Ronda Palazzari Designs

Fun with Mixed Media!

i am super excited to announce my third class with Craftsy: Fun with Mixed Media, Lively Paper Projects! Over 2.5 hours of videos, broken down into 7 lessons. Throw rules out the window and use gesso, acrylic paint and watercolors to infuse your paper craft projects with eye-catching texture and color!  

Think outside the box and incorporate mixed media into your paper crafts with guidance from author and professional artist Ronda Palazzari (that's me ;). Get started by using gesso, acrylic paint and masking fluid to transform paper such as junk mail and phone book pages into beautiful backgrounds. Then, have fun with paints and stencils as you create a trendy chalkboard effect, experiment with washes and make your own stencils.

You’ll even explore the color wheel and learn how watercolors and acrylic paints work together so that you always get the most from your paint. Finally, paint with drips, splashes, splatters and blooms as you build layer upon layer of texture and work with resists. Plus, I will share a few of my mixed-media projects to inspire you in creating your own unique scrapbook pages, cards, tags and more!

You'll have a lifetime access to the class. You can share projects & leave me questions. I had a ton of fun creating all of my classes with the Craftsy crew. I am really impressed with the online classrooms and have taken a few classes myself. If you haven't tried Craftsy yet, you will love it! You can even download the Craftsy App onto your mobile device or tablet and take your classes with you! 

Hope to see you in my classes!

 

 

Gelli Plate Printing Book!

You know i am a big fan of my Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate. i have multiple plates & pull them out quite frequently to create. Some days it's just about loosening up and playing, other days i create with a purpose. Either way, you cannot go wrong using this awesome plate.  

You may remember this post from just a couple weeks ago about Gel Plate Printing with my Stencil Fragments.  

i also created the heart on this art journal page using my gel printing plate & deli paper. You can see the original post here.  

You may remember this video using my gelli arts printing plate in my art journal to create my Hello/Goodbye page!

i really love these pages and love how easy it is to use that plate. And i am happy to share with you that there is a new book about the Gelli Arts gel printing plate!

Joan Bess (of Gelli Arts) created Gelli Plate Printing Mixed Media Printing without a Press (North Light/F&W Media) filled with lots of techniques (50+) using this awesome plate. i am honored to be one of many awesome contributing artists. You will find three of my pieces in the gallery section. i cannot wait to try out some of the techniques in this book, especially the fabric ones!

 

 

 

Art Journal Super Close Up Details

i am always talking to you about layers and texture. You know how i love them and that they ALWAYS appear in my work. i love that slow build up of layers, colors, and texture.  The one draw back i find is sharing them on my blog. i find it really hard to capture the details of my work. The nooks & crannies, the details in all their glory and i am a pretty good photographer. But i found a solution...

 

Let me introduce you to my 20th anniversary present, a Canon 100 MM 2.8L Macro Lens. When my package arrived along with the biggest bouquet of roses, i may or may not have cried. Andrew knows me, he really knows me well. Not only will this lens come in handy for portraits (Hello GRANDBABY), fun art shots (Hello GARDEN VEGGIES & FRUITS), but for all the details of my works (Hello LOVELIES). i had to test it out so why not use my art journal pages to capture the details? i am sharing the original photographed pages with the new details photos below. 

Look at those details. Can you see the layers & texture? Those raised drips are on top of my journaling which is on top of all that color & texture. i love the rich details in this shot. 

 

i love that you can see the details in the scratches and layers of paint. The spot in the first detail photo (on the bottom right) is leftover paint i pulled off my palette and used in my journal. In the big photo you miss the texture details that quietly sits in the background but now you can see my ripples stencil peaking through.  

i admit i am very partial to blue. She may be my favorite art journal page ever. i love that this lens captures the brush strokes and texture in the background.  Even the details in her hair are so beautiful.  

The colors on Finding Balance really pop in this photo. You can see the details in each slice of the pie chart. All the mountains & valleys in the paint make me giddy!

Dream is such a colorful page that i feared you miss some of the details...until now. i always start my page building up texture. i love that you get to see some of the "clear" texture now in both detail shots.  

You can see all the underlayers (yes i am showing your my art journal knickers ;) in my calm page. i started this page off with paper collage layers and then added color and journaling. You really get to see the stencil shape & texture in this shot.  

You get those same details in my grace page that uses my And So On stencil. i collaged layers of papers and then added the clear medium through the stencil.  Next i painted the pie pieces and doodled on top. It looks so pretty!

Can you see my journaling under the And So On stencil? You can even see the first black gesso layer, peeking through as well as the tissue paper, & color.  

i love that you get the crackle details of the retrobursts stencil plus all the scratches in the paint.  You can also see the details of the tea bag tag i layered into this piece. Let's not forget too all the layers of colors.

So yes, i am in love with my new macro lens. i love that i get to share with you the layers and texture in my work.