No. 6173

I'm posting the results of an experiment with gel pens that was driven by this week's SSS Monday blog challenge which is "rock the techniques."

Using the pens, I wrote directly on the rubber of small sections of various stamps and pressed them on to the tag. Then I filled in the blank background areas with distress ink. I was able to capture detail with accuracy and color changes were a snap, thanks to the small pen tips and slow drying time.

Would I use this technique again? Definitely, but just for small bits and only after planning for potential smearing when other inks are applied on top. My gel pens aren't waterproof/permanent but that can be an asset with other techniques (see previous post).

Sugar Crush

Another irresistible photo prompted the creation of this tag using a page from the French Industrial paper collection by Tim Holtz as the background.

Click to enlarge

Sugar sprinkles were added with off-white paint using a stencil from Simon Says Stamp called Falling Snow (...sweet...)

Some of the larger sprinkles were made to look like peppermints by adding stripes with a gel pen (...delicious...)

The border was distressed with Walnut Stain and I've linked it to the Monday blog challenge at SSS (...sugar crush...)

Spending too much time playing a certain online arcade game may have also been a factor.

Rain

I live in the desert. We've had severe drought conditions for the last several years. If and when it rains, it usually comes in the summer and we call it the "monsoon season."

Yesterday half of all the rain we usually get in one year came down upon us in less than 24 hours. Streets were shut down, roofs collapsed, schools were closed. The season finally lived up to its name.

This helps to explain why I made this tag. Also, the only SSS product I own is the Falling Snow stencil and using one of their products was encouraged for this week's Monday blog challenge which celebrates "STAMPtember."

And the final reason for making it? I wanted to see what colored rain drops would look like. I expect the end result of all those colors dropping and mixing would be mud and we now have a lot of that here. But fear not, in just a few days it will all be hard as rock again.

Photo credit:  Ralph Morse