, so I grabbed up a flower mould, painted it “Ginger Magic,” sprinkled on some “Golden Marble” Pixie Sparkle, and stuck everything on. I added some “Burnt Sienna” for shadow and art stones for texture.


Now, for the fourth and final color experiment project – the ScrapBerry’s butterfly blank!

I used black gesso to prepare the blank, then added layers of color using my gel plate. After the paint had dried, I added some stenciling, then added more paint to blend the dried texture paste with the background using my little sponge pieces.

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I will say, without a doubt, this clockface is a favorite “thing” I’ve made! The daffodil in this mould piece had lighter petals and against the purple background?!?!? It came out fabulous!

The purple background is made of a variety of dry mediums mixed into some 3D Matte gel spread across the back, and to get the details of the surface I used my brayer again and rolled a couple of layers of “Ginger Magic” on after the black gesso had dried.

On this project, I added a Finnabair Mould Frame and a Sharon Ziv window frame mould piece – the Finnabair frame coated in “Ginger Magic” and the Sharon Ziv window coated in “Fairy Wings.”

I used 3D Matte Gel to stick the mould pieces on, and after that had set up, I added my “Burnt Sienna” shadows and some art stones. Of all of the pieces, I think this one would benefit most if I add some more “Burnt Sienna” to the art stones – but since I’m not 100% sure (and the gel hadn’t dried yet!), I have left them “plain” for the time being.

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Thank you for joining me here today, I hope these four projects gave you some ideas of how you can use the colors from this month’s Mixed Media Kit together!

Stay Crafty, Friends


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Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame

In addition to this month’s Mixed Media Kit, I used (from previous Tres Jolie Kits):
Clear Scraps “Shiplap Milk Can” & “You n Me Desktop Frame,” Sharon Ziv “Window To The Soul” Mould, Finnabair “Clockface,” “Baroque Frames,” & “Mecha Moth” Moulds, Prima ReDesign “Winter Blooms” Mould, Finnabair “Art Stones,” Finnabair Liquid Color Fluid Medium, Finnabair “Pearls & Crystals” Mica Set, Finnabair “Burnt Sienna” Liquid Acrylic, Cosmic Shimmer “Golden Marble” Pixie Sparkles, “Groovy Grape” Pixie Sparkles, & “Firework Burst” Pixie Powder, Recollections 6”x6” Clear Acetate Sheets, Gel Press 8”x10” Gel Printing Plate, Gel Press 3”x5” Gel Printing Plate, Ranger 2-1/2” Brayer, Daler Rowney White Gesso, Krylon Triple Thick Clear Glaze, Krylon Workable Fixatif, Amazing Clear Cast, Perfect Cast, Finnabair 3D Matte Gel, E6000 Spray Adhesive, spray bottle, Wisedry Silica Gel Crystals, Gemini Dried Floral Preservative

Tres Jolie Kit Club– “Dear Diary…” –February 2023 Kits

Hey, y’all! This week, I decided to make a lapbook with a removable journal/diary. I have tons of pockets and flips in my 2-inch thick lapbook, so there will always be someplace to stick little notes or ephemera in!

Make sure you check out my video to get an overview of what I did. It isn’t a full tutorial – because otherwise, it would be hours and hours long Open-mouthed smile – but I tried to give an overview for you to pick some ideas from.

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Tres Jolie Mood Board

Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame

I forgot to add this in the video – that’s a whole other issue! – but my lapbook idea did spring from this month’s mood board! I am not a particularly “frilly” type of person. I never have been – much to my mother’s dismay of not getting that delicate, sweet, “girly girl” who loves pink, ruffles, and such! (I tell her it was because of the trauma of the pink ruffle diaper pants she dressed me in! ROFL!!) (Disclaimer: I am also not delicate or sweet! Rolling on the floor laughing)

But I digress, well there is never likely to be an occasion where I will ever wear pink ruffles (again!), I don’t hate the entire concept and this month’s mood board – and Valentine’s Day – got me thinking about diaries, which led to journals, but I didn’t want to make a journal, so I made a lapbook!


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I will try to cover what is in the lapbook here on the blog, but I think the video will do a better job of showing a bit more of a “before and after” overview! A picture video is worth a thousand words!

I used some 3-inch bookbinding to put my cover together using two book covers from my stash that were the same height, and slightly different widths! This meant all I needed to do was cut some heavy chipboard down to the widths I wanted for my spines. My main spine is about 2-1/4 inches wide – because I found a cut of chipboard that width so all I had to do is cut it down to the correct height, plus, it went well with the two 1-inch chipboard strips I had laying around! Basically, I got rather lucky finding all of my main pieces ready – or almost ready – to go!

I just used the papers from the kit to cover all of my outside book surfaces and spines, as well as the inside spines. I stitched together some random fabrics I had in my stash and a bit of frilly pink ruffle “stuff” to create a tie closure, but I only attached it to the front cover so it could be moved out of the way when the book is laid down – and it is a handy “cushion” for the frame, flower, and butterfly cluster I added to the front of the lapbook!

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I grabbed up some envelopes I’d been saving from junk mail, covered them with a wide variety of papers – some ledger paper, some rice paper – and if I needed to, I trimmed them down to fit within the covers. I personally love the look of things looking “pieced together” so I added stitching to the cut edges of the envelopes to seal them back up.

I used part of my old Kindle cover to create one of my flaps (the grey-bordered flap in the right photo above) which also led me to the belief that I needed to add windows everywhere! Well, everywhere on the inside! I used a variety of vellum and transparency pieces from my stash to cover my windows – some backed with patterned paper, some not – stitched them in place and started [trying] to work out how everything was going to fit together.

I also used the cover from a small book to create two inside flaps. I didn’t want to cover the original red cover on it, but I also needed to cover the raw edge where I had cut out the spine, so I used some homemade “vintage” tape!

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For the first [main] flap (if you think of the lapbook unfolded all the way, and going left to right), I have an envelope/triple pocket under a smaller decorative flap on the inside of the red book cover. Under the red book cover, I have three manila-type mini-folders stitched together, they flip out and reveal a large envelope with a gold foil acetate window, and finally, a large pocket with a tie closure.

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The next panel in the lapbook is where I added my old Kindle cover piece. I layered a piece of flower-shaped transparency, vellum, and a piece of patterned paper to the Kindle frame/window, then a second piece of patterned paper and an envelope/tuck spot combo on the back side. Under that Kindle cover, I have a small flap for decoration and a couple of my re-covered envelopes that fold up and flip out!

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The two re-covered envelopes flip over and reveal a receipt folder that flips to the right, revealing a large pocket created from some homemade – very colorful – glassine and a piece of gold foil acetate.

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I kept the third panel rather simple and “flat” so the journal would fit easily, and even have a little extra space for more pages to be added. I used an elastic headband to hold the journal in place, which also allows it to be removable. On the panel under the journal, I have a simple pocket covered by a large envelope that flips out.

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My journal is created from an old notebook folder that I altered a little, punched a couple of holes in for eyelets, and decorated with some rust-stained cheesecloth and sections from the 3Quarter papers. I didn’t stitch my pages to the cover, instead, I used a length of Prima Wire Thread to hold the pages in place and allow for them to be removed – and tucked away in one of the pockets!

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Finally, to the final panel! This panel is made up of three envelopes that fold over each other and a tri-fold element on the underside of the red book cover. I didn’t add anything to the back of this panel, because I really just like the image on this section of the patterned paper!

