Technique of the Week: Distress Ink Lifting

I saw this technique on Jennifer McGuire's blog, and I think she invented it. She makes it look easy, but I'm here for you. I decided to try it to see if a mere mortal could do it.

To make 2 cards, I used panels cut to 5.5 x 2.25 and 5.5 x 2.75. (I made a third panel, but did not make it into a card).

To do this technique, first you need to find a stamp or stamps with images that have some open space in them. Flowers are perfect. I used two great Magenta stamps, 14.639.P Three Flowers; 14.635.P Mallow Flowers.

Stamp your image with Versamark on 80# Neenah white cardstock, and emboss with clear embossing powder. You heard me correctly! She did NOT use watercolor cardstock; she said that 80# Neenah cardstock worked the best. I admit I have not tried it on other papers. This did make my paper curl, but by the time I stuck them down on the base card, they were fine.

Using Distress ink, the color of your choice, apply ink from the pad direct to paper, and cover your whole panel completely. Use a lot of ink, and make sure it's completely covered. For the first card, I used Mustard Seed ink and the Mallow Flowers stamp. 

After covering the embossed panel completely with ink, I took a small watercolor brush and water, and painted the petals and leaves of the image with water. This lifted some of the ink from those areas.

I let it dry and then put some Spiced Marmalade ink on an acrylic block, added a little water to the ink with my brush, and painted with this in the petal areas. I used Mowed Lawn in the same way to paint the leaves. (I may have painted some of the Spiced Marmalade on a leaf, but I like how it turned out in the end).

I left this all to dry and started on the second panel, where I used Peacock Feathers for the background color, and Wilted Violet for the secondary color. 

I again used Mowed Lawn for the leaves. The stamp was Magenta's Three Flowers stamp.

Painting water on the petals

Painting Wilted Violet on the petals after lifting color

Painting Mowed Lawn on the leaves

I inked a third panel, but did not end up making it into a card.

Blueprint Sketch ink and the beautiful Magenta Fuchsia stamp 42.235.O

Here are the three panels I made. I flicked a little water on them to get little drops in the color.

To finish the cards, I applied strips of leftover cardstock on each side of the panels. (Stardream Fairway, and So Silk Fair Blue). (Yes, I save my strips, especially if it's pretty cardstock).

These photos show me using the MISTI tool. I prepared base cards using 110# Neenah Solar White cardstock. I decided to stamp the sentiment directly on the base card, and to do that I used a MISTI tool. If you have not heard of this tool, then you should definitely check it out. At Art 'n Soul, we are going to carry this product as soon as we can get them in stock. I believe they are due to be shipped in March. I would not feel safe stamping directly on a base card any other way. If you are interested in obtaining a MISTI tool, please get one from us at Art 'n Soul. You can pre-order from us with a pink sheet.

Lining up the panel and stamp placement on base card

I decided to stamp the sentiment using Distress Ink, which can turn out splotchy. I don't usually use it for stamping a sentiment, but I wanted to match the colors on the panels. With the MISTI, you can stamp it down as many times as you like, and it won't mess up.

I love, love, love the Magenta Happy Birthday stamp, 07430.I. I used the cling version, since the MISTI does not accomodate wood stamps. This is a fantastic stamp with a vertical orientation, and worked perfectly for this card design. I stamped one sentiment with Peacock Feathers, and one with Mowed Lawn. I did have to stamp each one a couple of times to get perfect coverage.

I decided to stamp on scrap paper first to decide which color I wanted to use for the sentiment. Wilted Violet or Peacock Feathers?

Both are good, but definitely Peacock Feathers!

After mounting the panels on the base cards, I added a few touches of bling: Wink of Stella clear glitter pen on the flower petals; touches of Stickles in the centers, and some scattered sequins. The glitter touches are very hard to pick up in a photograph, so if you want to see these cards in person, please come in to Art 'n Soul.

I have to say that I did not find these hard to do, and most importantly, they were really, really fun! I think you could easily make multiple cards using this technique, and depending on the stamps you use, you could mount the panels horizontally on your card instead of up and down. You could also use smaller images and mount them in the center. There are lots of possibilities. I hope you give it a try!

Magenta Products Used

Mallow Flowers 14.635.P

Three Flowers 14.639.P

Happy Birthday C07.430.I

Fuchsia 42.235.O

Other Products Used

Distress Inks: Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade

Versamark Ink

Judikins Clear Detail embossing powder

Neenah Solar White Cardstock 80# for panels and 110# for base cards

Small watercolor brush

So Silk Fair Blue cardstock

Stardream Fairway cardstock

MISTI Stamping Tool

Various sequins

Ranger multi medium matte adhesive

Wink of Stella clear glitter pen

Stickles Orange Peel and Starry Night

Nuance Valentine

Just a quick post to show how pretty Nuance backgrounds look when die cut. I made this Valentine for my hubby, and he thought I should post these. I had a couple of Nuance backgrounds, made on watercolor paper, and I die cut them with Memory Box die Heart of Hearts 98781, which sadly has been discontinued at Memory Box. You can still find a few of these dies available on line.

I cut hearts from two different Nuance backgrounds, and then die cut the front of my white card base also. I then picked up individual hearts, dipped them in glue, and put each one through the openings in the front of the card.

These really illustrate how beautiful even small die cuts can be when cut out of Nuance backgrounds.

 When it's open, it looks like a mosaic.

I had sprayed the Nuance colors with pearly water (1/4 tsp of perfect pearls powder in 2 oz water) so they have a pearly and sparkly appearance.

Nuance colors used: Cerulean Blue, Royal Blue, Turquoise, Grass Green, Jade Green, Orange, Golden Yellow, Raspberry, Scarlet, and Hot Pink. You can link directly to Magenta's Nuance colors here.

Technique of the Week: Create Your Own Die Cut Embellishments

This post is in conjunction with the Art 'n Soul newsletter. To visit the Art 'n Soul blog, and access archived newsletters, please click here.

This is such a simple technique, and so pretty! I used one of the new 2016 Spring collection Poppy dies (Bellina Butterfly Stem 1391); a Nuance background; and Magenta stamp Sending you warm thoughts (07.806.K).

First I prepared a Nuance background by applying Nuance powder to a dry piece of watercolor card stock. I used Orange, Golden Yellow, Bright Yellow and Red initially. I then sprayed the powdered panel liberally with pearly water (mix 1/4 tsp of Perfect Pearls Pearl powder into 2 oz water). After spraying, I tapped some Jade Green Nuance into the mix, and let dry.

I die cut the focal point out of white fun foam. It cut pretty easily, even though it is a fairly detailed image.

I sprayed the front of the die cut with spray adhesive, and put it into a tub of glitter. I got the idea for this from Laura Bassen, and I love the glittery, sugar-frosted look of it. I then sprayed adhesive on the back of the die cut and adhered it to the Nuance panel.

For the sentiment, I used a favorite Magenta stamp, "Sending you warm thoughts for a speedy recovery." I have a friend who is recovering from knee surgery, and I love this stamp because recovering from surgery does not mean you are sick, and this sentiment is not a command to "get well." 

I had to split the stamp using a stamp positioner to make it fit. If you have not already seen the tutorial post on my blog for this, and you are not familiar with using a stamp positioner, you can view the post here. Scroll down to the end of that post for the tutorial.

I stamped the sentiment with Versamark ink, and embossed it with Judikins White Diamond embossing powder. I sprinkled a few sequins around and adhered them with Ranger Multi Medium Matte. The panel was mounted on a white card base. 

This technique was so easy and fun to do! I hope you'll give it a try.

Magenta Products Used

07.806.K Sending you warm thoughts

MNU002 Bright Yellow

MNU004 Jade

MNU006 Orange

MNU008 Golden Yellow

MNU015 Red

Other Products Used

Poppy Die 1391 Bellina Butterfly Stem

Fun Foam

White Glitter

Versamark Ink

Judikins White Diamond Embossing Powder

Various Sequins

Tim Holtz Watercolor card stock

Ranger Multi medium matte adhesive

Technique of the Week: "Dylusional" Valentine - Painting With Baby Wipes

This post is in conjunction with the Art 'n Soul Newsletter Technique of the Week article. I was inspired by Marj's technique on the Art 'n Soul blog (click here to view that post), about painting with baby wipes, and decided to try this technique on a card, and use a stencil also. This was super easy and fun to do. I didn't use a whole 8.5x11 sheet when painting, but next time I will. It would be just as easy to do 4 cards at once instead of just one.

First I took my panel of Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock, and applied pink paint all over with a baby wipe. This paint goes on so smoothly this way! It also dries very quickly.

I then applied the White Linen paint, sort of unevenly, with the same baby wipe. I like the texture that this gives.

I put the stencil over the painted panel and used a mini distress blending tool to apply the Postbox Red paint. You just need a very little bit of paint on the sponge, and you work it into the sponge by swirling it around on your craft mat.

Once you get the paint worked into your sponge, apply it over the stencil until you have covered all of the openings.

I then washed my stencil and my blending tool right away. Dyan Reaveley leaves the paint in her tools, but she uses them a lot. I prefer to wash mine out each time, since this is acrylic paint.

The sentiment I wanted to use is very long,, and since I had a lot of space under the heart, I needed a sentiment that was more stacked up. This is easy to accomplish using a stamp positioner. If you don't know how to do this, I have a previous tutorial how to do that on my blog here. To view that tutorial, click on the link and please scroll to the bottom for the Bonus Tutorial on how to get the most out of your sentiment stamps.

I whipped out my Ranger splatter brush to apply gold splatters over everything. This brush is as easy to use as advertised. I used Vegas Gold All Purpose Ink from Tsukineko for the splatters. We should get some more of this in soon at Art 'n Soul from Imagine Crafts. I love to use the Gold and also the Silver for splattering.

I used a white (Wedding Dress) Pico embellisher to apply dots to a few areas of the heart image for more texture. Last, a few sequins were sprinkled around, and the panel was mounted onto a piece of So Silk black cardstock and onto a white base card.

I wanted to also tell you what to do with the excess paint on your baby wipe. This is straight from Dyan Reaveley. She says to NEVER waste the paint you have on your baby wipe. She has lots of journals going, and lots of pages in her journals that she just keeps wiping paint onto. This is a great tip if you are a journaler. It gives a lot of interest to your pages and provides a nice base to then stencil onto. If you are mostly into card making though, here is another solution.

I bought this paperback book at an Asian bookstore in Seattle. I got it with the sole intent of using the pages on cards. I especially want to Zentangle onto them, but stamping would definitely work as well. Now whenever I use Dylusions paint, I wipe the excess from the baby wipes onto pages of this book. LOVE, LOVE how it looks, and I will be using these for future projects. The pages are pretty thin, but the paint dries really fast and looks great.

Magenta Products Used

TM60 Heart Burst Template

07.731.I Thanks for touching my heart

Other Products Used
Dylusions Paint: Bubblegum, White Linen, Postbox Red
Tim Holtz mini ink blender
Pico embellisher - Wedding Dress
Versafine Onyx Black Ink
Tsukineko All Purpose Ink Vegas Gold
Splatter brush
Baby wipes
So Silk Black cardstock
Various sequins