Faux Print Look

One of the things I enjoy doing is checking the blogs of artists whose work I admire. I appreciate their creativity, and learn from their generous sharing of knowledge.

I recently saw a blog post from a paper artist in Europe. Her style is so bright and fun, and she often uses paint to create the backgrounds for her stamped cards. I was intrigued by a card she posted recently, and she included a link to the artist's video that demonstrated the technique she used, called the faux print look.

Here is a link to her blog post: http://somefiddlingonthekitchentable.blogspot.com/2016/04/faux-print-look.html. And here is the link to the video tutorial she referenced: http://www.kimdellow.co.uk/2016/04/video-get-faux-printed-look.html.

I was impressed with how easy she made it look, and couldn't wait to give it a try. I got out the very simple supplies needed: cardstock, acrylic paint (the cheap craft paint works fine), and an old plastic gift card.

Following her directions, I spread thin layers of paint across the surface of the cardstock, leaving a white border around the edges. Because the paint is so thin, it dries very quickly. It is so easy to make several backgrounds at once and have some on hand.

I love the way it turned out! I wanted to use it in a card to submit for a Facebook challenge with the Unity Show & Tell group. This particular challenge was to use one of the "Unity Girl" stamps - there are so many, but I only have a few. I thought this particular one (Maple Girl) would look nice against the painted background. I stamped it with Ranger Archival ink - since the face is tilted slightly towards the right, I placed the image to the left of my painted panel. 

I also used a Unity text stamp (Vintage Handwritten) in the background, around the main image - to keep it light, I stamped off on scrap paper before stamping on the panel. The sentiment is from a recent kit called "Sometimes I Wonder". I stamped that on a scrap of white cardstock, and blended Distress Peacock Feathers ink over it to get that shade of blue. I trimmed it down with some old decorative scissors from Stampin' Up!, and stitched it down to the main panel. 

After trimming, the stamped panel seemed a little short, so I got some scrap lace trim out to fill up that extra space at the bottom. I figured that the sewing machine was the best way to attach it, so I used deliberately messy stitching and  black thread to sew it down and create a frame around the card at the same time. I glued it down to some mustard colored cardstock, and left it under a book overnight to dry completely.

After posting it in the Facebook group, I received several nice comments, so I thought I'd put it out here for everyone. I appreciate that others shared what they did so that I could learn and benefit from it!

Hope your week is going well - I know I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Immi

Unity Stamp Challenge

The current challenge at Unity Stamps is about to end, so I'm barely going to get this posted in time to participate.

As shown on their blog, here is the starting point. Participants can choose to follow the color scheme or layout as loosely as they like. I thought the color scheme was great, and I liked the card layout as well. I recently purchased the stamp set (Butterflies & Sunbeams) featured in the layout, so I decided to use that.

Here's my interpretation:

I stamped the heart & butterfly image on watercolor paper using Black Archival ink. The coloring was super simple with watered down inks and a paintbrush. The inks I used on the butterflies are Distress Picked Raspberry and Dried Marigold (I combined the two for the largest butterfly.) The heart is a combination of Distress Spun Sugar and Tea Dye. The ink splatters are Picked Raspberry & Dried Marigold.

Once that was dry, I stitched the panel to a piece of black paper with gold script I had in my stash. I didn't do the neatest job the first time around on the stitching, so I went around again, deliberately making it look at little wonky. Now no one can tell where I messed up the first time!

The card base is white cardstock, stamped repeatedly with one of the sentiments from this stamp set, using Creamy Caramel ink from Stampin' Up! Between the black paper and the card base, I layered a piece of pink patterned paper from a 6 x 6 Colorbok pad called Light Bright.

The sentiment at the top was stamped on a scrap of watercolor paper with Versafine Onyx Black and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I used some of the Picked Raspberry & Dried Marigold to color it, and stitched one end with black thread. I notched the opposite end, and used Distress Black Soot to go around the edge.

I hope your week is going well. I'll be back at work beginning next week - this summer has flown by!

Till next time,

Immi