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I hope you enjoyed this project and the video and/or this blog post gave you some ideas of how you can use the items found in this month’s Scrapbooking Kit, the cheesecloth from the Mixed Media Kit, and, I even have a strip of paper from the Cards, Tags, & More Kit in here!

Stay Crafty, Friends


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Thank you for joining us here at Tres Jolie Kits!


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Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame

In addition to the items from this month’s Scrapbooking Kit, Mixed Media Kit, and Cards, Tags, & More Kit, I used (from previous Tres Jolie Kits):

Bazzill White Vellum 12×12, Cardstock Warehouse Translucent Vellum Natural 48lb, Studio Light Rice Paper RICEJMA15, AB Studio Rice Paper, Stamperia “Wonderland Unicorn” Rice Paper, Stamperia Rice Paper DFSA4376, Finnabair Art Daily “Wanderlust” Decorative Tape, Prima Brown Wire Thread, Tim Holtz Jute String, Tim Holtz “Pumice Stone” Distress Ink, Hampton Art White Flower Overlays, Recollections Kraft Envelopes, Recollections 2-1/2” Circle Punch, Fiskars 1” Squeeze Circle Punch, EK Tools Binding Edge Punch, EK Tools Round Binding Edge Punch, We R Memory Keepers Hole Reinforcer Punch, We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile II, Nicapa Cutting Mat, Silhouette Cameo 3, Fabrika Decoru Gold Foil Acetate Sheet, UHU Stic, Art Glitter Glue, Fabri-Tac, LineCo 1-1/4” Linen Hinging Tape, BookGard 3” Book Binding Tape (Black), Double Sided Tape, scraps of fabric and various papers from my stash

Tres Jolie Kit Club–Mecha Love – February 2023 Mixed Media Kit

Hey, y’all! I hope you’re having a fabulous February and have had a chance to play with your kits! This week I have a project for you I made using the February Mixed Media Kit! I grabbed up my kit, added some extra mould pieces, mechanicals, and paints from my stash, and created my Mecha Love mixed media piece!

Make sure to check out my video to see what I did!

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To start building up some texture, I added some of the sand texture paste using the stencil from the kit onto the canvas board. I didn’t cover the entire surface with stenciling, I just added the stenciling to a few random areas. In the video, you will see that I added black gesso after the sand texture paste had dried, but that was because I hadn’t planned on adding the cheesecloth so soon! If I had thought I would be adding the cheesecloth to fill in the areas without the stenciling I would have waited to add my gesso. Anyhow…I had been rust-staining fabric around the same time I received my February kits, so my cheesecloth got sucked into the process – even if that rust staining doesn’t show much on this canvas – and while I was playing with different ways to build my canvas, I just happened to lay the cheesecloth down in a way that sparked inspiration! I ran with this new inspiration and used some matte gel to adhere some of the cheesecloth to my canvas.

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Since my cheesecloth led me on a slightly different path than what I had planned originally, I decided I wasn’t going to add gesso again until I had the majority of my mould pieces in place. I grabbed up a variety of gear mould pieces from my stash – made from a wide range of materials since I tend to pre-create pieces when I have extra resin or clay from a different project or I just need to use up old material – and started layering them up using some 3D Matte Gel. I had some broken bits and pieces in the mix, so I just used them as filler to create some lift under areas they wouldn’t be seen, you could just as easily use scraps of cardboard or chipboard as filler! After I had all my gears in place I added the resin frame from the kit and topped it with the large heart from Finnabair’s “Love Machine” Mould (from my stash). I let the 3D Gel dry overnight, then I came back with my matte gel and some more cheesecloth, adding more to the background and laying it across a few areas of the mould cluster. After the matte gel had dried, I added black gesso to everything.

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Now it was finally time to start getting my colors built up! I started with some “Linen” Impasto and a lot of water! All I knew was I wanted to create some type of gradient or ombre effect, so I kept the layer of Impasto heavier on the top half(ish) of the canvas and more watered down on the bottom half(ish).

After the Impasto had dried, I mixed some Tres Jolie “Red” Acrylic Paint and DWM “Fuchsia” Glossy Spray and added this mix to the canvas.

When my paint and glossy spray mix had dried, I came back with more cheesecloth and added it to areas of my resin pieces and canvas. You can see some of the rust-stained cheesecloth on the finished piece still because this final layer of cheesecloth didn’t get completely covered by mediums!

After the matte gel had semi-dried (being fully dry wasn’t necessary!), I returned with some of the Copper and Graphite texture paste from this month’s kit and used them more like paint than paste. I added the copper to a few areas (very few!) of the cheesecloth I had just placed and the gears on the heart, and I added the graphite to the gears. I didn’t want a lot of build-up, I just wanted a bit of color.

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After those pastes had dried, I came in with the Platinum Crackle Paste from the kit and added it to the bottom half(ish) of my canvas, then I set everything off to air dry for about 24 hours. When I came back, I had lovely crackles and it was finally time to get the Brown, Red, and Yellow Rust Effect Paste on the (mould) gears, the resin frame from the kit, and slightly spread out onto the canvas.

When I had my rust how I wanted it, I added some “Red Wine” Metallique Paint to my heart and on the top half(ish) of the canvas background. For the background, I really kept the metallique paint watered down, I didn’t want to completely cover what was already there, I just wanted to add a bit of variation.

Once the “Red Wine” was dry, I added some “Vintage Silk” and “Indian Pink” Finnabair waxes to highlight a few areas on the heart. Finally, I grabbed up the (partial) package of Mechanicals from my stash, kept them “as is,” and adhered them to the gears “on” the heart mould using 3D Matte Gel.

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Thank you for joining me here today on the blog! I hope this project gave you some inspiration and ideas of what you can do with the items in this month’s Mixed Media Kit! I tried to use the texture pastes in a variety of ways to help you see them in action if you haven’t experienced the joy of crackles and rust effect pastes yet!

Stay Crafty, Friends


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Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame

In addition to this month’s Mixed Media Kit, I used (from previous Tres Jolie Kits):

Finnabair Moulds: “Love Machine,” “Large Gears,” “Machine Parts,” “Steampunk Hearts,” Finnabair “Steampunk Gears” Mechanicals, Finnabair Heavy Black Gesso, Finnabair “Linen” Impasto, Finnabair “Red Wine” Metallique Paint, Finnabair “Indian Pink” Metallique Wax, Finnabair “Vintage Silk” Opal Magic Wax, DWM “Fuchsia” Gloss Spray, Tres Jolie Red Acrylic Paint, DecoArt Black Gesso, Liquitex Matte Gel

Tres Jolie Kit Club–Cordis Gelida-January 2023 Mixed Media Kit

Hey, y’all! This week I broke into the January Mixed Media Kit, grabbed up some mould pieces and Mechanicals from my stash, and created my “Cordis Gelida” (“Frozen Heart” – Latin) mixed media panel. You could call your piece “Hiems Amo” (“I Love Winter” – Latin) if you are the type of person who loves winter. Actually, it’s your artwork, you can call it whatever you want or nothing at all!

After you’re done checking out the photos and reading this overview of my project, come and join me over on YouTube where I talk about what I did, expose my hoarding of Finnabair Mechanicals, wonder if my obsession with adhesion is genetic, babble semi-coherently, and ask the tough question, “Do New Year [I’ll use what I have] Resolutions apply to crafters and artists?”

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Have you seen the mood board yet this month? It’s filled with beautiful winter-scapes and wonder – which matches perfectly for the twist “Winter Wonderland!” I happen to love winter – well, I love looking at winter. From inside. Where it’s warm. If I could figure out how to be warm without 42 layers of clothing, I’d love to sit out at a frozen pond enjoying the quiet tranquility. There is a line from a made-for-TV, two-part movie series (well, when I saw it in the early 2000s, it was in two parts) that came out in 1997, True Women, and my favorite line from it is “Snow makes even ugly things beautiful.” (Side note: Is it strange that the line I remember all these years later was spoken by not a main character, that [the character] was not a…“good person”…? Why did he get the line I remember?!?!) Anyhow, back to the project! Which is why y’all are here, right?

Tres Jolie Mood Board

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Overall, it wasn’t a terribly complicated project. I used crackle paste with my Finnabair Machinery stencil for one texture/style, then stenciled on some snowflakes with the lava paste. That was the basis of my contrasting textures – “hard” angles and edges, and soft fluffy snow!

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I grabbed up mould pieces and Mechanicals from my stash that I thought I would want to use and just started playing around with the layout. I didn’t pre-plan the entire thing – I worked “in the moment” and went with what looked and felt right to me! And, somewhere along the way, I added in the spoon and little pipe from the kit.

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Once I had everything adhered and it had time to dry some, I gave it all a nice coat of white gesso. Now it was time for the real messy part – adding some color!

I mixed the Cosmic Shimmer powders with some matte medium or Liquid Color Fluid Medium so they would stay in place after drying, allowing the colors to layer and not keep reactivating. After I had my colors down over the entire project, I came back with the powders in a more concentrated form – using them more as heavy body paint than the “poured on” method I had used for the initial coating. This allowed me to use those powders to add extra dimension to key areas.

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Once I had my powder paint where I wanted it and had given it all ample time to dry, I used a round brush to add some of the wax from the kit to the surface. I didn’t add wax to every nook and cranny, I didn’t want to make everything a uniform color, I just wanted that wax mostly to sit on the surface of everything.

The final step was dabbing on some of the lava paste and, using the low heat setting on my heat gun, activating that paste and creating my snow clusters.


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Thank you for joining me here today, I hope you enjoyed this mixed media panel and it gave you some ideas of what you can do with the mediums in this month’s Mixed Media Kit!

Stay Crafty, Friends


Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!

Thank you for joining us here at Tres Jolie Kits!


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Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame

In addition to this month’s Mixed Media Kit (from previous Tres Jolie Kits), I used:

Ranger Opaque Crackle Texture Paste, TCW “Snowflakes” Stencil, Finnabair “Machinery” Stencil, Finnabair Moulds: Steampunk Hearts, Stars and Moons, Love Machine, Pieces of Underworld, & Cogs and Wings, Finnabair “Vintage Flowers Metal Trinkets” and “Mini Roman Numerals” Mechanicals, Finnabair White Heavy Gesso, Soft Matte Gel, 3D Matte Gel, Liquid Color Fluid Medium, Texture Powder, Mega Art Stones, Art Stones, Mini Art Stones, JudiKins Diamond Glaze, Liquitex Matte Medium

Tres Jolie Kit Club–Mixed Media Bat-October 2022 Mixed Media Kit

Hey, y’all! Is everyone ready for Halloween? I am because I don’t have anything to get ready for! The kids are all 21+, so Halloween has been their business for a while.

I love making Halloween-themed decorations! I don’t know why exactly, I think it must speak to the GenX “goth” side of me! Anyhow, the Mixed Media Kit this month from Tres Jolie Kit Club has just what you need to get going on your next Halloween (or goth!) décor piece – a bat base, foil transfer sheets, purple glitter paint, “Black Hole Black” Magical Powder, and some Distress Crackle! You could easily use just the mediums from the kit to decorate the bat base, or you can start with the bat and see what you can build up on it.

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I have lots of layers – and had loads of dry time to go with them all – but I had fun and love the end result! Watch my video to see how this bat came together!



The first thing I did was give my bat base a coat of heavy black gesso, and after that had dried, I added some sand texture paste – in a random, patchy fashion – then coated that with more of the heavy black gesso. You can easily add the sand texture paste on the bat base first, then coat everything with the gesso – I just didn’t think of the sand texture paste until after I had the first coat of gesso on!

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The next layer to go on was some of the FolkArt Purple Glitter Paint from the kit this month. It is a rather thick medium, so to make sure I got it between all of the rough spots of the sand texture paste, I watered it down some and spread it out.

After the FolkArt paint had dried, I started adding patches of the foil transfer to the base. As I mentioned in the video, if there wasn’t an extra tip in the package for the glue pen, I probably would have made a puddle of the glue on my media mat and then brushed it on; but, since there was a spare tip in the package, I used the glue straight from the pen! I really liked doing it this way just because it wouldn’t go on smoothly!

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Once that glue had dried, I used a palette knife to drizzle on a layer of the Distress Crackle Paint and to just smooth it out across the surface. I didn’t want a thin, brushed layer, so I drizzled just enough to make a nice coat but without overflowing off the sides.

After the crackle paint had completely airdried and those cracks had formed, I gave a surface a light spritz of water, sprinkled on some of the Black Hole Black Magical Powder, and spritzed on more water. It doesn’t take a lot of powder! That Lindy’s Black Hole Black really deepens as soon as the water gets to it! I kept it watered down and let it flow into all of the cracks, then just dabbed off any areas that I didn’t want it – like on top of where the foil spots were.

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While I let the Lindy’s dry, I started prepping all of my resin pieces. All of the bones started with a layer of white gesso, followed by a layer of Finnabair “Linen” Impasto Heavy Body Acrylic Paint. All of the other mould pieces started with a layer of black gesso and then were coated with a mix of “Ink Black” Liquid Acrylic Paint, FolkArt Purple Glitter Paint, and some Cosmic Shimmer “Fireworks Burst” Pixie Powder. I just mixed everything together to darken the pieces while giving them some shine at the same time. I also took this opportunity to give my bat a spray of some Finnabair Pixie Dust to hold the Black Hole Black Magical Powder in place.

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With my bat set off to dry again, I started working on adding some dimension and color to my bone pieces. I started by adding some Burnt Sienna Liquid Acrylic Paint, watering it down, and just letting it catch in the textured areas of the mould pieces. After that paint had dried, I started adding more layers of color and some shine using the “Decayed” Distress Crayon and spreading it on my bones.

Because the Amun skull with the little bird skull I added on has so much detail on it, I came back with the Burnt Sienna, darkening some of those detail points – such as the nose ridge, nostrils, and eye sockets. Since it was going to be a little easier to work on before adhering to the base, I added a couple of waxes to Amun. I used some Sepia Antiquing Wax on the horns and added some Old White Matte Wax to create some highlights on the skulls. Then, because I had the Distress Crayon on my bones, I coated them with some MicroGlaze so the Crayon wouldn’t reactivate with water, and added everything to my base using some 3D Matte Gel. And, since I would be waiting for the 3D Gel to dry, I grabbed up my (regular) matte gel and some art stones and spread them on to add more texture.

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With the gels dry, it was time to add more layers of color while I worked toward what I had been picturing in my head! I used more of the Purple Glitter Paint, the Black Hole Black Magical Powder, some of the Cosmic Shimmer Powder, and more Burnt Sienna to create the darker shadows around the bones.

