Category Archives: Tuesday Techniques

Tuesday Techniques – Stencils Part 2: Paint

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

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(EDIT: Our internet went wonky so this is super delayed today – sorry for the wait!)

Are you ready to play with paint? Today, I’m going to show you some of the effects you can get with paint and stencils.

Since paint is obviously more fluid than ink, the image you get will generally be less sharp and defined, but a little more dimensional. Depending on the style I want to achieve, I like both effects.

For the first sample I used Jenni Bowlin Paint Dabbers, though any acrylic paint dabber will work in a similar way. For the top of the tag, I kept the dabbers fairly dry, ie. I didn’t squeeze any paint out, and dabbed lightly over the surface of the stencil. For the bottom half, I squeezed out paint and dabbed it over the stencil, in the way you would normally use the paint dabber, laying down a thicker, more opaque layer.

As you can see, the dry technique gives a fairly good image even though we are using a wet medium, but the coverage isn’t as solid as it was when we used the Distress Ink. The bottom half has more even coverage but the paint seeps under the stencil and leaves a less defined edge. Also, you can feel and see the slight dimension of the paint, which is pretty neat!

The second sample still uses acrylic paint, but I moved to the Claudine Hellmuth Studio Line. These paints, my friends, they’re dreamy. So creamy and rich and the colours are yummy! Anyway… The top half is my favourite way to use paint and stencils – I just smear the paint over with a palette knife or craft scraper (or Pampered Chef scraper, whatever!).

For the middle I just used a paint brush and for the bottom, a cosmetic sponge.

The technique for the top part does allow seeping under the stencil, but it also gives a super defined and raised edge – very cool in real life but hard to show in a picture. The middle also has some dimension and, because you can better control how much paint is on the brush, it has less leakage. Finally, the cosmetic sponge is able to give a very defined and solid image or a gloopy, painty one – it depends on how wet or dry you make the sponge. For this sample I added a little paint, then dabbed it off on my craft mat until it was almost dry, then pounced it over the stencil until I was happy with the coverage. This is how you can do “dry” paint to get precise images.

The final sample uses watercolour paints. This happens to be my least favourite method, because I don’t get defined edges, or dimension, but it can be pretty cool as a background. Since watercolours require water, this is generally the most fluid of the paint techniques. Of course, you can make them creamier rather than runnier by using less water, but they also become less easy to use.

Myself, I like to do a wash of colour for building background layers so the seepage and undefined images are fine. In this sample, I used a heavier layer of colour than normal so you can see how they usually work with stencils. Mine are normally less precise than this as I use a runnier wash of colour.

My finished tag started with a background layer of Distress Ink, then the palette knife technique (my fave!) and the cosmetic sponge (fairly wet) technique. Some stamps, Perfect Pearls Mist, and tissue tape finished it off!

Have I mentioned how much I love the dimension and sharp edges the palette knife gives? Sweet!

All in all, you can have some great fun with paints and your stencils! There are also fluid watercolours, with a consistency more like acrylic, and oil paints, neither of with I used today. Go try some paints, steal them from your kiddies if you have to (the blue in the Crayola set is incredible!), and leave me a link so I can see what you’ve done!

Enjoy the rest of your day and go get painty!

S.

Tuesday Techniques – Stencils, Part 1

05 Tuesday Jun 2012

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I love stencils and masks! So much fun to play and experiment with and they are so versatile! You can make your own, or buy more permanent ones, and there’s definitely something for every style.

I’ve had people say to me that they don’t like messy, or getting messy, so stencils are just not their thing. Wrong, I say! You don’t like the whole messy, art journally, painting covered, inky fingers stuff? Let me show how to cleanly use a stencil! 🙂

First, let’s talk basics…

1. I will not cover everything about stencils. First, I am no pro and don’t know it all, and second, there’s unlimited uses for stencils so there’s no way I can even touch the surface.

2. The things I will show you are totally buildable. For example, you like 2 or three different techniques? Then use them all – at the same time! But they’re also buildable in that you can start with the basic technique and build your own spin on it.

3. Stencils are not always stencils, sometimes they’re masks. Not a big deal, most people know what you’re talking about but just so you know the difference and can trot out your knowledge at the next dinner party you go to, here it is:

  • A stencil has open space – think those block letter stencils from grade school.
  • A mask covers something up – think the block letter itself.
  • So, you could use the mask to cover some paper, colour around it, and then reveal an uncoloured image:
  • And then the stencil to trace a border around it to further define the edges:

4. One big complaint I hear it that the image someone wants turns out messy. Here’s the easy reason why it’s messy – your medium was too runny. Dry medium (eg. ink, chalk) gives a more detailed image than wet medium (eg. mist, paint). The wetter your medium, the less precise your image as leakage under the stencil will occur. Both are great results depending on the look you want.

So, let’s start our stencil techniques with the neat and tidy stuff – dry mediums. I don’t have chalk, so we won’t be using that but if you have it I’d love to see what you do with your stencils!

If I want a crisp image, I always use Distress Inks. For one, I love them – great colours and very blendable. For two, I have them all and they’re always right next to me – easy access makes for well used tools!

As I said earlier, you can also use chalk for great results, and wet mediums, if you use them dry. Does that sound completely contradictory? It makes sense, but I’ll cover “dry” paint, when we get to paint! Today, it’s all about ink, detailed images, and clean hands!

Just lay your stencil on your tag (or layout, or card, or whatever) and use an ink blending tool to rub on the ink. You can do this on clean background or one that you’ve already painted, inked, prepped, etc.

If you only want certain areas, use sticky notes or computer paper to mask off the areas you want left as is – remember, a mask covers things so it can protect the areas you don’t want inked!

You could also just swipe the ink pad over the stencil, but this may make less than perfect images since direct ink to paper is wetter, and it’s messier since more ink is left on the stencil. I prefer to use the Ink Blending Tool and keep my fingers out of it!

Once you’re finished inking, lift off your masks and stencil and reveal the magic!

Awesome, huh? The reveal is my favourite part! 🙂

Now, complete your tag (or layout, or card, or whatever) and pat your self on the back for a job well done and clean fingers!

I added some shimmer to this one, and a little wooden bluebird 🙂

Try it out, then leave me a link where I can see your projects – you know I love that part too!

Check back later tonight for ICAD #4!

S.

Tuesday Techniques – Dry Embossing with Wafer Thin Dies

29 Tuesday May 2012

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It’s our final dry embossing day! I thought I’d show you how to use your wafer thin dies to emboss, rather than cut – use them for double duty and really get your money’s worth!

You will need:

Supplies

A die cutting/embossing machine, wafer thin dies (eg: Spellbinders, Hero Arts, Papertrey Ink, etc.), and a tag.

First, line up the die on your paper, cutting edge facing up. Next, I find it easiest to adhere the die to the paper. I normally use washi tape as it is low tack and there’s no problem removing it once the die has been run through your machine. I temporarily adhere it so it doesn’t move and I can be sure it will emboss right where I want it to!

Next, make your sandwich – for the Cuttlebug I use the A plate, B plate, then a piece of cardstock as a shim (and you can then get a die cut piece at the same time as you’re embossing!):

Then put your paper with the die facedown so the cutting edges go into the cardstock shim.

Over that goes a rubber mat and another B plate. If you want a really deep impression, you may want to use another thin shim for more pressure. Just be sure not to make the sandwich too thick or it won’t go through your machine.

After you roll it through, you get this:

Nicely embossed! I happened to use an open die here to get a frame, but you can use solid dies as well, and you can deboss if you prefer, just flip your paper over!

I like the subtlety of this embossing, and how it picks up ink really well to make it stand out more while still not being super dimensional. Excellent for cards you’re going to mail because they won’t be too bulky.

In the same vein, you can also use stencils and chipboard to emboss. I won’t cover those since they are very similar to what I did here today but if you want to see those in action check here and here. I used the stencil technique on the smaller red heart for my finished tag:

As always, leave me a link in the comments if you try this technique out – I’d love to see how you use dies for embossing!

S.

Tuesday Techniques – Dry Embossing: Faux Letterpress

22 Tuesday May 2012

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One of my favourite ways to play with dry embossing is to do something called Faux Letterpress. All you need besides the regular supplies is ink!

supplies

Now, you all know my love of Distress Ink and how they are my go to ink for all things crafty, right? Well, I don’t normally use them for this technique… :0 I know, I know, it’s shocking but I do have my reasons!

