Artist Spotlight - Rita Barakat

At Shimmerz we love our Education team and know that they are some of the best artists in the industry. We thought that you might want to get to know these talented ladies a bit better throughout the month we'll be interviewing one member of our team. Second up is Rita Barakat!

 Please tell us about yourself and your style.

My name is Rita Barakat. I have been married to my wonderful hubby for almost 20 years. Before I had children I painted life size murals for a living. I am blessed to be a SAHM (stay at home mom) to five beautiful children ages 19 down to 5! My talents are all in the fine arts. I have directed a youth choir and drama team for the past 6 years. I sing and have always been a crafter and an artist. We recently moved to TX so we are starting over. I love anything to do with art so Shimmerz was right up my alley! I have scrap booked for 8 years but have painted as long as I can remember so you will find paint and other mixed medias on my layouts. I  guess you could call my style eclectic. I am always experimenting, trying new things. 



 You can find my blog here http://letsembellish.blogspot.com.



 Where do you create?Do you have a studio space? A small nook in the kitchen?



I used to have a scrapbook room until we moved. Right now we are in temporary housing so space is small. I scrap on the kitchen table or sometimes an end table- it is hard! I don't know how apartment girls do it! I am looking forward to moving into our new home so I can have a scrapbook room again! (You'll have to check back with me in the summer!)





Where do you find inspiration?

I get inspiration from everything all around me! Sometimes it’s a color combination, or a song and sometimes it’s an item that will spark an idea. I especially love looking at vintage items and/or mixed media.

 Are you messy or tidy?



I start off with my are totally clean but it does turn into a disaster when I get  working on a project, especially if  I am on a time limit! I do try to clean in between projects!



Do you sit down and complete one project at a time or do you work on multiple projects at once?



I have several things going on at once but not like you think. Because of drying time I have to set things aside to dry and work on something else. I will also post a project on the wall to look at it the next day for a different perspective, I may change or add something later or leave it alone. Projects are posted for 3-4 days until I am satisfied.



What is your favorite Shimmerz product? Why? What is your favorite Shimmerz color?



It depends on the day! Lately it is Shimmerz Spritz Barn Door, Sea Monkey and  Vibez Sunset Strip. Sunset Strip I use on top of everything because it gives everything that extra gold shimmer!









Could you please share your favorite Shimmerz projects with us?

 This is a canvas with paper project for my girls the Shimmerz products I used were Shimmerz Spritz Barn Door & Ruby and Shimmerz Bingz in Flashee Fushia! I love creating art with purpose. I created this for my girls bathroom - I always want them to remember that they are amazing just the way they are. Especially as young women, I want to instill confidence in my girls (and boys), that kind that comes from within - it doesn't matter what the media says, they are beautiful.

I used Shimmerz Blingz in Island Salsa on the chipboard of this layout. I just love this layout because I don't usually like doing birthday photos - but this had a very different feel to it. Our kids grow up so quickly and to me this really captured her innocence and excitement for this moment.

Creating Impressions...

Hi everybody! I hope your May is starting off beautifully! Today, I am going to show you how to make stamped impressions using Shimmer paints, gesso, and a few stamps. I create a canvas bag out of a pillow case in the video, but you can use any of the techniques that I show you to create backgrounds on just about any kind of surface. Here is the palette that I am using today...

And here are some sneaky peeks into the video today...

Let's get started!

xx Heidi

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT - Lesley Langdon

At Shimmerz we love our Education team and know that they are some of

the best artists in the industry. We thought that you might want to

get to know these talented ladies a bit better throughout the month we'll be

interviewing one member of our team. First up is

Lesley Langdon!

 

Please tell us about yourself and your style.

I love to teach, and pass on good information and tips.  I started paper crafting four years ago, and immediately got hooked.  I enjoy working with paints and mists, so my position here with the Shimmerz Education Team is a PERFECT fit for me!

Where do you create? Do you have a studio space? A small nook in the kitchen?

You can see my scrapbook space in this video!  I built it myself!

What is your favorite Shimmerz product? Why?

It's got to be Jeni B Bleu Vibez.  It's the first Vibez I reach for!  I love the bright blue color and the shimmer.

What is your favorite movie?

I love the movie Elf.  I just laugh so much at Will Ferrel and his naivety.

What, in your mind, is the ultimate luxury?

A beautiful cottage on a serene lake, with a registered massage therapist at my beck and call, wine and chocolate by the fire and a nice hour in the outdoor hot tub. 

What are your art goals for the future?

I would love to travel and teach, and be able to see the world at the same time.  But for me, this is a long-term goal as my kids are a little too young and need me at home.

Please feel free to ask more questions in the comments section! Lesley will attempt to answer them as she sees them!

My favourite colours...

Hiya

Louise here with another layout for you, this time using my favourite Spritz and Vibez colours - Sea Foam and Sea Monkey. They're gorgeous together and make a wonderful watery background. Anyway forgive the lateness, we've had a lot of sickness in our house this month!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter break... and here's the video:

Make your own decorative Masking tape with Shimmerz Paints

I love Masking tape and paper tapes, I cant get enough, so I decided I would have a play with making my own and I found it was incredibly easy using Shimmerz and some stamps in my stash.

Take a look how I did it.

AND,

here is what I created with it.

I used many different colours and all the different ranges for this project.

You can find them all at THE SHIMMERZ SHOP

to name a few

PEARLZ- Blue by U, Carrot Top

SHIMMERZ- Lilac, Antique Lace

BLINGZ- Poinsetta Pink, December Sky, Winter Green

SPRITZ- Sea Foam

Thanks for watching, and I hope you will have a play and make some of your own decorative tape to use on your next projects.

