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Showing posts with label tutorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tutorial. Show all posts

June 01, 2021

Plain Jane

Greeting Card

Describing how I made this card will be a challenge but you might like to try it yourself so here goes.

I used two designs from a coordinated set of 6" square printed paper, one was a solid green brocade, the other two were matching pages with stripes and handwriting.

One non-solid became the background. One non-solid was stamped with the flowers (avoiding the green section). The solid sheet (all green) was also stamped with the same image.

All the stamping was fussy-cut, I removed the leaves from the non-solid piece and pasted it one top of the all green sheet lining up the images.

I darkened the blossoms with a tiny bit of Distress ink and left the leaves as is. I framed it with solid papers and Nuvo Crystal drops. 


As always, I hope this post finds you well and happy and I appreciate your visit.

Until next time, take care.

November 11, 2018

12 Tags for Christmas 2018 - No. 1


I've started my tags for Christmas and, with any luck, I'll have twelve completed before December 24 (fingers crossed).

I've had a little trouble with my mojo (or muse as some would call it) so I'm going back to basics to embrace some of the original techniques that influenced my paper crafting journey.

I'm sharing my step-outs for this one, with minimal explanation, so don't hesitate to comment if you have a question about my technique.

And if you'd like to see any of my tags from Christmas past I've put a link to them in the sidebar.

Oval drawn on Speciality Stamping Paper, matt finish (Ranger)

Stamp (Penny Black) with Distress (Fired Brick)

Spread ink with water brush

Stamp greeting (Penny Black) then mask it along with flower

Stamp background with archival ink (Potting Soil)

Rub on Distress inks (Forest Moss, Peacock Feathers) and spritz with water

Cut out oval with X-acto knife.

Re-apply Fired Brick Distress ink to strengthen flower color.
Add a paper background behind flower.

Trim oval with dimensional dots and tag edge with black marker


After I'd cut out the oval, it was fun playing with different papers for the background and I finally settled on a paper that matched the Peacock Feather blues.

I'm linking this to Simon's Monday challenge blog because this week's theme is Make Your Own Background and also to the Penny Black Creative Christmas Challenge.

July 05, 2018

Stamp Conversion


I recently purchased a stamping platform and I am over the moon about it! Stamps I avoided in the past because they were difficult to use no longer scare me. And because I want to use ALL my stamps with this new tool, I have converted my collection of wood-mounted stamps to cling-mount.

I want to share some things I learned during the process to help others who might also want to do this. There is already a lot of information on the web but it didn't really prepare me for what I was up against.

You will need to purchase the cling mount sheets. I used a brand called EZMount and buyer beware, there are two sizes: Regular which is 1/8" thick and thin which is 1/16" thick. Go to the manufacturer's website (Crafter's Companion) and the product descriptions will explain the difference. I used 1/8" thick foam for all my stamps but your needs may be different.

This was a good time for me to purge some of my inventory and donate stamps I no longer care for, giving me a better idea of how much cling mount to buy. I only converted my favorites and didn't convert really tiny ones.

Make sure to measure out your stamps on the printed side with the stamp facing up and give yourself some wiggle-room with the margins. This is because it's tricky to lay the stamp down exactly where you want it during the final mounting and you'll be able to trim it more cleanly if you leave a little more room.


I didn't use scissors to trim the stamps. I used a utility knife instead and think it was MUCH MUCH easier. When I came to some curvy parts, I just made tiny stabs around it with the knife--no problem.





You may get some "sticky-stuff" on your knife blade or your fingers. I used paper towels to wipe off the knife blade and gel hand-sanitizer for my fingers. You don't want to transfer any of it to the image-side of your stamp so keeping things clean is kind of important.

Okay, that was the easy-part. The hard part?

Nothing I read on the web prepared me for the challenge of cleaning the stamp's backside once it was removed from the wood base. Each and every stamp came off differently and presented new challenges.

A few peeled off perfectly and required no additional effort--they were ready to remount. Most peeled off the wood base pretty easy but no matter how carefully I worked, remnants of either foam or dried glue or really tacky glue remained on the backside.

The cling-mount instructions state that this side should be clean before mounting and I accepted the challenge. Here are some examples:


In the photo above, the original glue (still VERY tacky) remained on this stamp and I only had to pick away at the few bits of foam, left the glue intact and it was re-mounted.


In this example, the stamp peeled fairly cleanly except for some foam areas and the glue holding it on was dried out and very hard. I used a grout saw which has a sandpaper like edge to scrape away the remaining bits.


Here's another example of what remained after a peel from the block only this time, the remnants (glue and foam) were still somewhat sticky and would be difficult to try to rub off (think price tag on plastic).


So I used a strip of high-adhesion masking tape, rubbed it down over the remaining bits and voila! It pulled off the glue and the foam easy-peasy (wish I'd thought of this sooner).


In my last example, the foam and glue that remained on the stamp was roughed up with my scraper first and then I used masking tape to pull off the loose material.



If you are still reading along, I'll end this post with a couple more tips/suggestions that you might consider:
  • It will be tempting but don’t use "Goo-Gone" or "Goof-Off" or similar solvent-based products as they are not recommended for use on rubber and could damage your stamp.
  • If your stamp is of a ruler or similar image where having a really straight edge is important, don't forget to mount it on the foam as straight as you can. The rubber is flexible and kind of floppy and that could work against you during your placement.
  • Before remounting, it's a good time to give the image-side of the stamps a good cleaning and also to re-trim problem areas that the manufacturer may have missed.
  • Do the easy, least favorite stamps first until you get the hang of it.
In the end, I am SO GLAD I tackled this and I can't wait to give new life to stamps that will shine under the control of my stamping platform.

My storage needs have changed and I plan to blog about a rather unique solution at a future date that you may enjoy reading about as well.

Until next time, Happy Stamping!!

October 10, 2017

Field Notes


Tinted mostly with water-soluble oil pastels, an image transfer, some stamped images, Tissue Wrap and Quote Chips came together on a support made from an old textbook cover. I've got step-out photos if you'd like to see the particulars.

(Click on the photos for a larger, lightbox view.)


I stripped the cover of a textbook which left me with a sturdy gray board that I covered with Tim Holtz Postale Tissue Wrap using Modge Podge.



I edited an image (coincidently, also a book cover) and then transferred it to the board using Golden Polymer Medium (Gloss). You can read about my technique in this post.


I used dilute gesso to obscure the background details and this also provided a good surface for applying color.


I stamped the keyboard image (Tim Holtz) on tissue paper using archival ink, tore the edges and pasted it on my support. I added a border detail/frame using a dark brown Pitt Artist Pen. They are made with india ink and waterproof with almost all mediums.



The Quote Chips (Tim Holtz Idea-ology) were delaminated because I wanted the text but not the thickness. They were later stained and distressed to blend in with the background.



The snail (Carabelle Studio) was also stamped on paper, which I tinted then cut-out and pasted on.


Most of the coloring was done with water-soluble oil pastels. I like that they are transparent, easily blended with your fingers and can be diluted and spread with a water brush for thinner coverage.



I made this to link-up with Simon's Monday Challenge Blog, this week's theme is to make anything except a card. This may be out of the box for some but if the challenge was just the opposite, I'd expect to struggle a bit as I haven't made a card in quite some time.

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: