More Stamping Techniques

Stamping Techniques ACRYLIC PAINT 1. Squeeze small amounts of acrylic paint onto a plate. Apply the paint directly to the stamp using a foam brush. If stamping on fabric mix Fabric Painting Medium with the acrylic paints to keep painted fabric supple. 2. Stamp the image onto smooth fabric, wood, or walls. (When stamping on fabric, you may also use Fabrico pads or markers.) Stamps should be cleaned immediately. After allowing the paint to dry for 24 hours, fabric may be laundered as usual. Tip: In a shallow pan, place very moist paper towels at the bottom. When using several different stamps & paints, place the stamp face down on the wet paper towels to keep the paint from drying on your stamps until you are ready to clean them.) AIR ART GUN There are a number of uses for this little gadget. Use it in place of a speckle stamp, use it after using stencils like Dots & Stripes, great for backgrounds. Use with markers or Zig Painty Pens. Ever stamp up a card and have it look like it just needs something but you are not sure what? The Ink Worx Air Art Gun is great for adding the look of traditional air brushing to the background or just a splash of color to help finish off your stamped artwork. I LOVE the Ink Worx Air Gun (IWAG). I am having so much fun Making my own background papers and adding that final little designer touch to my projects! You can too! Here is what I have found working with the IWAG: 1. It does not dry your markers very fast. It uses so little of the ink and just lightly sprays it so it will not dry them too quickly. Remember you can re-fill the markers with the re-inkers whenever they do become dry. This is such a great tool, do not let the fear of dry markers keep you from using it. 2. Be sure the tip of the marker is placed just as instructed in the directions you get with it. Otherwise it will spit that ink.. Line up the brush tip a little over the area groove and tighten just enough to hold it in place. Watch the brush end of the marker, it should curve upward just a little bit as you tighten the pen in place. If it does not curve up, and the brush tip is straight out, you will get blotches of ink instead of an airbrush look. 3. Do not hold the IWAG too close to the paper. You may not get your desired results. Hold it about 3 inches away and you will end up with a much nicer spray pattern. Be sure the IWAG, not the pen, is at a 90 degree angle to the paper. What I found worked best was to hold the squeeze ball in my hand against my palm and squeeze quickly with my fingers. Also, it really helped me to keep one elbow on the table to keep myself steady. 4. If I am making many of the same card design I have found that I do need to turn or roll the marker after I use it on every 10 or so cards. 5. You need to practice, practice, practice on a scrap of paper until you get the desired effect you are looking for. Short, quick, softer bursts make more of a spray pattern; while longer, harder bursts create more of a splatter pattern with larger spots of ink. 6. You will get different patterns depending on if you operate the IWAG with the bulb up or down. To have the ability to direct the spray of the ink where you want it, make sure the marker is on the bottom (closest to the paper). If you have it on top, the ink tends to spray wherever it chooses. If you prefer random color then just let loose and have fun . . . let the ink drop where it may! 7. Pump first until you start getting color. Point and spray at scratch paper first. 8. This is a bit hard on the wrists over an extended period of time per use. (I have had wrist surgery so unfortunately I have some experience there.) I would not recommend it for those with carpel tunnel. You can get around this a bit by changing hands or keeping usage to a card or two at a time. Another suggestion if you find hand or wrist tiring is to hold the pen part firmly in your left hand, making sure the nozzle is perpendicular to the paper. Use your right hand to grasp the bulb. Make full squeezes and let the bulb completely re-inflate before you squeeze again. This gives your hand a mini break and gives you more even coverage color-wise. Also, raise your elbows a bit when you blitz. 9. You must clean it between markers. And I do not mean just wipe the tip where it rests on the IWAG. You need to take it to the sink and suck water into it and then be sure to express all the water out before changing to the next color. I found it needed to be cleaned in this manner the hard way. I had used lavender lace and then just wiped the tip of the IWAG with a paper towel and inserted the pretty in pink marker. It continued to spray lavender lace and deposited it on my PIP marker tip. The PIP marker did survive though by wiping the tip on a piece of clean paper . . . whew, that was a close one. Or to clean another way just take a paper towel or napkin and get it a little wet (don’t want to much water on it or it might be hard to get all of the water out of your IWAAG). I would say for example to put about a tablespoon worth of water onto your napkin or folded paper towel. Then, squeeze the bulb on your IWAG and barely suction some of the water up (pretend you do not want the water to get into the bulb). Then quickly release the bulb, spitting out the water right away. Just do short, quick suction and spritz. Try to get as little water as possible inside your bulb. I have had GREAT success doing it this way and have NEVER had another color show up unexpectedly. Hope this made sense. 10. A fun thing to do with the IWAG is to flip a (bolder) stamp over and use the gun to ink the stamp. Use several different colors. For example, you could use the little shapes circle stamp and spray two shades of yellow on it. Then stamp. Beautiful effect! The fruit set is also great for that technique. 11. It makes great backgrounds on cards. A great way to add color or maybe even cover up a scrap book.Remember you can have 48 different colors to use with endless combination possibilities, better than your standard store-bought confetti paper. 12. You can even use it with the Fabrico markers on fabric items too! 13. Try using it with your Versamark marker?! It looks pretty neat. 14. Create an airbrushed watercolor effect. Spray a piece of cardstock with water from a mister. Use the air gun to spray several colors from your markers all over the paper. This blends the colors into each other for a pretty background. 15. Ink Worx Air Gun Thumping: Ink your bold stamp up with a light colored inkpad. Then spritz a darker color on the image with the air gun. Repeat with other colors if you wish. 16. Airbrushed Watercolor: Spray a piece of cardstock with water from a mister. Use the air gun to spray several colors from your markers all over the paper. This blends the colors into each other for a pretty background. 17. 7 At Easter you can use the Inkworx air gun on a hard-boiled egg to make a speckled pattern or to write a childs name. 18. You can put a glue pen in the Inkworx air gun and blow glue all over a card, then immediately shake glitter (like dazzling diamonds or blushing diamonds) on top for an all over snowy effect. Best of all, as I continue to use it I am sure I keep learning new techniques and uses and you can too! BACKGROUND FUN Crumpled Background Paper: Take a piece of white copy paper (use a half sheet). Crumple up and open carefully several times. Leaving it pretty wrinkled, lay on a piece of scratch paper and brayer over it. Let dry and iron smooth. Smooth out the wax paper but leave wrinkles. To iron and create your resist paper layer as follows: white paper, glossy paper (glossy side up), I use post card size pieces, the wax paper, another piece of white paper. Iron, using dry iron, cotton setting. Next brayer over the piece of glossy paper and watch the resist pattern emerge. Try different colors of cardstock for different effects!! Fusible Web Background: Take a piece of fusible webbing and cut it slightly smaller then the piece of cardstock you are going to use it on. Hold it down at one edge and use your heat gun to melt it a bit so it will stick to the cardstock. A few holes and patterns will begin to form. Do not melt it too much. Then sprinkle all over with embossing powder. You can use one color of embossing powder or several colors. Then heat again, moving your heating gun around and around. Patterns and holes will begin to appear and be embossed on the cardstock. Do not hold the heat gun too close or in one place for too long or you will lose some of the nice patterns the webbing forms. Spiral Background: Take a paper towel and fold in half, again, and again until you have a long, narrow folded strip of paper towel. Now take this strip and roll up carefully and secure with a rubber band. Make sure the spiral is even. Ink up the spiral and use just as you would a stamp to create a background. Rubber band Background: Take a bunch of rubber bands and band together creating a tassel. Cut off the end and you have a wonderful background tool. Try using wider rubber bands but any size will work. Dab into an inkpad and just whack onto a piece of cardstock. Metallic Backgrounds: Ooze metallic markers on a pallet and dab sponge into metallic juice and dab it all over black cardstock. Starry Night Background: Apply about 3 drops of Embossing fluid to a clean toothbrush. Turn the brush upside down and use your finger to spray the embossing fluid onto the cardstock. Use a very light hand. You will find that you have a lot more than you expect. Pour embossing powder over, dump and heat. Salt Background: Spray matte cardstock liberally with water. While still wet, run a brayer loaded with dye ink over the cardstock. Cover with sea salt. If necessary, spray on more water. Allow drying. When dry, brush the sea salt off. BATIK TECHNIQUE Mulberry Batik Method Supplies: Resist pad, Clear embossing powder, Solid stamp, White Mulberry paper, Re-Inkers, Newsprint, Iron, Watercolor brush, Water Spritz bottle, Ink pads, Stipple brush, Foam tape, Glue tape or stick, Heat tool Directions: 1. Emboss on mulberry paper using solid, bold stamp, resist pad, clear embossing powder and heat tool just until image is clear. 2. Then you crunch the paper into a ball to crack the embossing. (This step is optional, depending on the look you like for the finished project.) 3. Place on one side of newsprint and spritz with water until it is soaked but not drippy. Drop re-inker of one color is several places. Using brush dribble more water on to spread the color. Clean the brush. Now drop another color and repeat with the brush from a clear cup of water. Fold newsprint over and press and leave for few seconds. 4. Now carefully unfold and transfer to a couple of clean sheets of newsprint in a flip flop method. Fold this newsprint over and with a medium iron press about one minute. Carefully begin to lift off the newsprint. It may stick, if so then put the newsprint down and heat that area until it releases when you lift it up. 5. 4-Card Cut base card 5x 11 fold in half. On white card stock cut 5 inch square. Attach Batik paper as before. Color edge with inkpad. Place saying on white card stock and trim down. Stipple and then color edges with pad. Attach to a piece of the card stock left from the base card. Then attach to front of card using foam tape. ** You should have a resist where the embossing is. It will have color cracks running through it like actual batik. The natural fiber lines that are found in Mulberry adds to the batik look. Beautiful! VersaMark and Card Stock Batik Method Supplies: VersaMark pad, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Brayer, Kaliedacolor Pad, Card Stock, Water Spritz bottle, Directions: 1. Simply stamp your image using Versamark on ultrasmooth white or confetti or some other light CS. 2. Then emboss with clear embossing powder. Let cool. 3. Then gently wad paper into a ball or you could fold it into a small square for a different look. 4. Unfold it and smooth it out. It will have crease marks now. Place it on a towel and mist with water so the paper is very damp. 5. Next ink your brayer with a Kaleidacolor pad (or a B&J pad) and brayer across the paper. 6. The image will stay white while the ink will seep into cracks and the rest of the paper will have a batik look. (Like back in the 70's when you applied wax to a pattern on a shirt and then dipped it in dye, cooled and chipped the wax away. Like far out man!) Tissue Paper and Re-Inker Batik Method Supplies: Tissue Paper (white or light colors), VersaMark pad, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Re-Inkers, Aluminum Cookie Sheet, Directions: 1. Stamp a pattern using VersaMark ink and a bold type of stamp onto tissue paper (white, or even light colors of tissue will work well.) 2. Sprinkle on clear embossing powder and use heat tool to emboss. 3. Then use the re-inkers and drop ink onto the tissue paper. The ink absorbed into the paper where there was no embossing. Be sure to protect the area in which you are doing this. I recommend using a small aluminum cookie sheet as a protector. Try different colors of tissue paper like yellow, light green, or whatever will go with your project. BLEACH Tip: Detail stamps work well if you stamp and then immediately zap it with the heat gun to prevent spreading and blurring. Bleach Painting on Cardstock 1. Emboss an image with black pigment ink & clear powder onto colored cardstock. Embossing the image helps to keep the liquid bleach that you are painting with inside the image lines. Let dry for 24 hours or heat with a heat tool for quicker results. You can color in the white areas with markers. 2. Take a damp synthetic bristled brush to paint in your images. A synthetic brush is recommended because it will not get ruined as natural bristles. Be sure to clean your brush under water thoroughly. You may also use a Q-Tip to paint into large areas to be bleached. There are different bleaches & gels on the market, experiment. Clorox Advantage has been highly recommended. Bleaching Backgrounds 1. Using Q-Tips dipped in bleach, create backgrounds (like swirls in the snow). Use your imagination. 2. Use a cheap toothbrush & splatter with it. 3. Experiment with different colored cardstock. 4. You may have to apply bleach more than once in an area. Let dry between coats. Bleach Stamping on Fabric Materials: Household bleach (the regular kind for laundry); Dishwasher gel (look for hypo chlorites on the label) 1. Testing: Test the reaction of bleach on fabric you want to use before you spend a lot of time stamping. Some fabrics do not bleach well. One reason to test fabric is because it will not always be white when bleached! Black fabric (& cardstock) in particular can change to many colors. You will see a reaction fairly quick, though gel takes longer than liquid bleach. Cheaper fabric is usually better because it 's less colorfast. 2. Safety: You should do this in a well-ventilated area. Please be careful if you have respiratory problems. As far as stamps go, there should not be a problem using bleach on your stamps. Clean them well when done. 3. Gel vs. Liquid Bleach: Liquid bleach tends to bleed & spread. The gel stays put, but takes longer to react & the color change isn’t always dramatic. 4. Stamps: Solid or fairly simple stamps are recommended on fabric. Instructions: 1. Use a sponge brush to paint gel to the stamp. Thinly coat the surface, but try not to gum up the cracks, since this can obscure details. If you are doing a garment, remember to put something between the front and back. 2. Stamp your image onto the fabric firmly (Bold images work best). Remove the stamp and let dry or heat with a heat tool. (Note: By using the heat tool to dry the detergent, this will help make it so that it doesn’t smear while doing the rest of the fabric. 3. Once you have stamped your images, wait and watch. The gel is weaker than liquid so the color change takes longer & sometimes not as pronounced. Even so, you may like a lesser change. 4. If you like what you see, rinse the piece in water to remove the gel. Then iron it dry, if you are in a hurry or put it in the dryer. This stops the bleaching reaction. 5. Another way to stop the bleaching process, when you like what you see, is to use vinegar or baking soda. This neutralizes the bleach. Whatever is easier for you. Uses: 1. If it is a garment that you have stamped, rinsed, & dried, it's ready for use at this time. 2. If it is a bleached stamped swatch, you can use fusible webbing (wonder-under) and iron it to a card or to attach it to a garment. If attaching it to a garment you can sew around the edges, fringe if you like &/or use wonder-under or sew it on. Bleach Stamping on Cardstock Before stamping or using bleach, be sure that your area is well ventilated and is protected. You may consider wearing clothing that you donn't mind messing up should bleach get on you. There are a few different ways to apply liquid bleach to your stamps. 1. Paper Towel Pad: Pour fresh liquid bleach onto a bed of folded paper towels, not too much bleach, making sure its wet but not full of puddles. 2. Fine Mist Spritzer Bottle (like Judikins): Put undiluted liquid bleach in the bottle & mist over a protected area...spray away from your face, wave the stamp though the mist. Don’t spray directly onto the stamp. The stamp only needs to be barely damp to work on your cardstock. You will know that it works for you when you have tested this onto scrap cardstock. 3. Felt Pad: Instead of using paper towels as a pad make one of felt. Saturate the felt. You can pour the bleach out when done & reuse the container later with fresh bleach. The containers people have used for their paper towel pad or felt pads have Tupperware, a sandwich size Glad container or recycle a Styrofoam meat tray. Keeping bleach in a spritzer bottle or container, you'll notice that bleach will become cloudy with time. This is the bleach reacting to light (notice that bleach bottles are opaque). Just pour out unused bleach & refresh your container when ready to use again. Experiment for what works right for you & practice. When using the paper towel pad or felt pad...dab (not push the stamp too hard in the bleach) your stamp onto the bleach pad a few times to make sure you have it wet & covered. Stamp your images onto the cardstock. Hold the stamp down for several seconds, so that the detail of the stamp gets impressed onto the paper. If you want a lighter/less detailed look, hold the stamp down not for very long. Watch the change. Clean your stamps immediately after using them & dry...Stamping Mist is a cleaner for this. BLENDER PENS The blender pens makes floating or blending color easier. It enables you to blend several hues together, giving more variation with mediums. You can achieve this without using as many colors, but still getting depth and variation in color. It works with all water-based markers, colored pencils, chalks, dye pads and pigment pads (cat eye, etc). BLENDER PEN - REFILL RECIPE In a one-ounce dropper bottle add: 1/3 part Glycerin, 2/3-part Distilled Water, ¼-tsp. Alcohol. Carefully remove either end of your marker with pliers and a light twisting motion. Add a few drops of the liquid to the marker. (More is not better here. Too much liquid will result in a runny mess). Replace the tip. Lay marker on its side overnight. SU says that our blender pens can not be refilled, however many people have tried it & it works. Blending Techniques on Embossed Images: 1. With the tip of your water-based markers, lay a hint of color on the actual embossed line of an image. This color is now sitting on the surface of the embossed line. The embossed lines serve as a palette, making it easier to move the color, thus eliminating a hard line created by the marker. Working in a circular motion and in small areas, use the Blender pen to pull out the marker color into the open area of the design. When this process is completed a light application of color will appear on the image. To prevent the color from appearing too washed out, continue to add more color using the marker and the blender until the desired depth of the color is achieved. 2. Start with lighter colors and then gradually add darker colors. 3. Limit the colors to be used. Three basic colors differing in intensity, plus variations in value, will give life and interest to a stamped image. Helpful Blending Tips: 1. Place several short strokes of water based marker color onto a white glass bowl or Styrofoam plastic plate/palette. Using the blender pen, pick up the color and apply it to the stamped image. 2. When working an intense color, to lighten that color, touch the tip of the marker to the tip of the blender. By touching the tip of the blender with the tip of the marker, the marker color that has transferred to the blender tip will be lighter in value. 3. Apply the blender to the stamped image first working in small areas at a time. This preps the area and allows one to apply various marker colors to blend directly onto the card. 4. Before changing colors, wipe the blender clean on a scrap piece of paper. Be careful not to pick up too much color. If there is too much, simply wipe the blender tip on a scrap piece of paper before coloring the image. 5. For a realistic blended look, layer color on top of color. For ex: Start with marker color (Lavender Lace #6930-62 and add Orchid Opulence #6920-42) or blend the colors on a palette, then apply to the image. Blender Pen & Watercolor Pencils: The blender pen is perfect for blending watercolor pencils, eliminating the need for water & a paintbrush. The colors intensify & blend smoothly. The paper does not buckle from being over-moistened. Take each color you are going to use & make a palette by scribbling a little color on a separate piece of paper with all the colors, then take the blender pen & pick up the color & apply to the image. Blender Pen & Chalk: Blend & moisten chalk colors with the blender pen to intensify colors & work the chalk into the surface of the paper. You can apply a little to an area you are coloring or use an applicator & take the blender pen tip to it to pick up the color, then apply to image. It will not need spray fixative to remain in place., the blender pen sets the chalk. Blender Pen & Ink Pads: Stamp an image using a water-based dye pad. Use the blender pen to lightly stroke the outline color into the inside areas. This will result in an image with several tones of the same color. Blender Pen & Markers 1. Stamp an image by coloring the rubber die of the stamp with water-based makers. Pull color form the outline to the center areas by stroking with the blender pen. 2. Use a blender pen to apply marker ink, which has been scribbled onto a palette, blending colors just like you would blend watercolor paints with a brush. 3. Use a blender pen to soften the stroke marks left behind when you have colored an area with markers. Blender Pen & Watercolor Paints: Dip the blender pen directly into the watercolor paint palette & pick up the color. Start coloring your image. BOWS Without Tieing: Punch to holes in your cardstock about 1/ inch apart or less. Put the ribbon through from the front to the back of the card. Cross the ends over and bring a loop of ribbon up through the front. Cross the ends over again and then pull then ends of the ribbon to the front of the card. You only need 4 inches per bow (this gets 225 bows out of SU! spools of organdy ribbon). Tip: Stylus works great for poking ribbon through punched holes. BRAYERING Brayering is a technique where you use a rubber, acrylic or foam snap - in roller to apply color, usually for backgrounds. You can use inkpads or markers to color your brayer. Using an inkpad, roll your brayer to thoroughly cover it with color. Roll the brayer over paper. Note: If you are applying ink over glossy paper, make sure you are using dye-ink, not pigment ink. If you use pigment ink, the ink will never dry on glossy paper unless you emboss it. 1. Brayers & Markers: You can use markers on the brayers to create fantastic backgrounds. Using a marker, apply ink directly onto the brayer. You can draw stripes, dots, zig-zags, or whatever you are in the mood for. Repeat the design using different color markers. When you are done creating the design on the brayer, roll the brayer onto paper. The design will transfer to the paper. Use glossy card stock for the brightest colors. Use matte paper for a softer look. 2. Brayering a Rainbow Background: Ink up with the rubber snap-in-brayer on a Kaleidacolor rainbow pad. Roll the brayer onto glossy cardstock for best results. Roll back & forth for complete coverage. This will be the basis for other techniques found on this list. 3. Repeating An Image - Reverse Image: For a background, ink up a stamp such as a cloud, tree, or flower. Roll your brayer over the stamp 2-3 times before reinking. Repeat this process to ink up your brayer. Roll over cardstock for a subtle background. This is great for landscapes and florals. 4. Brayer A Honeycomb Background: Ink up your rubber brayer in More Mustard ink & roll over a piece of bubble wrap. 5. Brayer/ Rubber Band Background: Place rubber bands around an acrylic brayer.... bands in different widths will give you different looks. BRUSH MARKER 1. Using markers, apply ink directly to the stamp. 2. Breathe (huff) on stamp to remoisten ink, then stamp on paper. Markers allow you to create a personalized, multicolored image. BUBBLE BACKGROUND There are two variations to this technique..see which one you would like to try. Method #1 1. Put detergent into a bowl & toss ink on top of it. 2. Stick a straw in & blow bubbles onto your cardstock, letting the bubbles pop onto the card. The cardstock does not have to be glossy..however that does work best. Method #2 1. Brayer a color onto glossy paper. 2. Take a small bottle of bubbles & blow bubbles in the air. 3. Try to catch the bubbles with your brayered cardstock. 4. It works best when you blow the bubbles immediately after you have brayered your background. CAKE STAMPING #1 I decorate cakes and have been amazed at how well you can stamp on cakes if you follow a few simple guidelines. The easiest frosting to stamp on is the rolled fondant frosting. I buy mine at the local craft store in with their cake supplies. You can stamp on this with either regular frosting or food coloring (the paste type coloring always works best.) I have stamped on regular frosting using the paste food coloring but you have to be sure that the frosting has dried for a good 2 hours before you attempt to stamp on it. I do prefer the rolled fondant if I am going to stamp because you can stamp on it before you lay it on the cake making it very easy to stamp on the sides of the cake and not just the top. I have a mini airbrush for cake decorating so I can also color in the images as well. This is a great idea for your children’s birthdays because you can coordinate everything right down to the cake. The final option for stamping on cakes is to buy the sheets of rice paper. This is what the bakery decorator use. (If you go to a bakery and look at the Disney cakes that look like the characters have been drawn on, that is a rice paper overlay no taste to it and it absorbs right into the cake frosting.) CAKE STAMPING #2 Stamp your image on rice paper. This is also called wafer paper. It is available at some cake supply stores & may be available form your local bakery. Stamp your image with your Stamping Pads. They are non-toxic & will not hurt anyone if they ingest the tiny amount of ink on their slice of cake. If you feel squeamish about using regular ink, you can make up your own inkpad using a blank inkpad or paper towel. Apply somewhat watered down paste color to the pad (be sure to protect your table). Press in your stamp. Test on paper first. If you use the liquid food color from the grocery store, your image may not be as dark as you need it to be & you may end up using up quite a lot of food coloring anyway. (I have found that the Stampin’ Pads are a lot easier to use!) Place your stamped rice paper on your iced cake. After a while the rice paper will dissolve into the icing & only the image will remain visible. You can choose to decorate the edge of the rice paper to sore of frame the image. A shell border looks nice. *You can stamp directly onto butter cream icing. First ice & smooth your cake. Allow the butter cream to set for at least a few hours & preferable overnight. The icing should have a crust on it. GENTLY stamp your image onto the butter cream. Color with diluted paste colors, (dilute with vodka or lemon extract - remember alcohol will evaporate). Or use your Stamping Pads in the colors needed, no coloring may be necessary. You can stamp an image on paper. Trace the image on the backside on the paper because you will need the reverse image. Cover the backside of the picture with waxed paper. Use a decorating bag filled with clear piping gel (available at cake & craft stores) & a #1 round decorating tip to copy the image. Invert the wax paper, piping gel side down, & place it on your iced & smoothed cake. Gently press around the image, pushing the gel onto the icing on the cake. Remove the waxed paper. Outline the image on the cake with icing. Fill in with colored icing - let me recommend stars for the beginning cake decorator. With any of these methods, practice first. It might take a while before you are comfortable with any of them. CANDLE IDEAS Three-Wick Candle: Wrap a large (3 wick) candle with vellum decorated with a leaves wheel and embossed with metallic powders. Two pieces of vellum may be needed to go around the candle. Where they join (front and back) use a tag size/shape CS with leaves & acorn & Happy Thanksgiving embossed on it, layered with gold metallic paper, and stick this to the vellum with dimensionals. Tie raffia bows over the tags. Makes a fantastic centerpiece with the addition of some fake fall leaves and mini-gourds. Wine Glass Candle: Use a full sheet of cardstock vellum and take a protractor and set it on the 11 inche side of the cardstock at the half way point- 5.5 and draw a full half circle (that is 11â€? in diameter). Then set the protractor to the width of the wine glass you are using. Set the protractor at the same halfway point- 5 .5 and draw a smaller circle. Then cut on both arcs. You end up with a half-donut shape. Then you do your stamping. The Stampin Up! 48 colors of Stamping Pads look beautiful, but they do need a little time to dry. TIP: use bold colors and then when forming the lampshade the side stamped on is facing in, so the bold colors have a soft look from the outside. Then use double stick tape to attach the two ends together; that forms the lampshade. It sets on top of the wine glass. Practice with paper first so that you make your lampshade fit your glass perfectly before you try it with cardstock vellum. You can adjust the size of the arcs you draw to make the lampshade smaller, depending on what you are using for the base. I know some use baby food jars. Finally, put a tea light candle (tea lights that come in the clear cups look great). Tip: Stamp on tissue paper and then use dots of glue to hold in place on candle. Then take a sheet of wax paper and wrap it around the candle and hold it in the back. Then use the heat gun and you could see the tissue paper melt in. Let cool a minute and peel off the wax paper. No runs. Truly awesome!! Tip: How does the tissue paper hold up? The candle burns, and the tissue paper held up. STAMP-DECORATED CANDLE Materialswhite pillar candles(colored candles tend to run when heated with heat gun), white gift wrapping tissue paper, stamps of your choosing, stamp pads (I use our regular 48 colors of stamp pads), markers---if needed, wax paper, heat gun , scissors Directions 1. Stamp image on tissue paper, color in with markers or pastels if desired 2. Cut out stamped design close to edges of stamped image 3. Hold stamped design on candle 4. Wrap a piece of wax paper around the candle, over the stamped design, using the excess wax paper as a handle to hold onto at back of candle 5. Holding handle, heat the stamped image (through the wax paper) with heat gun until it is sealed on to candle, your stamped image will also be sealed with wax! 6. Gently remove wax paper. Metallic Ink/Tissue Transfer: A favorite way to stamp on candles is using the metallic inks. 1. Stamp on tissue paper and then place the ink side to the candle. 