After all of those mediums had dried, I came back in with some more of the Distress Crackle, mixed in some purple mica powder, and spread it out across the bat. Next up, more foil!

I was on a mission to try and lighten the area behind the resin pieces so they would pop more, so I added some White Pearl Metallic paint, then I had to fix some of the shadow areas with more Burnt Sienna!

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I finally reached the end of this project! All of my wet mediums were dry, and it was time to grab my waxes and add the finishing details. I started with some Old White Matte Wax, then built up on it with some French Lavender Matte Wax, Electric Violet Metallique Wax, Royal Robes Opal Magic Wax, and some Ash Grey Antiquing Wax to finish it up.

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Thank you for joining me here in my corner! I hope that you enjoyed this Mixed Media bat and it gave you some ideas of what you can do with this month’s Mixed Media Kit! Don’t forget to get yourself a kit if you don’t have one already – or get yourself another while supplies are still available – and HAVE FUN!

Stay Crafty, Friends!


Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!

Thank you for joining us here at Tres Jolie Kits!


Tres Jolie can also be found at:

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Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame

In addition to the items in this month’s Mixed Media Kit (*from previous Tres Jolie Kits), I used:

**Disclaimer: Some [non-Tres Jolie] items may contain an affiliate link, allowing me to earn a small commission at no extra cost to you!**

*Finnabair Heavy Black Gesso , *Finnabair “Ink Black” Liquid Acrylic Paint , *Finnabair “Burnt Sienna” Liquid Acrylic Paint , *Finnabair “Linen” Impasto Heavy Body Acrylic Paint , *Finnabair “White Pearl” Metallique Paint , *Finnabair “Pixie Dust” Fixative , Finnabair “Sepia” Antiquing Wax , Finnabair “Ash Grey” Antiquing Wax , Finnabair “Royal Robes” Opal Magic Wax , Finnabair “Electric Violet” Metallique Wax , Finnabair “French Lavender” Matte Wax , *Finnabair “Old White” Matte Wax , *Finnabair “Pearls & Crystals” Mica Set , Finnabair Art Stones , Finnabair 3D Matte Gel , Finnabair “Pieces of Underworld” Mould , Finnabair “Locks & Keys” Mould , Finnabair “Skull & Bones” Mould , Finnabair “Amun & Bast” Mould , Finnabair “Nocturnal Insects” Mould , Distress Crayon “Decayed” , *Cosmic Shimmer “Fireworks Burst” Pixie Powder , *DecoArt “Neutral” Texture Sand Paste , Liquitex Matte Gel , JudiKins MicroGlaze , Daler Rowney White Gesso , Amazing Casting Resin , Amazing Clear Cast Epoxy , *spray bottle

Tres Jolie Kit Club – Shabby (Vintage?) Fall – October 2022 Mood Board + Scrapbooking Kit

Hey, y’all! I just love the papers in this month’s Scrapbooking Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club! The mix of white with a touch of light grey is perfect for building or expanding on.

Now I know, if you’ve seen the mood board you may be wondering how I came to a pink and grey mixed media panel from a mood board filled with autumn colors and décor with a “Vintage Fall” twist (Shabby is a form of “vintage,” right? I’m not the only one that thinks that, am I?). Well, I’ll tell you – it all started with the sweater pillow – and I do have some leaves on here!

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I will admit, I love the mix of white and grey – I adore Farm Chic décor – but I don’t usually lean towards pinks. In fact, there are probably people who know me that are very confused right now seeing this pink! However, contrary to popular belief, I don’t hate pink, I just won’t wear it (unless it’s socks!) or decorate with it. (Fun fact: I will put pink in “strange” areas – my phone cases, Kindle cover, wallet, etc.)

Check out my video to see what I did to get this project all put together:


This month’s mood board is filled with beautiful autumn colors and fabulous textures to inspire your project! Mood boards aren’t really meant to be “copied” – they are, as the name suggests, designed to invoke a mood in you. How do they make you feel? What parts catch your eye?

As I mentioned, I saw that cable knit pillow and then just ran with it! I just thought something like that would be a fabulous background. Truthfully, I didn’t even notice that the mood board had some pink flowers on it until after I had finished my panel!


Tres Jolie Mood Board
Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame
Make sure you join us for the October 2022 challenge! Place your entries in the October 2022 folder on the Tres Jolie Kit Club Café Facebook page before October 31st, 2022, 11:59 pm CST. All entries must be in this folder to be eligible for the prize (to have everyone eligible to win, we are limiting the same winner to once every 3 months).


For my panel, the first thing I did was get the paper I had picked out collaged down to the canvas using some Liquitex Matte Medium – although any collage medium would work such as Mod Podge, Distress Collage, etc. I didn’t trim my paper until after I had it glued down and it had a chance to dry. It is a little less stressful if I am not worrying about every edge being perfectly lined up!

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After the matte medium dried and I cut down the edges, I started the stenciling process. I used my “Victorian Tiles” stencil first, with a mix of regular (Ranger Opaque Matte) texture paste, then came back through and added some areas of Distress Crackle Paste. I also grabbed up a leaf stencil and added it to a few areas between and on top of the previous stenciling. Then, and this might be the most important part for me, I let it all dry overnight! It is possible to use a heat gun on texture paste, even crackle paste, but allowing anything “crackle” to dry naturally has always given me the best results. Drying too quickly just doesn’t allow the crackle to crack as much. Then, the next morning, I came in with the leaf stencil again, lined it up on the previous stenciling, and added some extra crackle paste and some “Kitsch Flamingo” Embossing Glaze – then set the panel off to dry and crackle before coming in and melting the glaze.

To finish off preparing the base, I added the two skinnier ScrapBerry column pieces and little “bricks” along the top – cutting one of the columns in half (I used a pair of wire cutters, and with a little squeeze it snapped right apart!). I didn’t want my canvas perfectly symmetrical, so I used one of the halves and one of the bricks on the left, the other half, the whole piece, and the second brick on the right. Then, after the glue had set, I coated the entire background in clear gesso and set it off to dry while I started work on the flowers.

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For my flowers, I started by gathering up some white roses and leaves from my stash and dismantling the pink flowers from the kit – separating the green parts from the pink. Then the prep work began!

I started by coating all my white flowers and leaves, along with the two long leafy pieces from the 49 & Market flower pack, with some white gesso. Then I grabbed up a sheet of the paper from the kit to cut out some extra leaves from one section, and I fussy cut a few of the larger pink flowers from the other side of the sheet (it is the second, matching sheet from the pack that I used for the background).

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Now things were really about to get messy!

I coated all of the die-cut leaves in Distress Translucent Grit Paste – working carefully with the now wet paper – to crumple, uncrumple, and shape the leaves while placing them on my background where I planned on building up all the flower clusters. I also took this opportunity to add the Translucent paste to the fussy-cut flowers so I could shape them, add a layer of protection, and get them in place.

For all of my green pieces from the flower packs and the white roses and leaves from my stash, I made a mixture of white gesso and opaque matte texture paste to coat them in, placing the long leaf pieces from the 49 & Market pack on my background and setting the rest off to dry.

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My next step was to get some extra color on all of my flowers and foliage!

For the fussy-cut flowers on the background, I used a combination of Tattered Rose Distress Oxide and my Kitsch Flamingo and Cocktail Party Distress Crayons – just using a water brush to add a bit of color and definition to the fussy-cut pieces.

