Tips & Techniques Thursday: Painting with Stickles

Hey ATS fans! Today we'd like to welcome our FIRST guest blogger, Julie from Muddy Paws & Inky Fingers! You'll be sure to want to stop by her blog because she is having a STICKLES GIVEAWAY! Please give her a warm welcome as she shares a super fun tutorial with us, we hope you love it as much as we do! I know I'll be giving it a try in the future. :)

It's a sunshiny day no matter what the weather is!  I'm excited to be here and share with you one of the ways I like to use Stickles.  A huge thank you to Ashley and the All That Stickles design team for inviting me today!

Now, on to my project.  I have lots of Stickles in my possession, but sometimes I want to spread them on a large surface that looks globby with the applicator tip or I'm not as neat with the applicator as I would like.  That's when I turn to my rescue tool!  Follow along with this tutorial and you'll see what I mean!

I'll show you the finished product first, then walk you through how I got there.

Now, isn't that an adorable little bird? It won't quit snowing here in Wisconsin so I was tempted to make a snowman instead but that didn't seem very spring-like, so I went with this cute litte guy. I'll show you my process for making him. The stamp I used is a Unity Itty Bitty stamp called "Dance in the Rain." 

First, I stamped his boots on My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary Jack & Jill 6x6 designer paper. Then, I fussy cut them.

I did the same thing with the umbrella.  I only inked up the portion of the stamp I needed, then fussy cut that, too.

Here's what you need to paint on the Stickles  -- a fine mist bottle, a small paint brush, and your Stickles.  I used Lime Green and Icicle Stickles.

I mixed a small amount of water in with the Lime Green Stickles until I got a consistency that made it easy to paint, then applied it to the whole surface of the umbrella. That paint brush is the rescue tool I mentioned earlier. LOVE my paint brush!

I didn't have the angle quite right to get good sparkle, but you get the idea.  I'm using a craft mat to mix and paint on.

I used a slightly different technique for the boots. Because they are smaller, and I was afraid red Stickles might cover up the stamped pattern, I went with Icicle Stickles and mixed in a little red watercolor paint with them. The look is more subtle.

I love Stickles. I find glitter very messy, so whenever I want a little extra bling, it's Stickles that I reach for. I often paint them on when the surface is large enough to accommodate. Give it a try!

I'll leave you with a close up of the glammed up bird, wishing you a Happy Easter!

Please stop by my blog, http://muddypawsinkyfingers.blogspot.com for more of my work. I would love to have you visit!

~Julie