Technique Tip | Silhouette Stamping with CTMH Inks

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

I thought I would try something that is a little different for me. We all know how much I love stamping the images and colouring them in, but the solid stamps in my sets generally don't get as much love as they should.

Today, I decided to give some silhouette stamping a try. This is a fun technique, that I think looks best of a non-white cardstock, where you stamp the image with a light colour, then stamp again, but offset, with a darker colour.

To begin, I cut down a piece of 65lb kraft cardstock by Recollections, and used a square die to cut a window from the middle. I then cut down a piece of 65lb black cardstock to layer underneath the kraft with a smaller window cut out, so that everything would look nicely framed up.

I adhered the black piece directly to the front of my standard A2 sized card base and set that aside.

I used CTMH White Daisy ink for the first round of stamping, using greenery from Verve Stamps "Great Friend" and the flower from Forever In Time Stamps "Sunshine Daisies" randomly around the kraft panel.

Once the white was dry (it takes longer because it is a pigment ink), I used CTMH Pear and Topiary inks for the greens and Smoothie for the flowers, stamping again slightly offset of the first layer.

I then used the "Thank You" stamp from Verve Stamps "Autumn Splendor" to stamp the greeting inside the window.

Finally, I adhered the kraft panel over the black panel to complete the card.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

Technique Tip: Raised Focus Panel | ft. Stampin' Up "Birthday Blossoms"

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

Today I wanted to share a fun technique that gives you a raised focus panel while keeping the whole image fluid through the card. If you have a stamping tool like the MISTI this technique is incredibly easy to do; you can still do this if you don't have a stamping tool by using an acrylic block with clear stamps or a stamp-a-ma-jig stamp positioner.

To begin, I placed my folded A2 sized card base in the corner of my MISTI and positioned the large floral image from Stampin' Up's "Birthday Blossoms" where I wanted it to be. I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, as the focus is going to be coloured with Copic markers, I wanted the black to be consistent through both levels.

I then used the small torn paper die to cut my focus panel and placed that right over top of the card base in the MISTI. I used a piece of washi tape and the magnets to hold that in place so that there would be no slipping, and stamped the image again.

I coloured the image on the smaller panel with Copic markers and added the greeting from CTMH's "Sending Smiles" set in the top right corner.

I raised the small panel up on foam tape and lined it up so that the image looked continuous. To finish off the card, I added clear Wink of Stella over the coloured petals and the centre of the flower.

If you don't have a MISTI or a stamping positioner, you can also stamp the image on your panel, then run it through you die cut machine to get the smaller panel from the centre. You'll only have to stamp the image one time. I recommend that you make sure your card base is the same paper as what will be your bottom panel, in case someone tries to peak.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss any future posts. Drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

This card is for:

The Flower Challenge

#14 CAS

Technique Tip | Adding Gilding Flakes After Colouring an Image

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you're having a great day.

For last week's product review, I discussed the Nuvo Gilding Flakes by Tonic Studios. In that post, I briefly touched on a fun technique where you add the flakes after you've coloured an image. I had promised a card using this technique but then I got sick and my daughter got sick and my other daughter got sick and frankly it was a whole sickly mess.

Today I have that card for you. I'd like to walk you through my process and discuss some of the things that I learned along the way.

There are a few things you're going to need:

• MISTI - I can't line up a stamp to save my life after it's been stamped. Even the clear ones, so the MISTI has become an invaluable tool. If you are able to do this with an acrylic block then I envy you.
• Heat embossing supplies - Powder Tool, Sticky Embossing powder by Ranger, Gilding Flakes and a stiff brush
• Swiffer or Duster cloth to catch all the stray flakes and dust
• Images to stamp and colour
• Colour Medium of your choice - I'm using Copics

To begin, I stamped these leaf images from Inkadinkado using Memento Tuxedo Black ink on 110lb Copic-friendly cardstock. I arranged these cling stamps in my MISTI so that after stamping I could turn the panel upside down and stamp the images a second time with without having to move them. I then coloured them with Copic markers.

After the images were coloured, I prepped the panel with my powder tool and returned it to the MISTI. I inked up the stamps using VersaMark ink and used Sticky Embossing powder by Ranger to cover the lines of the original stamping, and used my heat tool to melt the powder.

As you can see from the little leaf on the right, my stamp moved slightly and I despaired; I had originally thought to toss the panel and start over but then I thought that this would make an excellent practice piece - because you can never have too much practice when it comes to a new technique. Moreover, I'm a big fan of trying to save the card - so on I trudged.