Then, to add a bit more depth to the pink flowers from the kit, I made a “puddle” of the Kitsch Flamingo and Cocktail Party Distress Crayons mixed together and brushed them onto the inner edges of the petals. To get the color to feather out a bit, I just gave the flowers a light spray of water and let them air dry.

For the six smaller 49 & Market flowers that I pulled off their stems, I put them in a little palette and let them soak in some Cocktail Party Distress Mica Spray.

To get all of my other pieces various shades of gray, I started coating them in a mix of Grave and Crypt Distress Grit Pastes with some Pumice Stone Distress Oxide Spray thrown in!

After they were all coated with that mixture, I decided they needed more gray – the Pumice Stone has a tan-ish tone – so I sprayed them with a combination of Hickory Smoke and Weathered Wood Spray Stains and Oxides.

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Even though a lot of my water-reactive mediums are mixed with texture pastes, the colors on the flowers were not! So I took this opportunity to give everything a coat of Workable Fixatif so I could continue working without worrying about my colors moving.

Now I had to add some color to the 49 & Market leaves I had already attached to the canvas. For those, all I did is make a mix of Hickory Smoke and Weathered Wood Distress Crayons on my mat watered them down and used my water brush to brush the colors on.

After a spray of Workable Fixatif on the canvas, I started the process of getting all of my flowers and foliage in place using some 3D Matte Gel.

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While the 3D Matte Gel started drying, I worked on all of my mould pieces. After coating everything in white gesso and letting that dry, I started adding all of the other mediums.

For my large, pink keyhole frame, I started with a base of Tattered Rose Distress Paint, Translucent Grit Paste, and Finnabair Texture Powder for a little extra texture to make up for the watering down of the paste. While that mix dried, I started work on all of my gray pieces, using a mix of Grave and Crypt Distress Grit Pastes, and Finnabair’s Cool Gray Rust Effect Paste. After all those pastes were dry, I coated them in a light layer of Hickory Smoke Distress Paint, gave them a light mist of water, and dabbed off areas of the paint to allow areas of the texture pastes to show through and add some variation of color.

While the paint was drying on the gray pieces, I went back to the pink piece and gave it a light, inconsistent coating of Kitsch Flamingo Distress Paint, some spots of Cocktail Party Distress Mica Spray, and some water. After all of that was dry, I came back with Kitsch Flamingo and Cocktail Party Distress Crayons, adding them directly to the mould piece, and watered them down so the colors could flow where they wanted as they air dried.

To finish up all of the gray mould pieces, I added some Hickory Smoke Distress Spray Stain, mixed it up with some Graphite Texture Paste, spread it around some, then sprayed them all with both Hickory Smoke and Weathered Wood Distress Oxide Sprays before that paste has a chance to dry.

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Now it was finally time to get everything on the panel and finish it up!

After all of my mould pieces were in place, I added some areas of DecoArt White Crackle Paint, tucked in some pink sisal, added more crackle paint, got my Ingvild Bolme birds in place, and added a little crackle paint to them.

After the 3D Matte Gel had a chance to set up overnight, I mixed some Payne’s Gray watercolor paint with some water and Liquid Color Fluid Medium and used a pipette to get that mix under all of the flowers and mould pieces. For any areas I wanted to make a little grayer, I mixed the Payne’s Gray with some of the fluid medium and brushed it on, watering it down some if I needed to.

For all of the “shadow” making, it was just a process of adding the mediums, adding water if I needed to, and tilting and turning the panel until I had the colors where I wanted them – drying a little at a time to start getting the color set as I went.

For the cabochon [mould] pieces, I used a mix of white gesso and Tattered Rose Distress Paint as my base coat then added some Kitsch Flamingo Distress Paint before adding them to the canvas. Once on the canvas, I added a thin layer of crackle paint to them, blending it onto the canvas around them.

On top of all the crackle paint I added, I started to give some extra color and definition to all of my pieces using Distress Crayons – Kitsch Flamingo and Cocktail Party on the pink areas, and Hickory Smoke and Weathered Wood on the gray pieces and birds.

To add a little extra sparkle to the flowers, I brushed on some Finnabair Pixie Effect Paste – it has the pink flakes in it to go with the canvas, but it also has some light teal-ish flakes for a bit of contrast.

After everything was dry, it gave me a chance to stand back and take a look to see if there were any areas I wanted to add a bit more Payne’s Gray to.

The last step was to add the final touches with some Finnabair Waxes, and I was finally done!

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Thank you for joining me here in my corner. I hope my non-traditional, vintage-shabby-fall, mixed media panel gave you some ideas about how you can interpret the October mood board and what you can do with this month’s Scrapbooking Kit.

Stay Crafty, Friends


Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!

Thank you for joining us here at Tres Jolie Kits!


Tres Jolie can also be found at:

Tres Jolie Facebook

Tres Jolie Instagram

Tres Jolie Website

Tres Jolie Subscriptions

Tres Jolie Blog

Tres Jolie YouTube

Tres Jolie Pinterest


Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame
In addition to this month’s Scrapbooking Kit (*from previous Tres Jolie Kits), I used:

Disclaimer: Some [non-Tres Jolie] items may contain an affiliate link, allowing me to earn a small commission at no extra cost to you!

*DecoArt White Crackle Paint , *TCW “Mini Art Deco Leaves” Stencil , *Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Treasures “Birds” , *Finnabair Liquid Fluid Color Medium , *Finnabair Texture Powder , *Finnabair “Graphite” Texture Paste , Finnabair “Pixie” Effect Paste , *Finnabair “Old White” Matte Wax , Finnabair “Shabby Pink” Matte Wax , Finnabair “Indian Pink” Metallique Wax , Finnabair “Sweet Rose” Metallique Wax , Finnabair “Ash Grey” Antiquing Wax , Finnabair Clear Antiquing Wax , Finnabair “Victorian Tiles” Stencil , Finnabair “Baroque Frames” Mould , Finnabair “Locks and Keys” Mould , Finnabair “Clockfaces” Mould , Finnabair “Cool Grey” Rust Effect Paste , Finnabair Clear Gesso , Finnabair 3D Matte Gel , Winsor & Newton “Payne’s Gray” Watercolor , Ranger Texture Paste “Opaque Matte” , *Distress Texture Paste “Crackle” , Distress Grit Paste “Translucent” , Distress Grit Paste “Crypt” , Distress Texture Paste “Grave” , Distress Oxide Spray “Tattered Rose” , Distress Oxide Spray “Pumice Stone” , Distress Spray Stain “Weathered Wood” , Distress Oxide Spray “Weathered Wood” , Distress Spray Stain “Hickory Smoke” , Distress Oxide Spray “Hickory Smoke” , Distress Mica Stain “Cocktail Party” , Distress Crayon “Picket Fence” , Distress Crayon “Tattered Rose” , Distress Crayon “Kitsch Flamingo” , Distress Crayon “Cocktail Party” , Distress Paint “Tattered Rose” , Distress Paint “Kitsch Flamingo” , Distress Paint “Hickory Smoke” , Distress Embossing Glaze “Kitsch Flamingo” , Tim Holtz “Skeleton Leaves” Thinlits , Ranger Water Brush , *Prima Water Brush , white ribbon roses , white leaves , pink sisal , Mont Marte 12” x 12” Canvas Panel , Liquitex Matte Medium , Daler Rowney White Gesso , Gorilla Clear Grip , Amazing Casting Resin ,  *spray bottle

Tres Jolie Kit Club–Steampunk Top Hat–September 2022 Mood Board + Scrapbooking Kit

Hey, y’all! Have you checked out the Tres Jolie Kit Club September Scrapbooking Kit yet? Seen this month’s mood board? Both are fabulous! The kit has the “Gilded Steampunk” Collection from 3 Quarter Designs – the perfect fit for the “Shabby Steampunk” mood board challenge!

