More spray starch fun

Had another play with the spray starch technique earlier today.

The right one is glossy black cardstock, which was an embossed piece from my failed frosted embossing, so rather than throwing it out I sprayed the starch then pounced ont some pearlex with a brush. I really like this one as the embossing powder underneath gives it a nice texture.

On the second one I took mica watercolours from USArtquest and painted them on white matte cardstock. I sprayed the starch and added gold and rust pearlex over it.

It is too bad that the photos don't give you the full impact of the nice sheen from the pearlex and other mediums.

Book Study continued-Garden Walk

The latest technique from the Paper Transformed book study is called Garden Walk.

Julia's instructions are to drip alcohol ink colors one at a time over glossy paper. Finish with a sprinkling of alcohol ink blending solution. She says "do not use an applicator for this treatment".  I found that by following this method I ended up with big circles/blobs, whereas Julias are a bunch of tiny and larger circles, reminiscent of a coloured stone pathway-hence the name "garden walk".

I was determined to get mine at least a wee bit closer to what hers looked like and so I let the Alcohol Inks dry a bit then added more drops of the colours. I also took the AI bottle and just gently hit it on the end of my finger while holding it in my other hand (hope you understand what I mean) and this gave me a bit more of the smaller drops.

I just kept layering on the AI's and held the blending solution a bit higher up from the cardstock when "sprinkling" it on. The one at the top left is about as close as I could get to how Julia's was in the book.

The second techique where Julia suggests putting some of the Metallic AI on then adding the blending solution was a total failure (the one on the lower right ) and looks absolutely nothing like hers in the book. I wonder though if she perhaps let the blending soloution drip and move around by holding the cardstock and moving it about?

I made these on ATC size cardstock so will be using them for some future swaps.  I think I may try this again later on and perhaps let each layer dry completely then add more drops of the AI and see if that will get it closer to Julia's.

Spray starch technique

I had run across a blog where they used spray starch to make a background, but did not disclose how it was done since she used the technique from an issue of the Techniques Junkie newsletter.

Funnily enough right after that,  Deb Lovett who sent the technique to TJ belongs to one of my groups and shared the "how-to" with us. Just click on her name and it will take you to the tutorial.

i experimented with different mediums for this technique. I used walnut sprays, glimmer mists, Posh inks, and memory sprays as well as the pearlex. Some I just sprayed a second time with the spray starch and others I put the scrunched plastic wrap over while still wet. I used glossy cardstock for all of these, but apparently you can use matte cardstock, so I may have another try with that.

I have a brayer

I joined a swap in CCSwaps called "I have a brayer and I know how to use it!"  For this swap we were to  make a card for our partner, but I missed that part and started off by making a large tag. I realized I had goofed later on so back to the drawing board.

 I brayered yellow Vivid ink (Clearsnap) on glossy card a bit more than halfway. I punched out a circle and laid it on the cardstock. I brayered on butterscotch Vivid over the yellow, but lightly over the circle area. I then brayered raisin Adirondack (Ranger)over the top portion.

I tore a piece of paper and laid it on the bottom portion of the cardstock and brayered with aqua Vivid then removed the paper and brayered Big and Juicy Hydrangea (Ranger) over the very bottom.

I stamped the trees (Stampin' Up) and the geese (Stampscapes) with Ancient Page Coal Black (Clearsnap). I added some red Marvy Matchable ink over the top portion with a sponge, for more depth. I outlined the edges with a dual marker.

I brayered another piece of scrap cardstock with the yellow and butterscotch Vivid and stamped and embossed the saying (Stamp Oasis) with Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko) and black embossing powder), outlined the edges and attached it with double-sided foam tape.

I had some brayered and stamped pieces left from another project that I did not like so I cut them up and added them to the inside of the card. I stamped another saying(Wordsworth) on yellow cardstock and attached it beside the scrap pieces.

     

Play day

I joined a swap in CCSwaps which is an alphabet swap and we must create something using the letter A as a theme, technique or medium. In order to create something I had a play day with a couple of techniques prior to actually making anything for the swap.

The first one was alcohol inks and I found a marbling techique while browsing the web. You fill a container with approximately 1" of water and drop some of the alcohol inks in an swirl them around, then lay some glossy cardstock on top and then lift it out. Do not submerge the cardstock!

The ones on the left are just AI's. The middle one, I added silver mixatives. Far right is AI's and Pinata` ink.

The Pinata` ink just kind of floated on the surface of the water, but I rather liked the effect. If you like really vibrant colours then you may not like this technique or you may have to add a lot more ink or maybe even use a coloured cardstock.

The second technique was one that a member of another group posted. For step-by-step instructions you can see them on Michi's blog. For this technique you need metallic cardstock, acrylic paints and acrylic glaze medium. Well it has been one of those weeks where Murphy's Law kicked in and nothing goes quite right. I accidently used extender medium instead of glaze. So I went back and used glaze on a few scrap pieces of cardstock to see if it made any difference and I think the glazed ones are a bit glossier.

The first pictures are done on metallic cardstocks and the next set are done on white matte to use up the excess paint the larger one is white glossy CS.

I also did one on a silver/pewter cardstock

Here are the ones I did on silver and gold cardstock using the glaze as in Michi's directions.

Her is one that I was not happy with. I think the key is to make sure that the paint mixture is not too thick and smoosh the cardstock and lift it up quickly to get the nice details. This one I may play with and add something more and then maybe I will like it better.

Artist of the Month

This month on CCSwaps we are having another Artist of the Month swap. This time around it is in the style of Zana Clark of Stamp Zia. As usual, I jumped in with both feet with no clue as to what I am doing.

For this swap I had to improvise as I do not own any Stamp Zia products. She uses her own line of sprays on watercolour paper and I don't have any bright ones. I did do one piece using some sprays on watercolour paper but it was a disaster.

I decided to use glossy cardstock and dye inks, which is one of the techniques she uses. My first two attempts were also disasters, but at least I can salvage some of the backgrounds for future use as ATC's.

I used Vivids (Clearsnap) and Seabrights (Rangers) for the background swirling them on with cotton buds. Then I stamped some ferns (Hero Arts) with Stazon white. I used a gingo stamp from (See-D's from Sugarloaf) with Ancient Page Coal and stamped it around the background.

On an extra piece of background paper, I stamped the dragonfly/waterlily (Pedlars Pack) in permanent ink and coloured the lilies and dragonflies with twinkling H2O's, then edged it with a black marker.

I stamped some waterlilies (Sunshine Designs) on some scrap pieces and coloured them with the H2O's. Stamped "magic"(Stamp Oasis) on another scrap and layered it on black glossy cardstock.

This one I was finally happy with, although wondering if I should have forgot about stamping the ginkgos. Unfortunately, when scanning the intensity of the colours does not show up well.

Tim Holtz style

Sweetpea has just recently started a monthly swap where we use a style of various artists. Last month was Misty Mawn and this month is Tim Holtz. Luckily, I have a lot of the mediums he uses, and I signed up 3 times.

The first piece is AI (alcohol inks) on glossy cardstock, stamped with an archival black inkpad.

The colours of AI's I used were Wild Plum, Butterscotch and Stream.

The second technique was the Wrinkle Free Distress Inks on a tag. I used Worn Lipstick and Mustard Seed Distress Inks. I stamped the images from Stampington and Inkadinkadoo in Versafine Onyx Black, and added the little washer to one of the flourishes. The grungeboard key was painted with Old Patina Perfect Pearls.

The third technique is using Distress Embossing Powder. I stamped the image with Fired Brick Distress ink and embossed it with Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder. The Distress EP is totally different from others, and it only changes colour a bit when embossed and has a "sandpaper" feel to it.

I then coloured it with Old Paper, Tea Dye, Fired Brick and Old Burlap Distress inks. Finished it off by colouring the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink.

The Grungeboard embellishments were coloured with Peeled Paint and Fired Brick Distres inks. I attached the vintage buttons (courtesy of Annie Mackay) with some thin wire.