The trick with this powder is to not over heat it. If you do the powder it will lose it's stickiness and defeat the purpose. This happens here too as you'll see in the next photo, but again - I trudged on.

I added my Sunkissed Copper flakes, patting them down with my finger to ensure they were sticking to the embossing, I then use the stiff brush (mine is from Faber-Castell, but you can use an round stiff brush) to burnish away the extra flakes.

Don't forget to breathe softly during this part. These flakes are light as air and one sigh will have flakes floating about your work space like metallic snow on a clear day.

Once the flakes had been swept away, I was left with this beautiful panel. The light is tricky in my craft room, but they really do shine.

On the right middle leaf you can really see how the stamp had misaligned and the gilding did not cover the original ink lines. You can also see on the same leaf how I had over heated the sticky powder and it no longer was sticky. Again, I thought to toss it. But all experiences are learning experiences in the craft room, and frankly I was very pleased with how the rest of the leaves turned out.

I used a finger dobber and sponged in Weathered Wood Distress ink to fill in the white space between my leaves. I prepped a piece of vellum and heat embossed my greeting using Copper Embossing powder by Recollections.

I added some glue drops behind the letters and wrapped the band around my panel. This mostly covered up the errors that I made on this card. As I looked at it, I actually liked that worn look that my errors had resulted in. To me, it created this rustic finish which worked for the card. If this were not a fall card I likely would have started new.

I mounted that to a piece of green cardstock and then adhered the whole lot to the front of a standard A2 sized card base.

Somethings I learned:

• Make sure your cling stamps are actually stuck to the MISTI door. That's what happened with the one leaf. It wasn't stuck properly and that's why it moved. Had it been a clear stamp, I could have lined it up more easily but as a cling I had to roll with it.
• I would have done one leaf at a time. Heat embossed, applied flakes then burnished them away and moved on to the next. I think the reason I over heated some areas was because I did the whole panel at once.
• It would totally have been possible to skip the initial stamping - just gilded from the beginning and then coloured the images in, but I was concerned about what the flakes would do to the tips of my markers. While I'm certain I would have been very careful, I find it best to play it safe - especially when it is a technique that I am not familiar with.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't already, please follow me on the right side bar or over on Facebook, so you don't miss out on any future posts. If you have any further information regarding this technique, please drop me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Technique Tip - Partial Die Cutting

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today I wanted to share a super fun technique that will allow you to get a bit more out of your dies. We typically use our dies to simply cut out the image. Whether it be a greeting or sentiment or an image that we colour. But you can also use you dies to create a whole new look for your card.

For this card, I have the love die as well as the decorative square. I wanted to create a fun window, where the word would be in the middle. There are some super awesome dies out there that do this, but I don't happen to have them. That being said, I didn't want to not be able to create the look.

To begin, I took the decorative square and used some low tack tape to hold it in place. I put the Love die over top of it, and used a pencil to mark where I wanted the words to attach to the sides of the window.

I lined up my top cutting plate with those marks so that the only piece that was actually between the plates was the upper portion of the window, and ran that through my Big Kick (which is just like the Big Shot, but blue). I then repeated the process on the bottom half. At this point I have two cut edges that do not meet.

The Love die only cuts the smaller love in this picture, so I removed the decorative square and put the word die back in place, lining it up with the marks I had made previously. I then used a pencil to very lightly trace around the die, this will show me where the "shadow" of the word die will be. I used my X-acto knife to cut those lines, being extremely careful to not cut through where I wanted the word to be attached.

Once that cutting was done, I was left with the basic window you see above. I then cut a piece of foiled paper with the word die, and set that in place over the shadow I had created.

For the rest of the card, I used some Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean Distress ink to colour the panel, and adhered some foiled hearts I had sitting on my desk. Behind the window, I adhered a piece of white Tulle to create a frosty look to my window.

I adhered a piece of yellow cross-hatched paper directly to my A2 sized card base to show through the window. I mounted the panel with foam tape, to give it some dimension.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. If you haven't all ready, please follow me over on the right side bar. If you are viewing this via mobile device, scroll to the bottom and click "View Web Version" first. You can also follow me over on Facebook. Toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think.

I {heart} Autumn Series 2016 | ft. Lawn Fawn and the Positive Die Cut

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day.

Today is one of those weird days where I'm all alone. The older kids are at school, the little one is at Grandma's house and the hubby is at work. So I have the whole house to my very own self. All by my self. I don't even know what to do with my time.

LOL.

Yes, I do.