Now, I love, L-O-V-E, Steampunk, and while I’m not a 100% Shabby Chic type of person, there are aspects I really love about that style too. This week, for my mood board inspired project, I have a Shabby-Steampunk Top Hat I created using a cut file I designed, the “Gilded Steampunk” Collection from the kit, a couple of moulds, and lots of mediums from my stash – quite a few that are from previous Tres Jolie Kits!

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It wasn’t until I was editing the video that I realized this project isn’t all too “complicated.” The majority of the time spent working on it was really just “busy work” – i.e. rolling clay, gluing, painting, etc. Once I had my base together, and finally figured out where this hat was headed, it went together rather smoothly! Check out my video and see what I mean!



Don’t forget to join the Tres Jolie Mood Board Challenge this month! Make sure to place your entry in the September 2022 Challenge folder on the Tres Jolie Kit Club Café Facebook page by 11:59pm CST on September 30, 2022, for your chance to win a prize!
Tres Jolie Mood Board

moodBoard


Alright! Time to get talkin’ about this Shabby-Steampunk Top Hat!

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The first thing to do was to put my base together. There aren’t too many pieces – I tried to keep it as simple as possible while creating the size I wanted while using my 12” x 12” cutting mat and cardstock. There really is only one way everything fits together, but I have included a photo for reference using the cut file.

topHat-aligned

After my cardstock base was together, I added some black gesso to all of the areas that I thought may or may not get covered by the patterned paper pieces – I did it mostly because I had used white cardstock, if I had used a darker cardstock or a coordinating cardstock, I don’t know if I would have added the gesso. However, it did also give a little extra stiffness to the base, so that was a bonus I hadn’t really thought of! And, even though it is no longer noticeable, I also added a layer of “Halo Pink Gold” Metallic Paint on top of the black gesso – just to be prepared in case any of those areas didn’t get covered in the later stages.

I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do for the inside of the hat, I just knew I didn’t want to just give it a coat of paint. Finally, I decided to see if I could do a paint pour – on some tissue paper – to create a liner! It was messy, but it worked! And I was able to use that paint pour on the inside, sides. For the inside top, I just mixed up a little more to pour and dumped it right in.

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I wanted to get as many pieces ready for assembly as possible before sitting down to start the process, so I used some leather-effect polymer clay to create the “leather” underside of the brim and I used some metallic and glitter polymer clay in a couple of embossing folders to create the sheets of “metal” to fill between the leather-clay and to use along the outer edge of the brim.

The final set of pre-assembly pieces I made were the patterned paper panels and the pink band for the hat. For the pink band, I just cut the half-sheet from the paper pack in half and connected the ends to make one long strip.

For the top, side, and brim patterned paper panels, I partly eyeballed, partly measured approximately where the cut would be – especially for the pieces that have the mannequins, hot air balloon, etc. – and cut them all out. Much like the base pieces, there are not a lot of ways for the pieces to fit all together, but I will add a reference photo here for the panel locations on the base.

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As I sat staring at all my pieces, trying to decide how to use those chipboard and cut-apart pipes, I thought of windows; little steampunk windows to see the “inner workings” of the hat. I grabbed up some circle dies, picked a few places around the brim and on top of the hat, and cut the circles out of the patterned paper.

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I used a couple of stencils with a couple TCW Stencil butters to add some dimension and texture to the circles I cut out, coated the chipboard pipes in copper embossing powders, and added some Beads In A Bottle to create a little dimension and bolts/rivets to the chipboard. Then I started the assembly process while I waited for my resin to set up in my gilding flake coated, polymer clay window frames.

After all my pipes were in place I gave them a coating of clear gesso so I’d be able to add my paints to create the illusion of depth with shadows.

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Now it was finally time to add my patterned paper panels! I also added the pink band, and I created the inside band using the half-sheet of paper from the pack that looks like leather. I finished adding all my clay pieces to the underside of the rim and added them to the outer edge of the brim.

So now I had all of the pieces of the hat together – except the windows – and started my work on filling any gaps and smoothing it all out. I used a mix of gold Stencil Butter, gold Beads In A Bottle, and 3D Matte Gel to smooth along the edge of the brim with all the layers, and to fill in any spaces that I thought needed it. To prepare for the addition of the windows, I added a ring of Beads In A Bottle around the circles on the hat brim and top.

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While my hat sat off to let that gold mix dry, I got to work on putting the focal point of the hat together. I grabbed up some mould pieces and used 3D Matte Gel to hold them in place, and after adding my gesso, I started adding the first layers of paint. While the gears and heart were setting up, I put my pipe pieces together and added the first layers of paint to them. I added the heart and gears to the pipes using more 3D Matte Gel, and set it off to let it set up while I added my lace bits and gilding flakes to my hat base. Before I got too much further along, I added a coat of Workable Fixatif so when the time came to add my final paints there would be a layer of protection on the patterned paper that would keep the wet from just soaking right in.

I laid my hat on its side, using whatever I had on hand to hold it in place and prop it up so the side I wanted to add the heart and pipes to was, at least mostly, level. I made sure to do this close to bedtime, so the 3D Matte Gel I used to hold the resin pieces in place had time to set up – without me becoming impatient and checking it too soon! I also started adding some art stones to the areas I could get at with the hat on its side.

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Now it was finally time to add on the windows in preparation for the final layers of paint, art stones, and waxes.

I added more paint to my resin pieces, being careful when I was near my windows so they wouldn’t get splatter on them, and then just started working my way down from the top of the hat with more art stones and my paints. I let all the paint dry before flipping my hat over and adding some paint to the underside of the brim.

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The final touches on this Shabby-Steampunk Top Hat were the addition of a few Finnabair waxes to the top, sides, art stones, lace, and the top and underside of the brim.

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Thank you for joining me here in my corner! I hope you enjoyed my Shabby-Steampunk, mood board inspired, Top Hat and it gave you some ideas and inspiration for how you can use this month’s Scrapbooking Kit and/or find inspiration for your own mood board project!

Stay Crafty, Friends


Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!

Thank you for joining us here at Tres Jolie Kits!