2. Wrap with waxed paper and heat until the waxed paper becomes transparent. 3. Unwrap the waxed paper and peel off the tissue paper (only works if you put ink side to the candle). **These are really elegant and I like that the tissue paper does not have to stay on the candle. Hint: Make the tissue paper a little wider than the candle that way it peels off easier. Glitter Stamped Candles 1. Gently wet the stamp with the embossing pad. 2. Tap the stamp in the glitter. 3. Turn stamp rubber side up (make sure the image is covered in glitter). 4. Now heat the candle with the heat gun just until the wax softens. . . this works best when I keep the heat gun moving. It will take a few seconds. When the wax is just a little melty and soft, roll the candle side on the up-turned stamp. You should now see your stamped image in glitter on your candle. Practice a few times. It looks great. Tips 1. Use tissue paper scraps from a gift, etc. to stamp/emboss your image. 2. Use the same color tissue as your candle. 3. It might be dangerous to let the candles burn down to the image. 4. As candle burns down, drop a tea light candle inside to lengthen life of candle! 5. It takes a little practice and be careful not to burn your fingers! 6. You can personalize candles for events (weddings) or special people. 7. I've also found that scented candles melt so quickly that they may drip before the image is applied. 8. A nice touch for wrapping the candle is to use a light-weight gold mesh, tulle or stamped tissue paper (to match the stamp on the candle) and tie with a ribbon. CERAMIC STAMPING Materials 1. Pre-Glazed Ceramic item (frame, vase, etc) 2. Permanent Paint (like Décor-It from Ranger Industries or Dr. Ph. Matian Metal Craft Paint 3. Stamps (bold works best) 4. Pottery sponge, paper towels, spray sealant, solvent-based cleaner, non-porous palette Instructions 1. Prepare the ceramic surface by washing it with warm soapy water. Allow to dry completely before decorating. 2. Apply a small amount of paint to a pottery sponge, tapping the excess paint on paper towels. 3. Press sponge onto the ceramic piece with a small amount of pressure. 4. Repeat until object is covered, allowing some of the white ceramic to show through. This has created a background. (You may leave the background white & simply stamp all over the object.) 5. Apply paint to a sponge & tap your stamp onto the sponge. 6. Gently press the stamp onto the ceramic piece to prevent sliding and smudging. (If smudging occurs, wipe the area clean with a solvent based cleaner and reapply paint.) 7. Spray frame with a sealant to prevent chipping. Variations Add texture to ceramic pieces by stamping your images in pigment ink & embossing with different colored powders. Gently wipe the finished piece with a soft cloth to remove excess embossing powder before sealing. CHALKING - PASTELS The best choices for papers & cardstocks are smooth, & uncoated. Chalk can also be applied to wood, paperclay, paper mache & other porous surfaces. If there are any mistakes to fix....use a small white or art gum eraser. To prevent smears you will want to seal the chalk. You can use matte spray fixative or hair spray (aerosol). Shading 1. May be used wet or dry. Blue, Grey or Black are good color choices for shadows. Layer colors. 2. Start with the lighter color & apply a deeper color of the same tone on top of the lighter shades. Reverse Chalk Resist 1. Using black (or dark) cardstock as your base, rub chalk all over it, creating a background. (use a dauber duo or cotton ball) 2. Ink up your stamp on the versamark pad, then stamp into the chalk -the versamark removes the chalk where the image is. Chalked Embossing 1. Chalk will stick to embossing powders, especially white. For best results start by stamping on dark colored cardstock in the frost white Colorbox & embossing in any of our white embossing powders. 2. Apply the chalk to the white areas of your stamped image. 3. After chalking rub with a eraser to get rid of the powdery look & make the image shine. Chalked Applique Using the white Liquid Applique, embellish the details of your work. Allow it to dry before puffing it up with a heat tool & then apply chalk to it. It picks up the color & holds. Chalked Sponging Using sponges & chalks with your stencils will give you beautiful soft clouds, muted dots & stripes & gently blended backgrounds. Chalked Pigment Stamp a solid image in white pigment ink on a dark cardstock. Let it dry & then color lightly with chalks. Chalked Silhouette This method works best with bold images. Example: DD Grapes – Stamp the leaves in green & the grapes in purple. Apply the same shades to chalk over the images. This will give it a soft airbrushed feel to them. Marbled Chalk Background Put about an inch of water into a pan slightly bigger than your card. With a knife, scrape chalk dust off a few colors onto the surface of the water. Lower the paper flat onto the surface of the water to pick up the color, immediately lifting the cardstock back out of the water. Allow the cardstock dry flat. If your paper develops puckers, it can be ironed to flatten it back out. You can even press the paper between heavy books to flatten it out. Marbled Chalk Background 2 Chalk and water can be combined for a pastel background effect. Apply chalk in one or more colors randomly to the paper. Using a wet rag or sponge, pull and blend the chalked areas as desired. This technique is an excellent way to add color to freezer paper that will be used for gift-wrap or gift bags. Once the background is dry, it can be stamped over, and it does not require spray fixative to remain in place. Chalk on Dark Paper Create stunning designs. Stamp a design using white pigment ink & white embossing powder. Apply chalk with a cotton swab around & in images. Take a paper towel to wipe off excess chalk. Chalk/Blender Pen Chalk colors can be beautifully blended with the blender pen, which also sets the chalk, eliminating the need for spray fixative. Finishing Your Chalked Project If desired, use a spray fixative or hairspray when finished to keep chalk from smearing. This will also deepen the colors and add sheen. You need only a light coating. Playful Pastels and Chalks Both Pastels and Chalks of these offer a soft medium to work with. Sold in a palette consisting of chalks, applicators and eraser (yes on some of the techniques you can actually erase your coloring - this medium is very forgiving!). Chalks are very versatile and a must have for any stamper. Die Cuts & Tags Spice up your die cuts by adding some pen lines and then chalking around the edges. Tags are all the rage in scrap booking right now. Do your journaling on some pre-made tags (or make your own out of cardstock, a hole punch and some twine) and chalk around the edges to give the tags an antique look. Lettering Instead of using markers or colored pencils to fill in your lettering and titles, use chalk! This breaks away from the norm of filled-in lettering. Blend different colors together to achieve a variegated look. Or use one color in your lettering and shade it lighter and then darker as you work up or down in the lettering. Paper Piecings Try something different with your paper piecings rather than just using a black pen line to accent the edges and features of your paper piecings. Use chalks