So a couple posts ago, I showed you all a use for the negative space when die cutting. You can see that post here. As promised, today I have a piece that uses the positive space, or the pieces that were actually cut using the dies. Not only that but the pieces I used today are the same ones that I had set aside in that post.

And while Autumn is technically over, a promise is a promise and I would be remiss if I didn't keep my word to you guys.

To begin, I used the tattered die cut for the panel, and then stamped the greeting using Lawn Fawn Black Licorice ink.

I then used Forest Moss, Gathered Twigs and Rusty Hinge Distress Inks to give the leaves the look of fall. Once those where dry, I ran them through the Xyron X (1.5") sticker maker. I adhered the leaves down the way I wanted and used some plain twine to tie the piece together, (see what I did there?).

I then cut a piece of dark brown cardstock to fit the front of a standard A2 sized card and used foam tape to mount the front panel.

I hope you like today's card and are inspired to create something of your own. Don't forget to follow me over on the right sidebar so you don't miss out on any new posts, and toss me a line in the comments section below and let me know what you think. I love to hear from you!

Technique Tip - Distress Ink Lifting

Hi everyone, thank you for stopping by. I hope you are all having a great day.

Today I have a technique for you all. Distress lifting. Many of us have seen the bleaching technique, where you "paint" bleach (yes, bleach. Like clorox.) onto coloured cardstock and it bleaches out the colour, either altering or lightening it.

I personally think that this creates some beautiful projects, but I have a toddlers and having containers of bleach in my crafting space -- a space she just loves -- is not something I feel comfortable with. I'm sure many of you can relate.

At some point or another, we have all used the splatter technique, where we take clean water on a brush and splatter it on the project, let it sit for a few seconds then pat it dry with a clean cloth or paper towel. You can see this in the lower right portion of this project.

The lifting technique is done much the same way, but with more control and less splatter. As you can see in the flowers.

I have found that this works best with Distress Inks by Ranger. Their reactivation properties are just one of the many reasons we love this product so much.









To begin this project, I used clear embossing powder and heat set the floral images in the top left corner of the panel.

Next select your distress colours. In the example above I used Black Soot and Hickory Smoke to create an ombre effect from top to bottom over the panel. Use a very liberal hand. I know that most of my blog talks about using a light hand and a gentle touch -- forget that. Just for this technique. It applies the rest of the time.

In the example to the right, I used Carved Pumpkin, Dried Marigold and Fossilized Amber the same way.

Using a paintbrush appropriate to the size of the area you want to lift, apply a layer of water to the area. Allow it to sit for 30-45 seconds, then pat dry with a clean paper towel or a cloth. Then move on to the next area.

Once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to do multiple areas between patting dry.

If you are doing multiple cards with different colour palettes, make sure you clean the water in between.

If I had not cleaned out my water between these two cards, the orange would have muddied and left brown spots instead of lighter orange areas.




If the area you lifted isn't the shade you want, you can always reapply the water and lift again. That is the beauty of Distress Inks. You can also reapply the ink to make it darker again if it went too light.

 I haven't tried this with other water based inks or markers, so I cannot say if it would work the same way. If anyone else has tried this with a different watercolour product, I would love to hear about your results.

In this example I used Chipped Sapphire, Blueprint Sketch, Mermaid Lagoon and just a bit of Salty Ocean at the bottom.

This ended up being my favourite out of the bunch. Because of the intensity of the darker colours, I did have to go back and reapply water a second and in some cases a third time to get the shade I wanted.

I found I got better results with darker colours than with lighter ones, likely because there was increased room to create contrast.

To finish the cards, I loosely covered the floral areas with a piece of scrap paper and used the splatter technique for the lower portion of the panel.

I then set them all aside to dry.





I used white embossing powder on vellum to create the greeting banners. To adhere them down, I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte behind the embossing to hide it, and wrapped the right side of the banner behind the panel and taped it in place.

I had mentioned in another post about gluing dots of dried glossy accents down instead of applying them directly to the piece. I do this, especially on watercolour pieces, because of the reactivation properties of the ink. If you apply glossy accents right on top of Distress ink, it may pick up the colour while drying. But if you make the dots and reapply them later they won't do that. At least in my experience.

Here is a final example for you, using Fossilized Amber, Mustard Seed and Squeezed Lemonade.

As you can see, the impact of the lifting isn't as intense as the blue or black examples above. Still pretty just not as intense.

















I hope you enjoyed today's technique and the card examples and are inspired to create something of your own.

Please leave your comments below, I love hearing from you. And don't forget to follow this blog by clicking the blue button to the right!

Hope to see you again soon.