Tres Jolie can also be found at:

Tres Jolie Facebook

Tres Jolie Instagram

Tres Jolie Website

Tres Jolie Subscriptions

Tres Jolie Blog

Tres Jolie YouTube

Tres Jolie Pinterest


Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame

In addition to this month’s Scrapbooking Kit (*from previous Tres Jolie Kits), I used:

**(Disclaimer: Some [non-Tres Jolie] items may contain an affiliate link, allowing me to earn a small commission at no extra cost to you!**

Corner Scraps Studio Top Hat Digital Cut File , Finnabair Black Gesso , Finnabair Clear Gesso , Finnabair 3D Matte Gel , Finnabair “Ink Black” Liquid Acrylic Paint , Finnabair “Burnt Sienna” Liquid Acrylic Paint , Finnabair “Machinery” Stencil , Finnabair “Love Machine” Mould , Finnabair “Steampunk Hearts” Mould , Finnabair “Enchanted” Sparks Paint , Finnabair “Rose-Gold” Opal Magic Paint , Finnabair “Soft Satin” Metallique Paint , Finnabair “Steampunk” Metallic Flakes , Finnabair “Shabby Pink” Matte Wax , Finnabair “Sepia” Antiquing Wax , Finnabair “Indian Pink” Metallique Wax , Finnabair Art Stones , Finnabair Mini Art Stones , Nuvo Mica Mist “Antique Gold” , Tim Holtz “Foundry” 3D Texture Fades , Tim Holtz “Diamond Plate” Texture Fades , Distress Paint “Salvaged Patina” , Distress Foundry Wax “Mined” , Distress Foundry Wax “Statue” , TCW “Grecian Gold” Modeling Paste , TCW “Sterling Silver” Modeling Paste , TCW “Fuchsia” Stencil Butter , Katy Sue Designs “Rusty Pipes” Mould , Jacquard Lumiere “Halo Pink Gold” Metallic Paint , Ranger Iced Enamels “Relique Glitz Copper” Embossing Powder , Gary M Burlin Co. “Patina Bronzed Copper” Embossing Powder , Tulip “Copper” Beads In A Bottle , Tulip “Gold” Beads In A Bottle , Ranger Big Emboss It , Liquitex Pouring Medium , Liquitex Matte Medium , Staedtler Fimo Leather Effect “Berry” , Staedtler Fimo Leather Effect “Nut” , Creative Embellishments “Riveted” Stencil , Spellbinders Standard Circle Nestabilities , white cardstock , Fabri-Tac , Liquitex Matte Gel , spray bottle , Amazing Clear Cast Epoxy , Amazing Casting Resin , E6000 , Aleene’s Tacky Glue , Krylon Workable Fixatif , lace tidbits

Tres Jolie Kit Club – Mecha Steam Queen – July 2022 Mixed Media Kit

Hey, y’all! Have you checked out the July Mixed Media Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club yet? It has some fabulous Finnabair Tissue Paper, heavy black gesso, and Pixie Dust, along with some Lindy’s Magical’s, DecoArt Crackle Paint, Tres Jolie Chipboard, and a canvas board to get you started!⁠

I was fortunate enough to receive the newest Finnabair Moulds in the mail the same day I was starting my project, so I have that fantastic Mecha Moth on here, along with a ton of other Finnabair mould pieces from both old and new designs!

I used a couple of stencils from previous kits with the crackle paint from the kit and some Finnabair “Crushed Crystals” Jewel Effect Paste. Then I loaded up and layered up all my colors using some of the Liquid Acrylic Paints from February’s Mixed Media Kit and the Lindy’s from this month’s kit.⁠

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Check my video out to see what I did to put this Mecha Steam Queen together!


Video:


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To get my background started, I layered it up with some of the “Bavarian Blue” Lindy’s Magical’s from the kit and (part of) one sheet of the Finnabair tissue paper, using my Liquitex Matte Medium to adhere the paper. After I had my initial layer, I tore the remainder of the sheet of tissue paper into strips and layered them up, only adding the Magical Shaker as the initial bottom layer under all the tissue paper.

After my matte medium was fully dried, I came in with my stencils. I used my “Flourish” stencil with the crackle paint from this month’s kit, and my “Screwed” stencil with some “Crushed Crystal’s” Jewel Effect Paste. I just used my finger to dab on and blend a thin layer of the crackle paint along the edges and in the corners of the canvas and to soften the edges of the stenciling some.

After my “Flourish” stenciling was dry, I added a layer of clear gesso to help protect my crackle paint (it was going to be a wet, messy job!) and to make my subsequent layers of mediums easier to flow and roll around along the top of the stenciling and between the cracks. Because of the nature of the Jewel Effect Paste – when it dries it is more like the matte medium – I didn’t need to add any gesso to it.

With all of my background mediums dry, I come in with the “Bavarian Blue” Lindy’s, sprinkle it on, and really water it down so it will flow between all of the cracks. From here on out, I don’t let my mediums air dry on my background, I use my heat guns to make sure everything stays where I put it!

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On all of my various mould pieces, I coated them with black gesso – either the heavy gesso from the kit or my “regular” gesso on the more detailed pieces. If you only have the heavy gesso and want to get it into detailed areas a little easier, you can just mix in a little water to thin it some. After my gesso layers dried, I coated everything in some TCW “Sterling Silver” Modeling Paste. It says “Sterling Silver,” but it is more like sterling silver that has begun to tarnish – and I love it!

I used my 3D Matte Gel to hold my Mecha Steam Queen together before adding her gesso and modeling paste. I can say, all I knew was I really wanted to use the new Mecha Moth, and everything was built around that. I keep a bunch of pre-made mould pieces handy, so I grabbed them up and started playing around when suddenly I saw how fantastic my “Queens of Steam” piece looked on that big moth body! I added another layer of wings from the “Nocturnal Insects” Mould, and gave her a “Clockfaces” crown.

While I let that 3D Matte Gel set up, I went to work on deciding which gears I wanted to use and picked one of the “Baroque Frames” to set behind my Mecha Steam Queen. On my gears, after the modeling paste was dry, I added some “Texture Powder” to rough them up a bit, added some extra color to them using the two Lindy’s Magical’s from the kit, and I added some “Ink Black” Liquid Acrylic Paint. On my mould pieces, I allowed the mediums to air dry to allow everything to mix and flow together naturally. On the frame, I just mixed some of the “Bavarian Blue” Lindy’s with some Liquid Color Fluid Medium to keep it from being able to reactivate after it was dry.

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To build up my background, I started with some corrugated cardboard (I just happened to find “hidden” behind a pile of other *stuff* – it must have fallen down some time ago and I forgot to fetch it then!). Anyhow, I used the heavy gesso on it and added some of the crackle paint to it. Then to deepen the black, I added the “Black Hole Black” Magical Powder to it, just using some water to activate the powder and added some of the “Pixie Dust” spray to it. To adhere it to the canvas board, I fully coated the back with some matte gel, placed it where I wanted it and weighed it down to make sure it dried flat. Fully coated the back of that cardboard doesn’t just make sure it is well attached, it seals it up so it won’t become soggy from the back side as I continue working.

Now it was time to start building up all of the mould pieces. I started with the bottom layer of gears, using my 3D Gel to adhere everything and to hold up the edges that extended over the edge of the cardboard so everything would be (relatively) even. I added my frame next and then set everything off to dry.

I hadn’t originally planned on the second layer of gears, but after I had my chain pieces and Mecha Steam Queen already dried in place, I realized it really needed another layer. Fortunately, some of my gears were made from air-dry clay (I often use what I have on hand or need to use up when I decide to get some pieces pre-made) so I was able to break them apart and get them to fit around the corner of the frame (top) and under the wings (bottom right).

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With everything finally in place, it came time to start adding the final layers of color, but before I did that, I added a layer of Krylon’s Workable Fixatif, just as a precaution for a little extra protection since it was about to get super wet and messy!

I started with some “Ink Black” Liquid Acrylic Paint and the “Black Hole Black” Lindy’s, and watered it all down, moved the canvas about to get it flowing, and dried as I went. So long as it was still wet, I could reactivate the Lindy’s (and paint) and continue moving it around.

For the wings on my Queen, I used the “Bavarian Blue” powder and some Liquid Color Fluid Medium to hold it in place once it dried.

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Because I had to break my second gear up some, it left a few small gaps, so I decided to use it as an opportunity to add a bit more sparkle, and used the “Crushed Crystal’s” paste to fill in the gaps and added a touch to the ends of the wings.

To start bringing up the details of my Queen, I added some of the “Ink Black” paint and the “Black Hole Black” Lindy’s and watered it down so it would flow into all of the details.

To intensify the blue on my gears, wings, and Queen, I added some Liquitex “Phthalocyanine Blue” Acrylic Ink, watered it down a little to help it flow, added some of the blue mica powder from Finnabair’s “Pearls & Crystals” Mica set to add a little bit of variation to the shading, and dried it completely so it would stay put!

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With all of my blacks and blues in place, it came time to add the final details. To start I used some “Burnt Sienna” Liquid Acrylic Paint to create my shadow effects. It is an absolutely perfect color to create a vintage effect and fabulous shadows to really give a piece some depth. After all my mediums had dried, I came in and gave the whole piece a coating of the “Pixie Dust” Fixative from this month’s kit.

After the “Pixie Dust” had dried, it was time to add some various waxes to highlight various areas on the piece. After my waxes, the final step was adding my beads. I used some “Midnight Magic” Iridescent Beads from ReneaBouquets along the gears and frame, and some 13@arts “Brown Microspheres” to give the final shadowy detail to the layers of my Queen.

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Thank you for joining me here in my corner, I hope you enjoyed the building of my “Mecha Steam Queen” and it gave you some ideas of how you can use the various mediums from not only this month’s kit but previous Tres Jolie Kits as well! That’s what makes Tres Jolie Kits so fabulous – it allows you to build your stash!

Stay Crafty, Friends


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Thank you for joining us here at Tres Jolie Kits!


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Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame

In addition to the items from this month’s Mixed Media Kit (*from previous Tres Jolie Kits), I used:

**Disclaimer: Some [non-Tres Jolie] items may contain an affiliate link, allowing me to earn a small commission at no extra cost to you!**

Prima “Flourish” Stencil , Finnabair Jewel Effect Paste “Crushed Crystals” , Finnabair “Ink Black” Liquid Acrylic , Finnabair “Burnt Sienna” Liquid Acrylic , Finnabair White Texture Powder , Finnabair Liquid Color Fluid Medium , Finnabair “Pearls & Crystals” Mica Set , Finnabair “Charcoal Black” Matte Wax , Finnabair “Old White” Matte Wax , Finnabair “Faded Demin” Matte Wax , Finnabair “Old Demin” Wax Cire Cera , Finnabair Moulds: “Queens of Steam” , “Large Gears” , “Machine Parts” , “Mechanica” , “Pieces of Underworld” , “Clockfaces” , “Baroque Frames” , “Nocturnal Insects” , “Mecha Moth” , “Love Machine” , Finnabair Clear Gesso , Finnabair 3D Matte Gel , TCW “Sterling Silver” Modeling Paste , 13@rts Brown Microspheres , Tim Holtz “Screwed” Stencil , Stamperia “Metallic Black” Wax , Little Birdie “Aqua Sheen” Metallic Wax , ReneaBouquets “Midnight Magic” Iridescent Beautiful Beads , DecoArt Black Gesso , Krylon Workable Fixatif , JudiKins Diamond Glaze , Liquitex Matte Gel , Liquitex Matte Medium , Liquitex “Phthalocyanine Blue” Acrylic Ink , spray bottle , Ranger Heat-It Tool , Milwaukee Heat Gun , corrugated cardboard, Mont Marte Terra Cotta Air Dry Clay , Sculpy Air Dry Clay , Sculpy White Polymer Clay , ProMarineSupply Epoxy Resin , Alumilite Amazing Casting Resin , Alumilite Amazing Clear Cast Epoxy

 

Tres Jolie Kit Club–Gilded Magnolia – June 2022 Mixed Media Kit

Hey, y’all! I couldn’t help but use this month’s Mixed Media Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club after I saw the bright, beautiful colors of TCW’s Stencil Butter’s and modeling paste. I actually didn’t even own the moulds I used for the flowers until after I saw the kit, then one day the Magnolia mould showed up in the “you might like” section of my Amazon homepage, and I knew then and there exactly what I was going to do with the kit!

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As I noted in the video, I still have to give my project a coating of some Triple-Thick Clear Glaze, but we have had “tropical” conditions here for over a week now, and I still haven’t been able to spray them! I kept waiting, hoping to be able to take photos after the spray had set, but at this rate, it might be October before I get to do that!


Video:


There are not a lot of steps involved in the making of this project, and those fabulous Stencil Butter’s do a lot of the “heavy lifting.”

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I used all three of the Mixed Media Boards for the background – pushing them together and stenciling across the seams to create a continuous pattern. I built up the layers using the Stencil Butters, some white texture paste, some 3D Matte Gel, and the modeling paste from the kit this month.

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I grabbed up my paperclay and moulds, and set about creating the flowers I wanted to use to span across the Mixed Media boards. I used two of the “Magnolia” pieces (product list at bottom of post) and one set of the “Winter Blooms,” then set to work to create my flower spray. I wrapped some plastic wrap around my boards so I could work on the placement of my flowers without worrying about making a mess, and while still on the plastic wrap, I used my 3D Matte Gel to hold the pieces together.

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After the gel had set up, I pulled the plastic wrap off the back and coated the flowers with some white gesso. My first layer of color was a coating of the Gamboge Stencil Butter, followed by a coating of the Grecian Gold Modeling Paste.

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When it came time to attach my flowers to the boards, I mixed the Grecian Gold Modeling Paste with some of my 3D Matte Gel and used that – that way it would all blend together!

At this point, the only thing holding my boards together was the flower spray, so I got a 9”x12” MDF board from my stash and cut it down to size. Then I used some wood glue, spread it out evenly, and set the boards in place. I used some book clips, with some cushioning under the front edges, to hold everything together while that glue set up.

Eventually, I will be adding some Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze to the finished piece, once we get a break in the humidity, and then this will be completely finished!

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Thank-you for joining me here in my corner, I hope you enjoyed this project and it gave you some ideas of what you can do with the Stencil Butter’s and Modeling Paste found in this month’s Mixed Media Kit.

Stay Crafty, Friends


Corner Scraps can also be found at:

Corner Scraps Studio Etsy

Corner Scraps Instagram

Corner Scraps Facebook

Corner Scraps YouTube

Corner Scraps Pinterest

Tres Jolie can also be found at:

Tres Jolie Facebook

Tres Jolie Instagram

Tres Jolie Website

Tres Jolie Subscriptions

Tres Jolie Blog

Tres Jolie YouTube

Tres Jolie Pinterest


Tres Jolie Insta Square Frame

In addition to the items from the June 2022 Mixed Media Kit, I used:

Items may contain an affiliate link (non-Tres Jolie), where I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you!

Creative Paperclay , Finnabair 3D Matte Gel , Ranger “Opaque Matte” Texture Paste , Prima ReDesign “Winter Blooms” Mould , Chongmu “Magnolia Camellia” Mold , Daler-Rowney White Gesso , Gorilla Wood Glue , 9”x12”x0.25” MDF Board , (eventually) Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze