February's Techniques

I just realized that I forgot to post the techniques we did at my stamp club in February! Both were fun, although one was a little scary! ;) I saw a few raised eyebrows when I told my ladies we would be playing with fire that night. That's right, we did the Colored Soot Stamping technique! *Please use caution when attempting this technique!* This technique requires the use of glossy cardstock, a candle, and a laquer spray to set the image. The instructions are simple, but it did take a couple of times to get the look I wanted. First, sponge the preferred ink colors (I used Barely Banana and Certainly Celery) onto the glossy cardstock. Next, hold the cardstock directly over the flame of the candle (I used my tweezers from the Crafter's Tool Kit to hold the paper), taking care not to burn through the paper. You do need to get the paper very close to the flame. Once the glossy side has the desired amount of soot on it, lay paper on table and stamp your image directly into the soot. Spray with laquer and you're done! :)

The second technique we played with was Ghosting. I love this technique; it looks really neat, and is versatile with a lot of different stamps and projects! For this technique, we simply stamped our image onto glossy cardstock using Versamark, then sponged over the entire paper with our desired ink color (I used Tempting Turquoise). Buff cardstock with a paper towel, especially over your images, and they will "pop"; the Versamark keeps the image the color of the cardstock, even when an ink color is applied over top! We finished this card using the Delight In Life Sell-A-Bration stamp set on Shimmering White cardstock (very pretty paper!), the Daisy and 1 3/8" Circle punches, some hardware, ribbon and the crimper! This is one of my favorite color combinations, and I found it on the SU color wheel. I love that wheel! I have become severely addicted to it; in a pinch, I can always find the perfect color combination for any project!