Contrivance - A Plan to Success

Hello, all super creative crafty souls. Hope you all are having an amazing crafting time.
This is me, Apeksha Jain here feeling privileged to be a Guest DT for Itsy bitsy. I would like to thank Rashmi Ji and entire itsy Bitsy Team to select me as their guest DT and provide me a wonderful opportunity to share my experience for one of their most amazing product, COLOR SPLASHES.

I received these beautiful Color Splashes in my Guest DT kit and we will be discussing how well we can use them in various projects and then I will be sharing a project of mine using Itsy Bitsy’s super rich and vibrant COLOR SPLASHES.
These COLOR SPLASHES are truly amazing to play with. Trust me, they are just an ideal pick for any project you have in mind. Color Splashes are so versatile, you can use them in as many techniques as you want.
Ohh..So you might be thinking, what and how ??  No worries - Let me share some ideas and then we will move to a small tutorial to see how well we can use these amazing Splashes.

Have you ever wondered how to create a quick colorful background for your cards and scrapbooks? Well, the time has come to stop worrying and start using them. Believe me, these Color Splashes are a perfect pick for creating base pages of your cards and scrapbooks. Just some random sprays with some stenciling and stamping, and your beautiful background is ready.
Journaling is again fun with these versatile vibrant color splashes. Try it and see for yourself 👍
And Yes, Forget not to share your results.

Another great use is when it comes to alteration of your products and for your Mixed Media projects. I just love using these spray bottles. More detailing of this, we will see in my tutorial shared below with step by step pictorial representation.

Their usage does not stop here. They always surprise me when I use these on my Decoupaged products. Merging tissue with background gets so easy with them.
Note - Always keep your brush and a rough cloth with you to keep control of the flow of splashes when it comes to merging.

Flower Making is so much fun with different color splashes. Some random sprays on your flower petals, drying with heat tool or give them sufficient time for natural drying and viola.
Your petals are ready for some amazing flowers.. and yeah I forget to mention, its so easy and comfortable to hold these cute spray bottles, no chance of spilling as well.
Tip- Always test your spray bottles on a rough paper first to check and have a control on the flow of liquid from the nozzle. And spray it from a distance to have smooth and fine flow.

Wanna have some fun time- simple spray them on a piece of paper, sit back and relax. It's so calm to watch how these colors when sprayed merge with each other and create beautiful patterns.

The best part is its not just one or two shades, luckily for us crafters, Itsy Bitsy has got an amazing range of 12 shades to choose from and play with.
So, let's get started with one tutorial where I would like to show you how versatile and beautiful these Color Splashes are. Here, I had used my 2019 Diary to give a makeover using Mixed Media Technique and I am in LOVE with the output I had achieved. Do share how do you find this :)

Most of the supplies for this project are used from Itsy Bitsy. Little Birdie is my One stop solution for all my Crafty requirements.

**Supplies used**

• Chipboard “A”, buttons, embellishments from Little Birdie
• Stencil
• Mixed media Paste and Gesso from Little Birdie
• COLOUR SPLASHES - Grape Crush, Lemon Zing, Berry Blast, Ocean Mist, Lime Splash from Little Birdie
• Cheesecloth, Jute Wrap from Little Birdie
• Little Birdie Heat Tool for quick drying
• Die cutting Machine -Dream cut

**Procedure**

Step 1 - To start with, Keep your diary ready for a new makeover. Make sure the surface is clean. Also keep all required stencils, gesso, Mixed Media paste, tools, colors, embellishments, etc handy all together at your workplace.
I have used Gesso, Mixed media paste, stencils, Cheesecloth, Dream Cut ( to have my die cuts used for base texture), and Most Important- Beautiful COLOR SPLASHES  from ITSY BITSY.

Step 2- Next Step is to decide your Layout. Roughly arrange MDF, chipboard, embellishments, Jute and Cheesecloth, Diecuts, etc. on the front cover of the diary in a way you like and once you seem to be fully satisfied, take a picture of it for future reference. For me, Taking Picture is an important step as I generally tend to forget my best way of assembling later once I start working.
I have used dream cut, which is an excellent die-cutting machine to cut all my die-cuts, which are used to give base texture.

Step 3- Now start making base layer giving some texture using Mixed Media Paste and Stencils.  I stick some Jute and Cheesecloth at random places using normal Fevicol.
Note- My base is already primed but you can also give a coat of Gesso if the base surface is rough or not primed, before starting your work.

Step 4- Next comes assembling and sticking your objects one by one, layer over layer till you are completely satisfied. You can give as many layers of embellishments, buttons, die-cuts, lace, ribbons, flowers or anything you want as and how it looks good to you.
But make sure, there should be one centerpiece and some design in your mind and not any random arrangement.

Step-5 - Once all embellishments are in place, give a nice coat of Gesso on top of everything. Gesso is a Primer which helps out colors to stay nicely on top of all our objects.
My Next step is to stick my MDF Quotations and Chipboard "A" on top.
Again First I roughly placed them on my workspace, clicked a photo and this time,  I have separately done Gesso on these MDF Quotations to prime them nicely.  My Centre Of Attraction is Alphabet " A" as I choose this Diary to be my Crafty Notes Diary while making this project.
Then I stick all my MDF Quotations.
I Choose to write an Inspirational quote for myself using these MDF Quotations and here's its little secret message which is all about Contrivance - A Plan to Success.

Imagine - Imagine every Possibility which will make you Happy
Dream
Discover
Create
WithLove
Happy- Now that you are happy what you have created with love, Imagine again and starting dreaming how to be happy again discovering your creations with LOVE.

Hope this has motivated you too so, let's move on to next step.

Step 6- Once all my Quotes, Chipboard embellishments are dried up nicely ( For quick drying, I had used Little Birdie's heat gun but you can let them dry naturally as well), I applied one last coat of Gesso to make sure, my entire surface is primed nicely.

Step 7- Now comes the Super Fun Part. Coloring our primed surface and make it super attractive. I have used here "Grape Crush", "Lemon Zing", "Berry Blast", "Ocean Mist" and "Lime" Color Splashes from Little Birdie. Once the first layer is dried, I sprayed more colors until I get the desired look.
Later at some places, I have used Little Birdies "Gold Glitz" and "Blushing Berry" Sparkle paste to give highlight to my embellishments.

Posting the final pics of my layout. Also Sharing some close up's to get a better idea.
So, I hope now you know what I mean when I say these Color Splashes are so versatile and extremely beautiful product which is  a must have in your crafty stash.