/* */ Beulah Bee: Today

April 04, 2016

Today



I've been invited to be a Guest Designer for April at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and if this is your first visit here--hello and welcome!


Our challenge this week is to use a resist technique and I chose embossing powder which works great with watercolor but I also wanted to alter the fine lines of my stamping. So here's the twist...

I cut a tag shape from Arches watercolor paper then stamped my flower shapes (Tim's Flower Garden Stamp Set) with ColorBox white pigment ink and sprinkled on Ranger's Ultra-Thick Embossing Powder.

Since this powder has chunky bits, I embraced this feature and encouraged some to fall off with extra tapping before it was heat-set to create a distressed appearance.


For a quick way to make a mask, I used wax paper and a graphite pencil to make a rubbing of the embossed surface.


I trimmed the mask along the edge outline and it was used to cover the flowers so I could stamp some background text (Tim's Ledger Script) with Ranger archival ink.


I applied water over the entire tag surface and let it soak in a bit before adding paint. This way, the colors run together creating natural blends and it prevents hard edges. The embossed lines make it easy to control and contain the paint.


It's optional, but I prefer to iron-off the embossing as a final step to even-out the surface and get rid of the shine. I use an old iron (dedicated to crafting) to re-melt the embossing while it is covered with newsprint (it has the best absorption). Pull the paper off immediately after applying heat because once it's cool the paper might stick.


My stash of bee stamps is limited (what?) so I clipped an image from a newspaper advertisement and since the paper is flimsy I pasted it to some strong tissue, encased it with acrylic medium then cut it out.


I made some adjustments to the paint colors (added some stems and a bit more green), stitched tinted Lace Trimming along the side, added dots of dimensional paint and a Small Talk sticker.

The tag edges were darkened and I splattered watered-down white paint over the surface with finger flicks.

I'm happy with the mottled appearance and would recommend this resist technique if you want to give your stamped images a new vibe--distressed or otherwise.

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I really hope you'll join us for this week's challenge.

There are many resist techniques and I want to see what inspires you!

And when you upload your creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog you'll have a chance to win a $50 voucher at the Simon Says Stamp store!
https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/

Here's a list of the products I used for this challenge which can be ordered from Simon: