Sara Jane's Studio

Peaceful Season

I have a hard time designing simple cards.  As a result, when I find one, I am quick to copy it so I can save it in my creative memory.  This is one of those cards, made using the Peaceful Season hostess set from Stampin' Up!

 

Isn't it beautiful?  The holly is from Bells and Boughs, stamped with black StazOn ink on watercolor paper, and then watercolored with Pear Pizazz, Old Olive, and Real Red.  The sentiment is from Peaceful Season, stamped with Old Olive in the center of the card. 

Beneath it all, is a strip of trim from the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die for the BigShot.  A tiny bit of bling sets it all off in the form of self-stick rhinestones.

 

Love this card.

Easy Food Gift Packaging

The hostess at my Thanksgiving dinner likes - no, loves! - my family recipe for English Toffee.  And I have to say that I made a particularly good batch this year.  But of course I can't take toffee to her in tin foil or paper plates!

All I had in my stash were some old Christmas-themed tins.  So I quickly converted one into an autumn gift-giving tin with a little paper, ribbon, glue, and some rubber stamps.

 

I traced the top on the back-side of my Designer Paper (last year's design) and cut it out about 3/8" larger.  I snipped the paper to the traced line, and then glued it to the top of the tin with tacky glue.  I folded the snipped pieces over the edge and covered them with 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

The tag was stamped with a combination of "Thankful For" in Early Espresso and "A Day of Gratitude" in Cajun Craze.  The leaves are from "French Foliage" stamped in Cajun Craze and Always Artichoke.  Everything was tied up wth raffia - and ready for Thanksgiving dinner!!

 

 

 

Stamping 101 - Direct to Rubber with Watercolor Crayon

Yes, you can color directly on your rubber stamps!  It's a great way to get color exactly where you want it, and you can have multiple colors on one stamp image.  I've already talked about using markers direct to rubber (see that tutorial here).  This time I'll walk you through the use of watercolor crayons.  The end result is a softer, more watercolor-like image.

Here I am using the 2-step stamping set, Awash with Flowers.  But you can use any stamp with a block image - in fact I can't wait to try it with Ornate Blossom.

 

Above:  Color directly on your rubber stamp.  Lay down a fairly thick layer -

this will require some pressure.

Above:  Close-up of crayon applied to the stamp.  It will be uneven.

 

Above:  Spritz the colored stamp with water.  Hold your spritzer at least 6 inches away.  Play around with the distance and with how much water you add to see what effects they have.

Above:  Close-up of the colored stamp following spritz with water.  It should be wet, not damp, in order to dissolve the watercolor crayon.

Above:  If you want, you can add additional color to provide shading and a more 3-D look.

 

Above:  Stamped image.  It will be imperfect- but that is part of the charm!

 Above:  I started stamping a whole garden with this technique.

 Above:  Create masks by stamping the image on a post-it note (on the end with the adhesive).  Cut them out, and then place them on the images that you have already stamped on your card front.  Then you can over-stamp with the stems and leaves, and not mar your original flower images.

 

Above: Finished stamping the garden, now ready to construct a card.

 

Above: Completed card.

Above: Close-up of the finished images.

Experiment with the technique:  change how much water you use, blend the colors or not, use your Aquapainter to move the color around even more after you've stamped it.  You'll have this new technique under your belt in no time!!

Stamping 101 - Chalkboard Technique

The chalkboard technique is a great way to make use of dark-colored cardstock, and created very dramatic images.  As the name implies, you make use of pastels (the "chalk") on a dark ground (the "board").  Here's how!

This tutorial  uses the Two Step Stamp set, Awash with Flowers from Stampin' Up!.  There are two keys to making it work:  White Craft Ink and a dark cardstock background.  I'm using black, but you can use any other dark color with just as good an effect.

First, start by stamping the solid block stamp from your images using White Craft ink.  Here, I'm using the clear mount version of the "Awash with Flowers" set.  

 

Then, using a cotton swab, or a pastel applicator, start coloring the white image with pastels. (You can see below that I was a little sloppy with my stamping, and created a ghost of the petals.  However, I discovered that after coloring, you can erase at least most of this.  Also, with the second step of the Two-Step Stamping, this error becomes less obvious.  Of course, it would be better if I had been more careful inking my stamp.....)

As you color with the pastels, you will create colored dust.  Be sure that you pick up your card and shake it off, rather than brush it off with your hand.  Believe it or not, that's really all there is to it!  You can easily blend colors, as well, which is shown in the series below.

You can stop here if you like, but I love the look of the added outline stamp, Step 2 of the Two-Step Stamping.  If you want to line it up perfectly, you can certainly use the Stamp-a-ma-jig (see the tutorial here).  But with this technique it's just as fun to freehand the placement. 

I used Black Craft ink, and then embossed it to create a glossy contrast to the soft look of the pastels.

 

While I was playing, I tried a variation on the technique:  stamping with Versamark (which is clear), and coloring with mica powders (such as PearlEx Powder, or Perfect Pearls).

 

See the shimmer in the image above?  You can also see a direct comparison of the two approaches in the photo, below.

 

The yellow flower on the left was done with the more opaque pastels, and on the right, with mica powder.  You could also try applying the mica powder on top of the white craft ink.

For more ideas on how to use two-step stamp sets, check out this brief primer here.  Try other colors of cardstock, try monochromatic themes, and try using opposites on the color wheel (such as orange chalk against a dark green background) if you REALLY want things to pop.  You'll really have fun playing with this, I know!

And keep creating!!

Stamping 101 - Stippling

Next in the Stamping 101 series is a lovely background technique:  stippling.

This is a simple but effective technique for filling in your backgrounds with any color of your choice.  Depending on which technique you choose, and how much color you apply, it can take on the look of a soft watercolor wash, or be more intense, like an impressionistic painting.

Stipple brushes are dense, round brushes with a lightly curved top and a long handle.  It is good to buy a set of them, because you can dedicate them to color families and not worry about washing them in-between uses.  You can see mine, below, are quite stained from previous use with inks.  I have one for yellows and oranges, one for reds and pinks, and one for greens and blues. 

   

The first step is to pick up fresh color from an dye ink pad by swirling the brush against the pad surface.  The dye ink will dry almost immediately which is what you want for this technique.

You then have two choices for how to apply the color:  you can swirl the color on, or you can pounce it.  Each results in a different look. n Swirling gives a very soft, blended appearance.  Pouncing results in more intense pinpoints of color.

For swirling, start off your surface, on some scrap paper.  This let's you avoid an overly intense application of color at the start.  Start swirling and moving your brush onto your surface.

Keep swirling until you have the intensity of color that you desire.

Here, I am using Pacific Point ink from Stampin' Up!, which is a saturated, medium blue shade.

For pouncing, load up your brush with ink, and then start bouncing it up and down on your cardstock surface.  Move it around as you pounce to help control how much color you are applying.  You can always go over a previous application to make it darker.  But, like adding salt to food, you can't remove it once it's there!

In this photo, the pounced application is in the center, and the swirled application is on the upper right.

This photo shows the same two techniques using a paler shade of blue, Baja Breeze.

And finally, you can mix colors.  This photo shows Pacific Point with the addition of Regal Rose (on the left).  You can see how the two colors blend softly.

And that's it!  A simple but beautiful technique to fill in with color.  Play around with it so you can get a feeling for how much pressure you want to apply with the two techniques, and for the various effects you get with different colors.

Below is a finished project in which I used Sage Shadow, Bashful Blue, and Almost Amethyst to fill in the background.  You can see the whole project by clicking here.

Have fun with this technique, and let me know how it goes for you!

Stamping 101 - The Polished Stone Technique

This is a great technique for backgrounds.  The name "Polished Stone" comes from the final appearance:  it can look like a piece of polished granite or marble or turquoise or malachite (you get the idea!), depending on the colors you choose.  And it is done on glossy surfaces, so it has a shiny, "hard" sort of look to it.  You can use alcohol inks in re-inker bottles, or you can use dye ink refill bottles together with rubbing alcohol.   On the card above, a resist technique was used in addition to the Polished Stone background.  First, I stamped my image in Versamark ink on glossy white cardstock, and then I embossed with clear powder.  The Polished Stone technique was one on top of this.  The embossed image resists the inks, and you get a beautiful white image popping out.

To create the look, choose two or three colors of ink (alcohol or dye ink) in reinker bottles.

Choose compatible ink colors- colors close to each other on the color wheel work best. because they blend with each other.  (If you use colors opposite each other on the color wheel, you will get muddy, unattractive color.) 

 

The instructions here are for dye inks plus rubbing alcohol.  (If you use alcohol inks, you don't need the additional rubbing alcohol, but you might want to use a blender fluid of the same brand as your inks.)  You will need to purchase Rubbing Alcohol and cotton balls from your local pharmacy. 

 

The technique only works on glossy cardstock, or on non-porous surfaces, such as dominoes.  Glossy cardstock has a finish to it which prevents the ink from penetrating the surface, and thus allows the ink to flow and mix before drying. 

 

Take a cotton ball, and saturate it with rubbing alcohol.  (You might want to put on a latex glove for this part, too!)  Take your two or three dye Ink refills (here, I used Tempting Turquoise and Brilliant Blue) and generously dot the surface of the cotton ball with each color.  The colors should be right next to each other on the cotton ball. 

Now, pounce the cotton ball on the glossy cardstock, turning it slightly with each pounce to vary the position of each color.  Poune, pounce, pounce, all over until you are happy with how it looks.  You can refill the cotton ball with alcohol and ink if you need to. You can pounce over previously colored area as well with fresh ink and alcohol to reactivate it and make it move.

 

 

   

If you use the resist technique, you can give your embossed image a little blast with your heat gun when you are done pounging on your color.  This will evaporate any remaining ink over the embossing, and will make the image pop even more.

The above examples were made using two colors of dye ink, plus rubbing alcohol.  More examples are shown below, using alcohol ink (either Adirondack or the Pinata brand).  You can also add a dot of metallic color with a Krylon leaving pen.  To do this, place the pen tip directly on the card stock, and press down until you leave a little puddle.  Then start pouncing to move the metallic ink around with your colors.  I find this technique works best with alcohol inks.

 Above: WIld Plum, Denim and Eggplant inks with Gold Krylon

 

  Above:  Denim, Lettuce, and Stream inks with Silver Krylon

 

  Above:  Denim, Lettuce and Stream (with less Lettuce) inks and Gold Krlyon

 

Above: Butterscoth, Terra Cotta and Espresso inks with Gold Krylon

Aren't they beautiful?!?  As with many techniques, once you get started, you dont' want to stop.  Some afternoon, sit down at your crafting table, and just play with different combinations of colors on glossy cardstock.  When you find ones you like, cover an entire sheet of cardstock.  Keep it on hand for when you need just the right background for your next project.

And, keep creating!

Stamping 101 - Make Your Own Marker

This is a simple trick, but really handy if you want a marker in a particular color.  I have used it to make a set of markers from Stampin' Up!'s new batch of InColors that come out every year. 

First, start with a plain, unused blender pen and a bottle if ink refill in the color of your choice.

The blender pens from Stampin' Up! come three to a package, with a tip on both ends.  So one package will allow you to make a set of InColor markers.







Uncap the refill bottle, and invert it, with the tip of the pen snugged into the opening of the bottle.  GENTLY squeeze the refill.  You will see the ink starting to flow into the tip.

Keep gently squeezing to push more ink into the pen.  When you see a bead of ink build up on the pen tip, stop and wait.  Once that bead is absorbed, you can start again.

You can keep gently applying more ink until it does not appear to be taking any more - it takes a long time for new bead of ink to be absorbed. 

And that's it!!  Really!!  Oh- don't forget to put a label on your marker, because the tip color generally does not look like the final ink color. 

You can use your new marker like you would any other.  But you may find that you have to reapply ink fairly frequently.  At least that's been my experience.

I've only ever tried this with dye ink- not yet with a permanent ink refill.  If you've tried permanent ink in this way to make your own marker, I'd love to hear it! 

Stamping 101: Direct to Rubber

Here's another quick technique for you to add to your repertoir. It's great to use when you want different parts of your stamp image to be different colors.  For example, the image is a flower, and you want the petals of the flower to be red, and the stem and leaves to be green.

You can also use diffent media for your source of color.  Here, I will show you two: markers (such as the Stampin' Write Marker from Stampin' Up!), and the beautiful Twinkling H2O watercolors.  You can also color directly on the rubber with watercolor crayons.

As always, you can double-click on any of the pictures to see and enlarged version in a new window.

This technique is easy, easy, easy!!  Just color with your marker, directly on the rubber of the stamp.  Apply your chosen color to the area of the image where you want it.  Then use another marker to apply your second color to another area. 

Before you stamp your image, hold the inked stamp close to your mouth, and "huff", as if you were blowing out a candle.  The moisture from your breath helps to "re-activate" the inks, even the one that you applied first.

 

This particular leaf stamp is from the "With Gratitude" set by Stampin' Up!.  The leaf on the left was colored only with Always Artichoke.  The leaf on the right was colored with Always Artichoke, Really Rust, and More Mustard.

This is a variation on the same theme.  If you ink your stamp, and then get it more wet than simply with your breath, you can create an image that resembles watercolor painting.

Start by applying your inks directly to the stamp, as described above.  This particular stamp is perfect for this technique, as it is a blocky image with lots of rubber to ink.  It is from the now retired "Autumn Fest" stamp set from Stampin' Up!

 

When you have finished inking, take a small spray bottle that yields a fine mist, and mist the surface of your inked stamp.  You want to hold the spray about 12 inches from your stamp.  Play around with how many sprays you apply.  The more wet, the more the inks will run and blend.

This image was made by inking the stamp with Old Olive, Really Rust, and Chocolate Chip, and spraying twice with water prior to stamping on Old Olive cardstock.

You can get a similar effect using Watercolor Crayons directly on the rubber, instead of markers.  Color, spray, and stamp, just as described above.

 

This is a second stamp from "Autumn Fest" on which I painted Twinkling H2O watercolors.  I used three different colors, a green, a gold and a rust.  As you can see, the paint should not be too runny.

And you don't need an additional spray before stamping.  Just paint, and stamp.

 

The leaf on the left is the one that I painted, above, with the three colors.  The one on the right was painted with only the green.

And there you have it, another technique, with lots of variations, to add to your bag of tricks and enjoy!

Keep creating!

 

Stamping 101 - Using a stamp positioner

I'm launching a new educational series called Stamping 101.  OKay, I know, it's not very original.  But it is descriptive:  Periodically I will write short articles about the basics of rubber stamping and how to use the tools that are available to us.  The first one was the use of Stamping Wheels, which you can see by clicking here.  I'll keep 'em coming, and you'll be able to find them all by selecting the "Stamping 101" category.

So, what's today's lesson?  The use of a stamp positioner, which Stampin' Up! calls the Stamp-a-ma-jig.  It's a simple and indispensable tool for placing images exactly where you want them to be.  WIth traditional rubber stamps, both the rubber and the wood mount get in the way of seeing exactly where the image will land on your artwork.  And if you mount your own stamps, as with Stampin' Up!, no matter how hard you try, it is really difficult to assure that the rubber is perfectly aligned with the index (the picture) on the other side of the wood mount.  The Stamp-a-ma-jig gets around these issues and allows you to place your images exactly where you want them.

The Stamp-a-ma-jig a simple two piece tool:  a plastic handle positioner, and an "image sheet" of translucent plastic.  See the picture below.  (I put a black cutting mat behind the tools to try to get them to photograph a little better.)

The first step is to place the image sheet in the corner of the black postioner.

Ink up your stamp and place it in the same corner of the black positioner, stamping the image on the plastic sheet.

                               

Now, take the plastic sheet and place it over the artwork.  Since you can see through the plastic, you can see exactly where the new stamped image is going to land.  Play with it until the image is exactly where you want it.

Holding the sheet and your artwork steady, place the black positioner handle on the same corner of the image sheet that you originally used to stamp the image.

Hold the black handle in place, and remove the image sheet.  Be careful that you don't move the artwork underneath!  If you do, then take a few seconds to repeat the last two steps.  Re-ink your stamp, place it in the corner of the black positioner, and stamp your image with confidence!

Voila!  A perfectly placed image! 

You can repeat with the steps with the same image on the image sheet (if, for example, you are making lots of holiday cards).  Or you can easily wipe the image off the image sheet, and be ready for the next placement.

Once you've used the Stamp-a-ma-jig a couple of times, you'll find it quick and easy.  I've come to rely on mine in all kinds of situations.  Two-step stamping is an obvious one, where you want to precisely line up the two images for the best results.  But I also find it helpful to stamp words and sentiments, assuring that the straight lines of the words are parallel with the edges of your card or other pieces in the artwork.  And it's really helpful when you are using masking, and want to carefully place each subsequent image.

Things to remember:

• Make sure the image sheet is tucked squarely into the corner of the black positioner.  Otherwise, you are losing the advantage of the rigid corner, which is what lines everything up.

• Similarly, make sure your stamp is tucked into the corner of the black positioner, when stamping on both the image sheet and on your artwork.

• If you are adding 3-D embellishments to your art, you want to think about the order of application.  Some embellishments can get in the way of the black positioner, and you lose your advantage.  Use the positioner before applying embellishements whenever possible.

• The ink will not dry quickly on the image sheet.  So be careful when handling it so you don't smudge your image and get ink on your fingers that can ruin your artwork.

The Stamp-a-ma-jig retails for $11.95 with Stampin' Up!.  It's a great investment.  Keep it handy at your stamping' station, and you'll find yourself reaching for it over and over and over and over again!!

Stamping 101 - Stamping Wheels

In putting together my newsletter this week (a fun project on making Party Favor Bags, also known as "2, 5, 7, 10 Bags") I realized that I often take for granted certain techniques.  But only because I learned them a while ago.  And it dawned on me that not everyone knows how to use all the myriad tools that are available to us.  So I thought I'd give a little lesson here on using stamping wheels.

This particular type of rubber stamp is called various things by various companies:  Stampin' Up! calls them "Stampin' Around Wheels" and Clearsnap calls them "Rollagraph Wheels".  But they are the same thing:  a rubber stamp wrapped around a cynlinder that can stamp a continuous image.   In order to use them, you also need a handle and an ink cartridge.  All three pieces are shown on the left.  You can buy pre-inked cartridges from numerous companies (again, Stampin' Up! and Clearsnap come immediately to mind), and you can also buy uninked cartridges, to which you can apply your own ink.  These are great for Stampin' Up!'s InColors, which change every year, and only come in ink pad and re-inker format. 

Adding ink to an uninked cartridge is very simple.  The cartridge itself (from Stampin' Up!) is shown on the right.

The cover simply slides off.  The "ink pad" is the off-white colored, drum shaped thing in the center.

You apply your ink color of choice from a re-inker.  I've not gotten very adventurous yet, and applied different colors, but there is no reason that you can't.  They will tend to bleed together at the margins, so just be sure to use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel so that you don't get unintended brown stripes in your mixture!  Here, I am freshening the ink color in an already-inked cartridge.

The ink cartridge then slides into the opening of the plastic handle, and clicks firmly into place against a spring mechanism.  If it rebounds back, then you have not pushed quite firmly enough.

               

The stamping wheel goes in last; you know it is seated from the click that you hear.

Finally, you give theink cartridge a litte push towards the rubber, and it springs into place, fitting tight against the wheel, so that the ink can be transferred from the cartridge to the rubber.  This picture shows the stamping wheel ready to use.

Now it's simple- and fun!  You just roll the wheel along your paper or cardstock, and voila!  you have a line of image.  The Jumbo wheels leave images about 2" wide; the standard wheels are 1", and Clearsnap also has mini wheels, which are 1/2" wide.  The Jumbo's are GREAT for making backgrounds, and I've even made wrapping paper using them.  They are terrfic for borders on scrapbook pages, as well.  It literally takes only a few minutes to a great design.  The standard and mini wheels make perfect borders for cards and stationery, as well as book covers and in altered art.

This is the project that I highlighted in my newsletter.  It uses the "Snow" jumbo wheel from Stampin' Up! to create a background on a Party Favor Bag.

Hope this was helpful!

Keep creating!