just a slighter shade darker that the color of cardstock you are working with and blend inwards to the center of your piecings. This will bring your piecings to life like you never thought possible. Sand Paper This technique is often done with pastel pencils, but there is no reason you acn not pop out the little squares of chalks that come in the palette and do it with our pastels. Use a tissue to hold them though, to keep your fingers clean. Stamp an image in SU! black or Ancient Page Black onto Superfine black sandpaper. Make sure it is clean. Any scratches will show. Color your image with pastels. You can blend colors by putting them side-by-side. Use a pastel stump (available anywhere pastels are sold) to blend the two colors. (Caution...I find that putting colors on top of each other gives you more chalk than color. That is why I put them side-by-side and then blend with a stump.) When you are finished coloring, use the Stamp-a-ma-Jig to over-stamp original stamped image with Colorbox Black Pigment Ink and emboss. You can emboss with either black or clear E.P. To seal chalks, spray with a matte sealer. This works great with closed-line images with reasonably bold lines. I like the heavy outline to transition between the image and background. Try Bulbs in Bloom, Serengeti, With Love...Naturally, Kimono, Out of Africa, Stipple Butterfly, Wonderful Wings... (Stay away from the brushstroke things, though, because there are too many openings in the outlines.) Chalk/Blender Pen Chalk colors can be beautifully blended with the blender pen, which also sets the chalk, eliminating the need for spray fixative. Gray Guiding 1. Take any bold/solid stamp image & stamp onto cardstock using the Going Grey inkpad. 2. Color in & around the image in a light chalk color (ex: light pink for flowers & lime green for leaves, etc.) with a Q-tip or cotton ball. 3. Now go over gray lines again in a darker chalk color (ex: purple for flowers, evergreen for leaves, etc.). 4. Spray with sealer or even with hairspray to set the chalk. (Next steps are optional) 5. Follow along the gray lines again, but with the glue pen this time. 6. Sprinkle with glitter over the glue & shake excess off. You may have to do steps 5 & 6 in sections so the glue wil dry all the way. This technique gives your work a hand painted look. Silver Encore Guiding 1. Stamp bold lined image using Silver Encore Ink. 2. Rub off selected parts of shimmer with pastel-loaded applicator. Like the Gray Guiding effect where parts of the image shimmers Poppin’ Pastels Chalk Resist Faux Oil Pastel 1. Apply 2 are 3 different colors (that look good together) of light colored chalk with a cotton ball (or sponge daubers) across cardstock. 2. Ink up an image with tinted or clear embossing ink (some use white pigment ink for a different look). Stamp image onto the cardstock. 3. Make sure that the ink dries onto the cardstock, when it is no longer shiny (Natural cardstock works best). 4. Apply chalk colors onto the tinted image with Q-Tips or sponge daubers. The chalk will darken when it adheres to the ink. 5. Continue to add color, starting with the lightest going to the darkest until you are satisfied. 6. If you are using a 2-Step stamp, go over the image with the second step and repeat the process. Variation of Popping Pastels 1. Stamp several of the same images with clear embossing ink on white paper. Let dry. 2. Dip a cotton ball into one color of chalk & then lightly rub over & around the images. 3. This creates a great background. 4. Use a dye-base inkpad that matches the color of chalk used. Stamp the same image used before randomly in dye-based ink. (ex: Dragon Fly stamped in Eggplant Envy with Eggplant Envy chalked background) Background - Pastel Chalks Take your tinted embossing pad; stamp your image using the tinted embossing pad onto white or cream colored card stock. Let dry for at least 30 minutes. Take a cotton ball and rub on the chalk color of your choice. Rub the cotton on a slant across the card, use at least 3 different colors. You will get a great background. Reverse Pastels or Pastels on Dark CS Supplies - black card sock, Versamark pad, daubers or cotton balls (daubers get you better sales), solid image stamp How - Take daubers and swish, swirl, streak, dot, brighter pastel colors on black card sock, next ink up your solid image stamp with Versamark and stamp right over top of your pastel color black card sock. Rainbow Pastels Create a rainbow background by rubbing various colors of pastels across the paper (using a cotton ball or sponge daubers). Stamp your image in black on top of the rainbow of colors. Color Embossing With Chalks This technique is a little-known one, but produces wonderful results. 1. First, you start out as with regular embossing, using white or clear embossing powder (use white if on darker cardstock, clear if on lighter or white). 2. Heat it up as usual. 3. Then, taking a Q-tip, apply the pastel colors onto the embossed image. Do not worry too much about mess; you will take care of that at the end. (Although I do find that on lighter card stocks you want to stick with lighter pastels). 4. After you have colored the image as desired, heat up the image again until the embossing is shiny again. 5. Take a makeup sponge and drag it across the image. This will remove the excess chalks and leave you with a beautiful embossed image in color! Embossing Pastels will stick to embossing powders, especially white. For best results start by stamping on dark colored cardstock in the Frost White Colorbox and emboss in our white embossing powders. Apply the pastels to the white areas of your stamped image. After finished, rub with an eraser to get rid of the powdery look & make the image shine. Dry Embossing (Using Stencils) Emboss an image using one of our brass templates. Reverse the template over the top of the embossed image and use a sponge or cotton ball to rub pastels over the image. When you remove the template, you have color only on the raised image. Or make your own stencils out of cardstock or lightweight cardboard and chalk around the stencil. This works great for clouds, grass, etc. You can also use the negtive punch space after punching out shapes for use as homemade stencils. Some ideas include stars, hearts and swirls. Use your imagination! You can also use decorative edge scissors to make a stencil border by cutting along the edge of lightweight cardboard and then chalk along the edge. Another great use for your plastic rulers with decorative borders is to use them to chalk along. These are great for making soft and subtle borders along your scrapbook pages. Spackle Cards Colored With Chalks You will need a brass template or a plastic stencil and the light weight spackle. (It feels as if the container is empty when you buy it. Regular spackle is too heavy for card stock.) 1. Place your template on top of your cardstock. Use some kind of spreader (I use a palette knife) and spread an even layer over the entire opening being sure to fill in any gaps. 2. Once it if filled in, smooth off top to make sure the spackle is even. Then lift the template straight up and voila! you have a wonderful raised image on your cardstock. 3. It has to dry, either naturally or carefully with heat gun. Once dry, color gently with your chalks. NOTE: You can also mix a bit of spackle with ink from reinkers and get a colored spackle to apply to card stock. Chalk Square Rub Use the chalk squares out of the box and rub directly on light cardstock in a rainbow pattern of diagonal stripes. Blend by rubbing with a Kleenex. Chalk with Bleach Combine with a bleaching technique by stamping and embossing an outline stamp with metallic or dark powder on dark cardstock. Dab bleach inside design with a q-tip. When dry, color in design with chalk. Paper Choice The best choices for papers & cardstocks are smooth and un-coated. The pastels can also be applied to wood, paperclay, paper mache & other porous surfaces. If there are any mistakes to fix . . . use a small white or art gum eraser. Liquid Applique Using the white Liquid Applique embellish the details of your work. Allow it to dry before puffing it up with a heat tool & then apply the pastels to it. It picks up the color & holds. Colorbook Use a cotton swab as your applicator. Color in your line art image with the pastels for a soft, muted effect. Paperclay Use pastels to color in images after drying your Paperclay projects. You can even use the blender pens as your applicator. Pigment Ink Stamp a solid image in white pigment ink on a dark cardstock. Let it dry & then color lightly with pastels. Polyshrink Use pastels to color in images on your Polyshrink. Be sure to seal your project! Scrapbooks Use pastels in your scrapbooks safely! Be sure to seal it with a photo-safe sealant. Shading May be used wet or dry. Blue, Grey or Black are good color choices for shadows. Layer colors. Start with the lighter color & apply a deeper color of the same tone on top of the lighter shades. Silhouette This method works best with bold images. Stamp your image in chosen colors and then apply the same shades of pastel over the images. (Example: DD Grapes-Stamp the leaves in green & the grapes in purple. Apply the same shades over the images.) This will give it a soft airbrushed feel to them. Torn Paper & Vellum Torn paper takes on a new depth when you chalk along the torn edge. Add some dark brown to a light brown torn paper edge and it suddenly comes to life. Add some gray chalk to white torn paper to achieve the look of snow. Add some dark blue chalk to a lighter blue torn paper and you suddenly have heaving waves of an ocean swell. Vellum takes on an old-world look when you chalk the edges with a light brown. Add some gray chalk to white vellum and you have a new look for snow that you can layer behind plain white chalked paper. Application Tips: 1. The sponge- applying chalk with a sponge gives the color a stronger darker rougher look. This is a good technique on large areas. 2. Cotton ball- applying chalk with a cotton ball gives the color a very soft feathery look. This is a good technique for large and medium areas. 3. Stampin’ pastel® applicators- applying chalk with these small applicators allows you to be very precise. This is a good technique for small areas. Color can be soft and subtle or very intense. 4. Blender pens- this technique involves using the blender pen to lift a small amount of chalk from the pat and apply it to your paper. This technique works but tends to dry out the blender pen. 5. Paint brush- this technique involves using a damp to wet brush to lift an amount of chalk up and apply it to the paper. STAMPING IN CHOCOLATE Materials Clean Rubber Stamps, Chocolate, Small Bottle of Glycerin (available at pharmacies & candy-making stores), Heat Tool, Refrigerator, If you make molded chocolates, you will need a candy mold. Stamps Be sure your stamps are clean & that the inks you have used before on them have all been non-toxic inks. If you are using new stamps, you should wipe them before use. Practice to see which images work best for you. Chocolate Read the label of the chocolates you buy with stamping in mind. Avoid chocolates with paraffin or beeswax. The best chocolates, in terms of taste, smoothness, & stampability, are the ones richest in cocoa butter - the only vegetable oil that is at room temperature, but which melts quite nicely in your mouth. To Make Chocolate Bars: 1. Take a candy bar out of the refrigerator & unwrap it. 2. Point the heat tool only at the area that you want to stamp. Do a quick count to three (you’ll see a sheen on the chocolate as it starts to melt), then turn off the heat tool. 3. Stamp the chocolate while it is still hot. To Make Chocolate in Molds: 1. Melt some chocolate chips & spoon them into the chocolate mold. Tap the mold on the counter several times to shake out the air bubbles. 2. Cool the chocolate in your freezer. This helps the chocolate to set more quickly & makes it easier to remove. After the chocolate is solid, remove it from the freezer & warm the chocolate with the heat tool, continue just like in the instructions for the chocolate bars above. CLAY POTS 1. Spray the clay pot with a sealer spray, lightly. 2. You can paint the base of the pot with acrylic paint or leave plain. 3. Stamp your image (bold works best) in a Fabrico pad & apply to pot. Be careful as the pots are curved and it is a little tricky keeping the stamps from sliding and stamping in the position you want. So go slow. When using the Fabrico, you need to heat set the clay pot. 4. Heat set the clay pots with a hair dryer, heat tool or even in your oven (10 to 15 Minutes). It gets very hot! Be careful. You may also use acrylic paint to stamp with instead of the crafters ink. Take a sponge brush & apply it to your stamp. Make sure you does not use too much paint. Also, keep the paint from drying on your stamps. Take a shallow dish & fill it with folded paper towels & get them very moist with water. When using a few different stamps with acrylic paint, place the stamps face down on the damp paper towels. It keeps the paint from drying on your stamps. When cleaning your stamps use a soft toothbrush and water in case the paint gets in the crevices. You can emboss your images with pigment ink or Fabrico inkpads and clear powder. For extra protection you may want to seal the clay pot when finished. For a glossy look, spray with glossy sealer. COFFEE TECHNIQUE Brew a pot of double strength coffee and let it cool a bit. Paint on paper or material with a sponge brush while it’s still warm. It soaks in quickly and that is how you get color streaks and variations. If your paper curls a lot (vellum curls like crazy), tape down corners on a cutting board or cardboard. Stamp and decorate as usual when dry. Also cool to fold and scrunch a small piece of material (like for tie-dying) and soak it directly in coffee pot. COLLAGE 1. The first step to starting collage is to create a collage box & add any items that could be used in collage work. A collage box will help inspire you by keeping all of your materials in one place. Collage helps you extend your stamp collection by allowing you to add other elements to your stamped work. Here are examples to get you started: Worn Out or Cheap Playing Cards * Buttons * Scraps of Ribbon, String and Cord * Beads & Old Costume Jewelry * Scraps of Colored Paper * Cancelled Postage Stamps (soak off paper in water before using) * Sales Tags * Old Road Maps * Cancelled Tickets 2. The second step is to alter & manipulate those material, papers maybe snipped or torn & objects can be aged. To alter color & shading, you can do several things: A traditional method of coloring & toning would be to add a thin wash of watercolor paint to the paper or object being used. Any black or white images will be infused with a thin transparent color. Or, Direct to Paper techniques are ideal for aging paper or objects & can also be used to emphasize the torn edges of a piece of paper. Browns & Blacks are good for simulating age & Gold, used sparingly can create a translucent layer of shimmer. Or, for the greatest amount of control ink can be transferred from the pad to a sponge or stipple brush onto your card or object. Keep layers translucent, so that the original colors beneath are hinted at, adds depth & delicacy to a collage. 3. The third step is to layer papers, varying them in size & shape. Paste them together to form a patchwork. Edges of paper could be randomly torn or neatly cut. 4. The final step is stamping. Creative combinations of images are at the very heart of collage. COOKIE CUTTER 1. Make your own die cuts. 2. Trace the cookie cutter to the front of your cardstock with a pencil. Follow the line with a marker or metallic marker. Stamp around or inside your cookie cutter shape. 3. Trace the cookie cutter to the front of your card. Cut out the shape with a craft knife to make a shaped window. Make a shaped note card, using the cookie cutter shape as your outline. COLORBOOK 1. Ink up outline image in a solid color. 2. Color in design with markers, colored pencils, chalks, or watercolors. COLOR DABBING This is a technique that gives you just a hint of color to a stamped design. 1. Stamp a design onto cardstock. Using a Dauber-Duo, add touches of color to elements in the image. Be creative & see where you add color & how much. 2. You can use a Dauber-Duo to flick the edges of cards for a framed look. COLORED PENCILS 1. When using colored pencils start with lighter color first & work towards darker colors for shading. 2. Let colors overlap & blend in interesting shades. It is more effective to apply several light coats of pencil shadings, adding more until the desired intensity is reached, rather than one very heavy application. 3. Stray marks can be erased with an art eraser. CORK STAMPING You can find cork in craft stores, some stamp stores & even an automotive store! 1. Stamp your image with Basic Black Ink Pad (if using an outline image). 2. Color in with markers. Because the cork soaks up a lot of ink..you will have to blot the ink many times. Let dry. 3. You may cut around the image with decorative scissors or regular scissors. 4. Hot gluing the cork, when layering, is the best way to adhere the cork to your card. MELTED CRAYON BACKGROUND 1. Take bits of crayons & place on paper or fabric 2. Cover with waxed paper. 3. Cover with another sheet of paper & a thin cotton cloth. 4. Using an iron, set to medium heat, slowly melt the bits of crayon by moving the iron in circular motions around the cloth. 5. When you think the crayon bits have been melted, carefully lift the cloth & top sheet of paper to examine. If not melted completely, recover & iron again. If using on fabric..muslin is perfect & light enough to tack onto a card. Do the above directions. Stamp onto the crayon melted fabric with Black Fabrico Ink Pad..a bold-lined open image works great (like flower, Christmas tree, etc.), heat set. Use crayon colors that would look good for the image you plan on using. Cut out a square around the image & tack down onto the front of your card. CYRSTAL EFFECTS (Also known as 3-D Crystal Lacquer) Crystal Effects is water based, easy to clean up and is an easy way to enhance any rubber stamped art project. It is just one of the products I like to use for sealing my Shrink Art Pins. You can apply Crystal Effects to areas you would like to looked raised whether it be on paper or plastic! Tips for using this product are Prior to use, at least 5 minutes, I place the bottle upside down in a coffee cup, letting all of the air bubbles rise to the top, which now is really the bottom of the bottle. 1. Once I start slowly applying the Crystal Effects, I try to NOT pick the tip up off of my project until it is completely covered. Viola . . . no air bubbles. For me, the key is move slowly. It may take you a little longer to get all of you work covered, but the outcome, to me, is well worth it! 2. Keep a straight pin in the top of the Crystal Effects to keep it clog-free. Be sure to wipe tip of the bottle first so the pin will go be in. 3. If it does clog just unscrew from bottle and run it under warm water. Other Ideas for Use 1. Besides using Crystal Effects straight from the bottle to give a raised effect, there are other ways to use it. 2. Layer it on a paintbrush to give a smooth glass-like finish. 3. Using it over the metallic pencils works really well, colors are more vivid. 4. After applying it to image, sprinkle a little Dazzling Diamonds glitter on top. 5. To give it color, add a drop or 2 of a re-inker. 6. Use it as glue for those hard to hold magnets, pen backs, embellishments-charms or wire. 7. Use it to glue vellum to card stock. It wil show through. I have found the best way to keep vellum from wrinkling or poofing up is to apply it with a fingertip or Q-tip applicator, not just straight from the bottle. Make Glitter Gloss Materials Crystal Effects, Ultra-fine Glitter, Old paint brush Directions Okay, this is really simple. Squirt out some Crystal Effects onto a scrap of acetate or other non-porous surface. Using a toothpick, stir in some glitter until you have the consistency you want. To Use Using a paintbrush, brush the glitter gloss onto your stamped art, stamped tiles, polymer beads, etc. When dry, it gives a glossy and sparkly look to your art. Try using this to add glitter to snowcaps made with liquid appliqué, add highlights to ornaments, Valentine hearts, etc. anywhere that you want to add a bit of sparkles. You can also use this same homemade glitter gloss on hand painted ceramics. Cautions The only complaint I have heard about this product from other stampers is the air bubble that can happen when this product is not applied just “so.â€? Apply slowly to alleviate this problem. Do not use heat tool to speed dry time. It becomes extremely bubbley and unattractive. DIE-CUTS 1. 1. Place a die-cut shape down onto cardstock - use the 2-way glue pen on the back of the die-cut & let it dry before placing the die-cut down....this will make it repositionable (like post-it notes glue). 2. Use the air gun & spritz colors around the images....when done lift the die-cuts off & you now have fancy silhouettes of the shapes. 3. Instead of using the air gun you can also use the stamping sponge around the shape. 4. Use a single shape on a card or several on a full sheet for a memory page. DIRECT TO PAPER 1. Apply colors directly to paper with Cat's Eye, Petal Point, Colorbox, Paintbox, or Option Plates by gently rubbing the pad onto the paper. You can use the entire sponge surface or part of it (tip or edge). The movement of your hand will create a texture or pattern. Try different movements, never press or pull too hard. Reink often to avoid damaging the foam pad. This can create a beautiful background. Use 2-3 colors. 2. Stamp all the images with darker color ink. At this point you have 2 options: A. Let it dry as is & consider your artwork finished. B. Emboss the entire surface with Clear powder for an enameled effect. DYED RIBBON Cut ribbon length. Hold ribbon down on open pad with a sponge. Gently pull ribbon end to dye length of ribbon. The more times you run your ribbon through the color, the darker the ribbon becomes. Ink on ribbon will not dry as fast as ink on paper. Blot the ribbon with tissue or paper towel - or place it in a netted bag (like the ones to launder nylons) & place in dryer, then hot glue to card. EGGSHELL CRACKLE Materials: Heavy White Cardstock (back of Glossy works fine), Pastels or Markers, Eggshell Crackle Medium from Folk Art Paint Brush or Sponge Brush, Basic Black Ink Pad Pigment Ink or Gel Stains, Paper Towels, Sponge Daubers Directions: 1. Stamp image with Basic Black inkpad (must be waterproof ink). Let dry. 2. Color image with pastels or markers. 3. Brush the first step of Eggshell Crackle all over image. Let dry. Do another coat & let that dry. 4. Brush the second step of Eggshell Crackle. Let dry. Now you will see the crackle. 5. Choose a pigment ink (one that will match a color used to color in your image). Use something dark or a brown gel stain....rub on then rub off. 6. Color will remain in the cracks & show off the crackle. You now have an old fashioned crackled Porcelain look. (Remember when using the crackle 2-step mediums, to clean your brush between coats. This will ruin your brushes if you do not clean them.) WET AND DRY EMBOSS 1. Stamp an outline stamp with the Basic Black inkpad & let dry completely. 2. Use a wet Q-tip and go around edge of the outline. Place on your mouse pad & trace outline with stylus. 3. Turn over and use the wet Q-tip again to moisten inside the outlined area. Use your stylus to color in the wet area (inside the outline). This makes the image pop up on the right side of your project. 4. Allow to dry. Color in with pastels &/or embellish with glitter.