Count My Blessings - bleaching technique

I have been following the catastrophic events in Houston, Texas as they unfolded over the last couple of days. I can't believe the amount of rain that Hurricane  Harvey has dumped on this large city, and from all reports Harvey is about to strike again before heading inland. My heart goes out to all the victims of this flood.!  I hope you, my followers especially, are safe and not trapped on a roof somewhere!
In Southern Ontario, some impact of Harvey will be felt later in the week, with mild rainy, windy weather, certainly nothing compared to my neighbours to the south.
Stay safe my friends!

I was thinking of the victims of  Hurricane Harvey when I made this Thanksgiving card.  I used a technique I have not used in a long time - bleaching!

On a Chocolate chip piece of card stock, I black embossed these acorn images randomly over its surface.  Then, taking a fine tipped paint brush, I carefully applied bleach to the insides of each embossed image using my heat tool to dry.  This had an unusual effect of making parts of the images appear lighter in colour.

This art piece was adhered to a sponged Very Vanilla layer and before adhering it to the Cajun Craze card front, I wrapped linen thread 3-4 times around the left side and tied it into a knot at the front.

I used the Everyday Label Punch to punch out the sentiment, which I matted with Cajun Craze card stock before adhering it to the middle of the card.

It's not evident on the picture, but I did apply some clear Wink of Stella over the bleached images.

Supplies Used:
Stamp:  Count My Blessings
Inks:  Soft Suede, Versa Mark
Papers:  Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Linen Thread, Everyday Label Punch, Bleach, Black embossing powder, Clear Wink of Stella

Beetles & Bugs Try Stampin' or Not on Tuesday #320

The optional theme for Vicki's sketch at Try Stampin' or Not on Tuesday, is May Days.  You may wonder why I have bugs on my card. Let's say I was out gardening, and some flying, biting insects were very abundant, and more abundant now since the weather warmed up.  Therefore the insect card.

 

I actually don't mind insects, but not crawling all over me.  Structurally they are quite fascinating.

I started by taking a piece of Soft Suede cardstock and embossing 6 beetle/bug images from the stamp set " Bugs & Beetles" with Black Embossing powder.

Then, using fresh ordinary household bleach and a very small paint brush, I applied bleach to these images being careful to stay within the lines.  Immediately the color of the bugs changed.  The color was enhanced when I applied heat to the images with my embossing tool.  When the images were dry, I took a Basic Black marker and reintroduced some black back into the images.

This art piece was matted with Basic Black card stock and added to the card front using dimensionals.

The basic card is Basic Black card stock, layered with So Saffron cardstock embossed with the Hexagonal embossing folder.  On the left side I added a piece of Soft Suede DSP matted with Basic Black card stock.

Emerging out from under the art piece is a die cut tree - die cut from Beautiful Branches Thinlet dies.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Bugs & Beetles
Inks: Versa Mark, Basic Black marker
Papers: Basic Black, So Saffron, Soft Suede, Soft Suede DSP

Accessories Black embossing powder, Heat tool, Hexagonal Dynamic embossing folder, bleach, small paint brush, dimensionals.

Indescribable Gift Bleaching Technique

The card technique for the Canadian Die Cut Exchange group is  the bleaching technique.  There are several ways to do this , but I chose to paint my image with bleach and a brush and then return the colour back into the image.
I did not follow a tutorial to do this technique as I have done it several times before.
The stamp set I used is a beautiful Easter card, now retired (sob!) Indescribable Gift.

 

 On a 3 by 4" piece of Island Indigo the image was embossed with black embossing powder.  Then using a brush and some ordinary household bleach the image was "painted" with bleach and then heat dried with a heating tool. 

To get the colour I  desired I painted the areas twice, heat drying again after the second application.Then using an aqua painter and ink pads the image was repainted, and some Wink of Stella applied

Some glitter was added by randomly gluing some "In Color" sequins.

The corners were punched with the curvy corner trio punch.

The image panel was matted with 3 1/8 by 4 1/8" piece of Whisper White cardstock and this was matted with a 3 1/4 by 4 1/4" piece of Calypso Coral cardstock.

The base cardstock is Island Indigo, the front of which was embossed with the Decorative Dots embossing folder.  On the left hand side the spellbinder die "Fanciful Lattice" was used to cut a 5 by 3"  die cut.  A piece of 1/4" Whisper White ribbon was wound through the lattice holes on the outer side and adhered with tape on the bottom.  This die cut piece was then added to the card front.

The image panel was attached to the card front , using dimensionals, with the left side close to the woven ribbon.  A bow was made of the white ribbon and added to the left bottom corner with a glue dot.

The sentiment, from "Good Greetings" was punched with a small oval punch, the edges sponged with Island Indigo ink and attached to the card front with dimensionals.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Indescribable Gift, Good Greetings
Inks: Versa Mark, Calypso Coral, Tangelo Twist, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, Island Indigo
Papers: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Spellbinding Fanciful Lattice die, Decorative dots embossing folder, 1/4" Whisper White ribbon, Black embossing powder, Heat tool, Curvy Corner Trio Punch, Small oval punch, Wink of Stella clear glitter brush, In colour sequins, dimensionals, glue dot

Happy Mother's Day - a Bleaching Technique

It's been a while since I've done the bleaching technique on cards.  I used to do it a lot in my early card making days, but not lately.  The idea came to use bleaching as a technique was inspired by Sandi Daley, and as a result will be doing this technique in class the end of April - as a Mother's Day card.

Taking a piece of 1 3/4 by 4 1/4" piece of Bermuda Bay cardstock, the floral image from "Mother's Love" was embossed with black embossing powder.  Embossing keeps the bleach within the confines of the image.
Using a small paint brush and ordinary household bleach (fresh bleach works the best, so if you've had your bleach for a while get some new bleach), paint with bleach all the areas you wish to.  The entire image does not need to be  bleached.  I did decide to bleach all the open areas.
Waiting for the bleach to do its trick can be frustrating, so apply the heating tool, and like magic, the bleached areas will turn white.  Doing this will also show up areas you missed with the brush, so you can reapply bleach to those areas.

The image can stay white if you wish, but I decided to re-add some colours using markers.  First I applied Hello Honey to the throat of each flower, and then a bit of Calypso Coral.  Garden Green and Old Olive were added to the leaves.
I really wanted the top of the flowers to be a bit white, so I used a chalk pen.  I also used it on the leaves.

The art work panel was matted with Hello Honey cardstock and adhered to the layer below with dimensionals.

The basic cardstock is Bermuda Bay, layered with Whisper White, and then a Bermuda Bay layer die cut with the Hexagon Hive framelit.

Around these 3 layers some white Baker's twine was wrapped 3 times and knotted over the image piece.  Some Baker's Twine was fed through a Calypso Coral button (SAB) and a bow tied at the top.  It was adhered over the knot of the Baker's Twine using at least 4 glue dots.  These layers were then adhered to the Bermuda Bay card base.

The sentiment is from "Sweet Laughter" and was stamped in 2 separate images using markers to highlight the word(s) I wanted and where.  They were stamped on Hello Honey cardstock and die cut using the Banners framelit.  It was added at an angle with dimensionals at the notched end, and adhesive at the other.

Supplies Used:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Designer Embossing- a Technique and a tip

This information I got from various blog sites as well as "Stampin Success" June 2009 and when I tried it I was "wowed" .

Designer embossing involves white embossing on any of the Designer Series papers.  Here's how to do it as well as some helpful tips.

1.  Use a dark-coloured Designer Series paper.  This will make the white embossing really pop.
2.  Make sure the stamped image coordinates with the Designer Series paper or at least complements it.  You don't want to create a pattern that is too busy.
3.  Choose large images to emboss such as "Upsy Daisy" or "Inspired by Nature"
4.  Stamp the image with VersaMark ink, but rub an embossing buddy over your paper first.  The embossing buddy keeps the embossing powder from sticking anywhere but on the ink.
5.  Cover the image completely with White Stampin' Emboss powder.
6.  Shake off the excess powder.  For a clean look, use a brush to gently remove loose specks of powder.
7.  Heat the image with a heating tool.  Hold the tool 4-6 inches away to avoid burning your paper.

Christmas Lodge - Create with Connie & Mary Sketch Challenge 166

I wasn't too enamored when I first saw this stamp set, but the more I work with it the more I like it.
For this sketch challenge with CCM 166 here I used two different techniques - bleaching and faux quilting.  I decided to use faux quilting rather than 2 designer papers side by side, because what is a lodge or log cabin without a quilt!
I turned the sketch around to accommodate the stamp I was using.

Stamps: Christmas Lodge, Merry & Type
Inks: Basic Black, Garden Green, Versa Mark
Papers: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Frostwood Lodge Designer Paper
Accessories: Snowburst embossing folder, Spritz, 1/4" square punch, bleach and a small paint brush, dazzling diamonds, 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon (Wild Wasabi), dimensionals, black embossing powder

I first stamped the image with Versa mark on Crumb cake card stock, and embossed with black embossing powder.  Then, using the small paint brush, I applied bleach (household) to the snow covered areas of the lodge.  When dry I applied glue and dazzling diamonds.

 Here is a close up of the focal image.