Usually I will use an embossing folder for this that has a lot of white, or open, space and Distress Ink just doesn’t play nicely with that much area on a plastic folder. However, the Hero Arts Shadow Inks are a dye ink that are formulated to work well with stamps that require a large amount of coverage. They look a little splotchy a first but as they dry and soak into your paper they smooth out to a perfect finish. And they are awesome for Faux Letterpress!

I also like the Hero Arts/Sizzix Stamp&Emboss line for this since you get a coordinating stamp and embossing folder.

First, ink up your stamp and stamp away! (I used markers and a mist of water to do my impression and make it look like watercolour.)

Then, you do the Faux Letterpress. Ink up the solid side of your embossing folder, the side that has the most raised area. Another reason the Shadow Inks work well with this is because they have a firm, felt ink pad so the ink doesn’t press into the recessed areas of your embossing folder like it would with a foam ink pad.

Now, place your stamped piece in the folder, carefully lining up the image, then run it through your machine. All the inked areas on the folder will be pressed into your surface while the raised areas remain uncoloured.

Here’s a more basic example:

I just inked up my folder, stamped an image over the inked area, then embossed. The fun thing here is that it looks as though the stamped image is under the embossed area!

Finally, I did one tag with Distress Ink so you could see the difference in the inks.

It turns out really splotchy but I do like the Distress Ink look here because I’m using a less open design and the design lends itself to a grungier feel anyway. This would be perfect on the front of one of those always hard to do male cards!

And, so you can compare easily, the three tags together:

I finished off my original  tag with some twine, a stamped and embossed mini tag, and some Tim Holtz doodads.

Hope you enjoyed! I’ll have one more tutorial on embossing next week and then I’ll have to rack my brains for something new! If you have seen anything or have questions about a certain technique, let me know – maybe I can take that on some Tuesday!

As always, leave me a link in the comments if you try this out – I’d love to see your creations too!

S.

Tuesday Techniques – Dry Embossing Other Stuff

15 Tuesday May 2012

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One of the fun things about dry embossing is that it works on a multitude of surfaces. Today I’m going to show you a bunch of items that are not paper and the great effects you get when they’re embossed.

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned my love affair with Sticky Back Canvas – if not, consider yourself filled in! Apart from being simply awesome on it’s own and fabulous with a bunch of other techniques, it looks amazing when it’s embossed.

Canvas

Ranger Foil Tape Sheets are super cool anyway – they’re thin adhesive sheets of silver metal – but embossing takes them to another level!

Foil

Vellum and Kraft Glassine are similar in that they sort of “crack” when embossed. The vellum turns white when embossed, and the Glassine has a coating that lightens. Great effect while still keeping the translucent properties of the materials.

Vellum

Glassine

I also like acrylic sheets. Although it’s harder to get a picture of how it looks when embossed, it’s really neat and leaves a great shadow when applied over another surface with foam adhesive.

Acrylic

Finally, Creative Imaginations has wood veneer sheets – honestly, real wood that’s thin enough to cut and emboss! What not to like about this look?

Wood

It was hard to pick what to use on the tag but the wood was calling my name – I was dying to see how it would look with the Dylusions Ink Sprays 🙂 And it looks awesome!

As always, leave me a link in the comments if you try any of the Tuesday Techniques – I’d love to see what you come up with!

S.

Tuesday Techniques – Dry Embossing

08 Tuesday May 2012

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Today’s technique is super simple but I will be expanding on it over the next couple of weeks. Let’s talk about dry embossing!

You will need:

Supplies

An embossing machine (I use a Cuttlebug), embossing folders, ink, and a blending tool.

First, put your tag or paper in the folder:

Before you ask, I cut a slit in the top of my folder so the tag would fit the way I wanted. Hey, Tim said it was ok so I’m going with it!

Second, run the tag and folder through your machine, using the sandwich specified in your user’s manual.

For the Cuttlebug you will need the A plate, B plate, embossing folder with paper, then another B plate.

And this is what you get on the other side!

Next, use your ink blending tool to add colour to the tag, concentrating on the embossed areas. As you can see below, the embossed pattern really stands out once you start layering colour:

Finally, finish up your tag and enjoy! I always make sure to add brown to the edges and blend colours for more definition and depth.

Pretty, hey? I think the embossing just adds another layer to the texture and interest of the tag.

Next week, I’ll show you some different materials that you can emboss!

Make sure you leave me a link if you try this out – I’d love to see what you make!

S.

Tuesday Techniques – Making Paper into Fabric (sort of!)

17 Tuesday Apr 2012

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Love, love, love this technique and it’s the one the always gets the “Wow!” when I teach it in a class – people love this, it’s like magic! For all those times you wished your favourite piece of paper was more durable or pliable, now it can be! This is how I made the canvas spine for the mini album I showed yesterday (weren’t the houses the sweetest?).

You need:

Supplies

Sticky-Back Canvas, patterned paper, water, and Glossy (not matte) Multi Medium.

First, peel the backing off your canvas and stick your paper pattern side down to the sticky side of the canvas. Burnish it so it’s stuck on there really well (I use the end of my Basic Grey Rub-on Roller). I repeat (because someone will always mis-hear or not believe me!) adhere the pattern to the sticky side so you can’t see it! Bear with me, I promise this will work – I’m a professional! Hahahaha! 🙂

As a side note, single or doubled sided patterned paper will work and you can use either the white or natural Sticky Back Canvas.

Adhere and Burnish

Now, mist your paper really well. Get it soaked, it will be fine!

Mist

Once the water soaks in a little, use your finger to rub off the paper. Now, don’t scrub at it like you’re cleaning a baking dish or anything, just rub so the paper peels off!

Reveal the Magic!

You may have to rewet the paper and canvas because you want it to stay wet. Just keep working at it – you’ll notice the majority of the paper peeling off but the pattern stays put – fun, hey?

Now, you may notice that you can’t get all the little paper nubbies off with just the water. This is where the glossy multi medium comes in. When you get to the point where all you have are a few paper bits, squirt a little medium on the canvas or your finger and rub it around.

Finish and Seal

The multi medium will help take off the rest of the fibers and seal the fabric at the same time!

Once it dries you can die cut or emboss the canvas, or just use it as a piece on your project. I love using this to make scarves for snowmen, or die cutting flowers for cards and display pieces. Because it acts like fabric, you suddenly have a lot more uses for your paper!

Everything on this tag, including the ribbon, has been made using this technique and October Afternoon papers – love the bright colours and patterns they have! Since this is a transfer, colours become a little more muted so it is better to start with vibrant colours, knowing they will tone down a little in the finished product.

As always, post me link to your blog or gallery so I can see anything you make – I love to see how you are inspired to create!

S.

P.S. I found a video of Claudine Hellmuth demonstrating this technique at CHA – enjoy!

Tuesday Techniques – Marbled Alcohol Inks

10 Tuesday Apr 2012

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I love me some alcohol inks! You really can’t mess them up because no matter what colours you pick to blend together, they all work – no muddiness or anything, they just play nice together! And if you don’t like what you get then add more or, on certain surfaces, wipe it all off and start over! I mean really, what’s not to like about that?

There are a bunch of techniques I love – using them on canvas, making plaid, removing parts with Archival Ink – but one of my favourite looks is marbled. This looks the coolest on fragments (you can also get charms), but works equally well on any transparent surface, like acetate or page protectors. For me, it’s just an embellishment as is, I don’t do anything more than make them and adhere them to my project, but you could also stamp sentiments and images over them to use as focal points.

Here’s what you need:

Supplies

Alcohol Ink, Fragments, Ink blending tool with felt, heat tool (optional).

First, just add a few colours to your felt. Simply put the tip of the ink applicator in the felt and give it a 2-3 second squeeze. If you don’t put the tip in the felt, well, let’s just say you could have alcohol ink permanently stuck all over the place. Of course, I don’t know this by experience, oh no, not me, I would never do something like that. I’ve just heard it could happen. *ahem*

Now, pounce your felt all over your fragment, twisting the ink blending tool as you go to mix and blend the colours. Don’t worry about what this layer looks like, we’ll be adding lots to it yet!

Because I’m impatient, I use a heat tool to speed up the drying process though it really isn’t necessary as they dry pretty quickly.

Next, add a little more intense colour to the felt, if you wish. I thought the first layer was pretty light and needed some depth so I added a darker colour. Then you pounce and dry again. I don’t add any more ink after this step since you want the felt to dry a little – as it dries and you add more layers, it gets “stickier” and builds the effect we’re going for.

Just keep pouncing and drying, pouncing and drying, until you get dark lines running through the colours on the fragment.

See? Marbled alcohol inks!

I like the fragments because of the thickness and translucency of the finished piece, but it does look cool on a page protector too, especially if you want to use said protector as a memorabilia pocket in an album.

Now, just add the fragment to your project and consider it done! Personally, I think they’re interesting and pretty enough to stand on their own, so I leave them alone.

This would be great hanging on a thank you gift, or birthday present…

You can see that I ended up using different colours for my finished tag – now I just have to find a spot to put the teal one I made!

As always, leave me a comment with a link to any projects you try using this technique – I’d love to see what you come up with!

S.

Tuesday Techniques – Finishing Touches: Dimension

27 Tuesday Mar 2012

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Dimension on a project or LO immediately takes it to the next level. It goes from “nice” to “wow,” from boring to interesting,  from “I guess I like it” to “Love that!”

And it’s probably the easiest thing in the world to add.

After I finish something, I look at it, then start pulling pieces off to add foam adhesive. I learned a long time ago to never permanently adhere anything right away!

There are many ways to add dimension, but I’ll show my two favourites today. All you need is:

Supplies

Sticker Paper, foam adhesive, and scissors.

To give you a good look at how dimension adds to a project, here’s a tag with everything adhered straight to the surface:

Cute, right?

But kind of dull – no oomph to it!

After I added another layer of grass, popped it up, cut out the clouds and popped them up, then fanned out my balloons by using circles punched from the sticker paper, this is what I got:

Better, right?

Way more pizzazz! All the elements are exactly the same, I only added foam adhesive and a twine ribbon – that’s it. As I said, easiest thing in the world so go try it!

Tomorrow, I’m teaching the revamped 7 Gypsies and Simple Stories ATC Tray class – I love how it turned out! I’m cutting kits tonight so there’s still time to sign up at The Paperie!

We’ll be heat embossing, distressing, cutting, stickling, and more! And if you can’t make it tomorrow, call and ask for a kit – everything you need is included!

Leave me a link if you try the technique – I’d love to see your projects!

S.

Tuesday Techniques – Finishing Touches: Background Stamps

20 Tuesday Mar 2012

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We’re going to continue with the Finishing Touches series today and look at inking the edges of a project and adding background stamping. Both of these things will add depth to your work and, in my experience, are usually that last thing you add and then go, “Aha! That’s what it needed!” Nothing major, it’s subtle but packs a punch!

Supplies are simple:

Supplies

Brown ink for inking the edges (I like to use a darker one like Walnut Stain), and a different brown ink for the stamping (I like to use a lighter ink for this, usually Frayed Burlap or Brushed Corduroy); a background stamp (I use text or script 99% of the time); and an ink blending tool with foam.

That’s it – supplies most of you will have anyway (and if you don’t, run away now to the store and buy them please. Thank you. We can wait for you, these are essential supplies, after all!)

OK, now we can get started. Make your tag, or card, or embellishment, whatever. Here’s mine:

Pretty, right? The stamp is from Local King Rubber Stamps, a Canadian company (yay!) that makes cling rubber stamps and they have matching dies too! However, it’s still a little, well, boring.

So, ink the edges! This adds some definition without taking away or adding anything to the overall feel of the card.

See the difference? Just a little definition around the edges to help it stand out yet blend everything together.

It’s better, but still not quite there. With Distress Inks, I could flick some water on to blend the colour some more and add watermark splotches, but if you’re not using a background of Distress Ink, that won’t work for you. So, add some depth with adding bulk by stamping a large background stamp over the whole thing. I like the text and script stamps because they don’t distract from your focal point or image, but they still add a little something more. I use a lighter brown ink so it doesn’t overpower anything, you really just want this to be texture in the background.

Here’s my finished tag:

See what I mean? Same tag as before, but the edges are defined and the stamping adds some depth and interest without distracting from the silhouette stamp in the foreground. Not so boring anymore!

I did use Black Sparkle Embossing Powder which makes for a little more interest, as you can see here – love that stuff!

Hope you liked this one and that you try it out! As always, leave me link in the comments so I can see what you do with it!

I’ll be back tomorrow with my October Afternoon layout for the Dr. Seuss challenge, and I’ll fill you in on the class I’m taking tonight with Rae Lynn at The Paperie – she does amazing CAS stuff!

S.