A New Technique??

Haha...I think I created a new technique. At least, I can't find it anywhere online. I took an existing bleach technique and "tweaked" it. You can see the original bleach technique here.

Rather than simply highlighting the image, I completely bleached it and then added new color with my aquapainter. You must be very sure that the cardstock is completely dry after bleaching and before watercoloring. A heat tool is the quickest way to do this. Just be aware that the longer you heat an embossed image on colored cardstock, the more is soaks into the cardstock and the less raised the embossed image will be.

I embossed the flower from Touch of Nature in black and then used a small paint brush to apply the bleach. To keep the paper from pilling or being saturated, I applied a thin layer, dried with my heat tool and applied again until the area was white. Then I painted my flower as I would an image stamped on whisper white.

Here's my finished project:

Please note: Not all colors bleach to white...and black SU cardstock doesn't bleach at all.

Here's a pic of the back of my cardstock sampler showing (left to right) bleaching on really rust, cameo coral and ruby red. You can see that cameo coral and ruby red bleach to white, but really rust bleaches to yellow.

Stamps: Touch of Nature; Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Basic Black, Ruby Red; Ink: Versamark, Sage Shadow, So Saffron marker, Old Olive marker, Basic Black; Other: black embossing powder, black gingham ribbon, aquapainter, bleach, paint brush

Intentional Stamper

There are times when I stamp, because I have a class or workshop. Then, there are times when I get to stamp for the pure joy of it. And then there are times when I'm the intentional stamper. These are times when I have a specific person or occasion in mind. Last night was one of those times. I pulled out stamps and ink to make this sympathy card for a woman who recently lost her husband.

I really admire Krystie's watercoloring style. So I decided to try it with Wonderful You. I really like the way this turned out...first time I've actually liked my watercoloring. I especially like the river rock "halo" around the image.

When it was time to add the sentiment I remembered that I don't have any SU! sympathy stamps. So, it was into the contraband drawer (shhh...don't tell) for my Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages. The word window punch is just the perfect size to make a tag with this set. I punched the tag a second time to make it shorter. I used my crop-a-dile to put a copper brad in the tag for the ribbon. Both the tag and the image panel are adhered with dimensionals. The center of the flower is accented with dots of Crystal Effects applied with a toothpick.

Thanks for looking.

Recipe - All Stampin' Up! unless noted - Stamps: Wonderful You, Mixed Messages (PTI); Cardstock: Whisper White textured, Whisper White, Groovy Guava, Basic Black; Ink: Basic Black, Groovy Guava, River Rock, Always Artichoke (stem), So Saffron (flower center); Accessories: Black gingham ribbon, copper eyelet, crystal effects, word window punch, crop-a-dile

Lucky #13

Ok, I know I've been neglecting my blog of late (about 7 weeks, actually...missed all of May and almost June). I really HAVE been inking...just not posting. Most of the inking I've been doing is for convention swaps, so I'll not be posting them online. I'd rather wait and surprise everyone at convention. Don't worry. I'm taking pictures and plan to post them after convention. So, stick around until at least the middle of August...it'll get better, I promise.

So, anyway, tonight I was sitting watching a Jerry Lewis movie with hubby and getting caught up on a couple of blogs when I saw Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration #13 and just had to play along. I love this color combination. And the bedding...just gorgeous. I pulled the inspiration for my card from the throw pillows on the bed. I embossed the medallion from Kind Thoughts in white on Purely Pomegranate, punched it out with my scalloped circle punch, used my stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the large fleur de lis from Kind Thoughts on River Rock to create my own designer paper and put it all together with a bow on top. I hope you like it. I think I may just have to give this to my sister-in-law for her birthday tomorrow.




Recipe - Stamps: Kind Thoughts; Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Regal Rose, River Rock, Purely Pomegranate; Ink: Versamark; Other: Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, white embossing powder, stamp-a-ma-jig

Kristina's color inspiration

Wow, it's been a while since I posted. The color challenge in the last post was from 2 weeks ago! And today I'm posting another response to her color challenge. I stopped by Kristina's blog this morning because I had 20 minutes to kill before heading out for work...which is unheard of for me...I'm usually a last minute prep and depart kinda gal. So, anyway, I pulled up her blog and saw this color inspiration challenge:

My first thought was "sahara sand...really??" You see, I've never used sahara sand for anything. But, I absolutely love Kristina's combos, and had some instant inspiration so I ran to my desk, pulled out my markers and my newest stamps and came up with this. I hope you like it.

Stamps: True Friend, Polka Dot Background; Ink: Versamark, Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi; Card Stock: Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Whisper White; Accessories: Pumpkin Pie striped grosgrain ribbon, yellow rhinestone brad