Background Using Shimmerz Paints and Gesso

Hello everyone! I'm so excited to be posting my first video tutorial here for Shimmerz Paints. I'm so honored to be part of this amazing team. I'm a beginner in creating video tutorials and I hope my first video tutorial here do not disappoint.

Today, I would like to share a video tutorial on how I've created the background for this layout below using Shimmerz Paints and gesso.

The techniques used in this video are resist painting with gesso and masking. Here is the video tutorial to it. There are more close-ups on this layout in the video. Enjoy and have fun experimenting!

Scrapperlicious

Mixed Media...

 Hi Rita Barakat here with a mixed media video.

The end result...

 Supplies:  Shimmerz Coloringz Ivy League,

   Shimmerz Spritz Ruby,

           Shimmerz Blingz Pixie Dust

Chipboard Skirted Tag (album) Clear Scraps,

Pattern Paper Ta Da Creative Studios, Alphas Basic Grey

Fozz Felt KaiserCraft, Making Memories Velvet Stickers,

        Chipboard Clocks Heidi Swapp,  

                                              

Starring...

Thanks for stopping by!

Imitation Watercolor with Coloringz and Stamps

This month, we have a word, and that word is SPRING.  So you will see a flower filled bicycle and a butterfly from me today, showcasing symbols of spring along with the AWESOME Coloringz products that were introduced by Shimmerz in late January 2011.

For this video, I used 4 Coloringz (my NEW favorite Shimmerz products!) and stamps.  If you love the look of watercolor, you will love this technique.  I also give you a preview of MOST of the Coloringz so that you can see the colors as they come out of the bottle.  Just lovely.  Check out Mon Shari.  That is a stunning violet/deep purple color.

Hope you enjoy!

Video tutorial by Lesley Langdon.

Shimmerz Paint Techniques......"Brayer & Brush"

Hi there, Lydell Here again with a video on some quick and easy techniques using Shimmerz Paints a little differently.
Hope you enjoy these ideas and have a go with your Shimmerz Paints to get some really cool effects for your backgrounds, art journals or mixed media projects.

See how easy that is.  No artistic flair needed, just some Book Pages, Shimmerz Paints, a brayer and a white gel pen....
Hope you are having a wonderful week.
Thanks for watching today!!!!!
Lydell Quin

Meet our NEWEST Ed. Team Member

I would like to introduce you to the newest Shimmerz Ed. Team member. . . Linda Hall. She is crazy talented and as sweet as the day is long. You'll love her work and learn a lot! Keep reading to learn more about Linda and her art.




As a Mixed Media artist, I have no fear of venturing down creative avenues. I have a unique edginess for designing handcrafted artisan jewelry.

In a nutshell, "I am a visionary artist inspired by community, diversity, tradition, culture, excitement and positive energy. Imagination gives me the license to break boundaries."

Depending on the spirit of the moment, my creative handcrafted items have a vintage, eclectic, funky, traditional, whimsical, exotic or ethnic feel.

My passion and desire to make others smile comes from my heart and hands. Just like each person is an individual, each unique item is created like a fingerprint. No two items are exactly a like.

I pride myself in making each gift special, which is why my company is named “The Thought that Counts!”

I am so excited about incorporating the beautiful brilliant Shimmerz products into wearable art jewelry and other “out of the box” creations.

Stay tuned for an awesome colorful ride!
*************************************************************

WELCOME Linda! We are so excited to have you join the Shimmerz Family!!!!

We've Gone Green

 To finish off our month of all things green, today I will show you how to bring a little bit of nature to your projects. Nothing says green like, well.... green, lol! Using sand, fabric adhesive, and your favorite green Shimmerz products, we will be creating leaves and altering felt, to earthen up some of your artwork.

Here's a sneaky peek at what we will be doing...

Using these colors:

Be prepared to get messy! Go grab your sand... and let's get started!

xx Heidi

Making My Own Sunburst Paper

I use four Shimmerz Coloringz colors to make a sunburst paper as shown in the photo. I haven't decided what to do with sheet of paper yet but I'll be sure to post my final project using this.  Meanwhile, you can find Valentino, Mandarin Mai Tai, Coloringz Lime in da Coconut and No Yoking in the store!

Thank you for watching!

All About Me -- Lesson Sample

In case you weren't excited enough about Bethany Kartchner's new Shimmerz class: All About Me...

We've got a sample lesson for you to view!

In this short excerpt, Bethany demonstrates how she created a piece of the cover to her mixed-media album.

Enjoy!



You can register for Bethany's class at the Stash-To-Treasure site. What you need to do is register on the site. Then, once you are registered choose to become a subscriber. The entire class consists of 16 videos, inspiration and journal prompts all for only $5.00. Class begins April 1, 2011.

Guest Designer Alyssa McGrew!

This month I am honored to introduce you to Alyssa McGrew, 

we are thrilled to have her guest designing for Shimmerz this month!

Alyssa says... 

"I am a wacky and super-organized 29 (forever) year old wife and mother who also runs two business from my home. Life can be hectic at times (ok, most of the time!) and scrapping, creating art pieces, and altering things is my creative escape from it all.  I started scrapping nearly 6 years ago, and haven't gone more then a few days without working on a project since.  Mists and paints are two of my favorite products, and I use them all the time, so having the chance to guest design for Shimmerz is really a treat." 

Here's a peek at what she made for us...

New Shimmerz Class: All About Me with Bethany Kartchner

Coming April 2011, an all new Shimmerz class taught by former Education Team Coordinator, Bethany Kartchner!

Check out this video to see the gorgeous project you'll be creating in class.

Class will be held at Stash to Treasure and includes 16 videos, journal prompts, and eye-candy inspiration. And...registration is only $5.00.

You won't want to miss this one!