Summer of Creative Chemistry: Distress Stains

If you are interested in learning A LOT about your crafting supplies, especially inks, stamps, and Ranger products, you should take Online Card Classes Creative Chemistry. It's well worth the investment. I've learned far more than just how to use Ranger products, I've learned how they relate into everything I own.

For Challenge Week 2, I pulled out a little used product of mine: Distress Stains.

Binary: I made the tags with the marbled stain technique which is very similar to wrinkle free distress. This tag was made with Dusty Concord, Shaded Lilac, Broken China, and Picket Fence. It's edged with Bronze? I decided to keep the robot stamps out. (I think it might be a robot summer for me. I'm seeing them everywhere and adding computer code, circuitry, and gears to my extensive collection of supplies!) 

I used a stamp from Creative Embellishments (Binary) and Ranger Super Fine Copper embossing powder for the background. The gear in the center is also from CE. I embossed the chipboard with some powders from Lindy's Stamp Gang...it looks A-Mazing up close!

I really enjoyed this card but the color combo was one I had done in the past. I knew it would work well. So I decided to try something else as well.

After all, if the technique worked with Picket Fence (the "opaque" stain), it should work with any of the metallics, right? Yea, sort of.

Seahorse:  I made these tags by substituting the Bronze stain for the white. I used Broken China, Salty Ocean, and Cracked Pistachio. I like the result though the finished result resembles the wrinkle free distress look more than the marbled stain. But I realize that the difference is just as much about how you drag your tag through your stain as it is about which colors and how much you use.

The seahorse stamp is from 100 Proof Press and the seaweed is another chipboard offering from Creative embellishments. I used more Lindy's embossing powder on the seaweed. I like how the green seems to brighten the card.
 

There's a really intense shimmer with the metallic stains. Difficult to photograph but you can see a bit of it at the top.

I did some other backgrounds but have yet to finish the tags. Maybe tomorrow.
-Wy

Goldfish Dream: Canvas

This 8 X 10 canvas started with the kernel of an idea I had been toying with for awhile; using aluminum foil colored with alcohol ink for a background. That was my start.

I tested a few scraps of foil for how the alcohol ink would look, stick, and what would rub it off. I experimented with how to attach it to the canvas and if Mod Podge (my "glue" of choice) would affect the surface if I was extra messy with it. Did I like the foil more crumpled or more flat?

After some fun, I made a few decisions including the main focal elements. I wanted a deep sea view using my favorite jellyfish stamp (from 100 Proof Press ) and I wanted the canvas to be very transparent/metallic. I didn't want to cover much of the colored foil with paper elements or cut-outs as I wanted that look of gazing through water.

So using a blue palette of alcohol inks, I colored the foil and liked the metallic look it retained. But since it was already attached to the canvas, it was impossible to stamp directly on it and get a clear impression. So I decided to stamp on clear acrylic sheets and cut them out. In addition to the jellyfish, I added a school of fish (Lost Coast Designs) and a spore in the left corner. (This was part of another idea that I trashed early on of using the spore as a Sunlight source shining a ray into the depths...scrapped it.)

I attached the stamped images with gel medium. It dried clear and invisibly and I was careful not to use too much as it seemed to affect the alcohol ink beneath it.

The canvas still looked quite plain so I added the middle line of "bubbles" using very old epoxy circles that have been in my stash for way too long. I debated about putting some kind of paper under them, like dictionary, but wanted to stay true to my original idea of a see-through look.

This is where I originally decided the canvas was complete: Deep Dive.

But I didn't like it. It didn't look finished. I tried adding purple fluid acrylic around the edge to frame it out but it didn't help. I kept staring at it wondering what it needed.

It needed a foreground and it would have to be something that stood out. I thought I'd cut out some seaweed to add; stamped images that would be cut from paper then attached. But then I pulled out some embossing powder; and man, did things change!

I'm becoming a big fan of torn paper and I'm using it a lot in my stuff. Since I had wanted to highlight the bubbles with dictionary paper, I decided to tear my seaweed from that. Then, I sprayed it with Dylusions ink, Cut Grass. And here's where I got excited!
I had in my stash from several years ago some of the Moon Glo embossing powders from Lindy's Stamp Gang. My sisters and I bought a few colors after seeing some amazing techniques done with them. Naturally, after we got home, we forgot about them and how to really maximize their usage. I was on the verge of getting rid of them. I decided to give them a whirl on my seaweed to make the paper look glossy and wet.

So glad I did! I used a Starlight Gold/green powder mostly but added in some Desert Moon/ ??  (sorry I forgot the other color in the mixture. Each embossing powder from Lindy's is a two-toned powder!) I inked the whole face of the paper with Versamark ink and sprinkled the powder on. As it melted it curled the edges of the paper, but what a great look for me. The translucent nature of these colors allowed the paper to show from underneath as well as the green ink. And the touch of brown you see in the photo is from the embossing powders. These powders also give a pearlescent sheen to the paper making it reflect similarly to the foil on the background. I LOVE IT!

After adding my seaweed (squeal) with gel medium, I wanted just one more element; something to tie it all together. I added my goldfish. I thought about that movie "Finding Nemo" where the fish in the tank all dream of getting to the ocean. Nothing fancy about him, just cut out, attached, and outlined with a subtle hint of gold gelato.

So now...finally...this canvas is finished. "Goldfish Dream" is a new favorite of mine.
--Wy
"Just keep swimming." --Dori from "Finding Nemo"
Note: After my paper curled up from the embossing, I did manage to uncurl it mostly. The very edges remained curled but that was the look I wanted, very 3-D. I just needed enough of the surface to make contact with the canvas so that it stayed attached.

The Sea Canvas (Complete)

After I found my shells, this finished up very quickly...probably because I knew exactly what I wanted to put on the top layer. The quote I had written down for the longest time and always just loved it. It's from a poem by ee cummings; sorry I forget the title. I thought it best represented the piece and it repeated through my head as I worked on it.

I added Distress Stickles to the white of the waves to give a touch of sparkle. It's very subtle and exactly what I wanted.

I bought the Seahorse charm on a chain of several and just wanted to use one!

Added many small shells (and a few stickers of shells to use them up) in the corners. The 3D items are attached with matte Gel Medium.

These epoxy circles I stumbled across when I was searching my stash for my shells. The little sheet I had cried to be used up so I made them bubbles and they add a nice top layer. Not too flashy but not unnoticable.

Super happy with this piece, now titled, "What we find in the Sea".
I vow to use more old maps and blue paint.
--Wy
"For whatever we lose (like a you or a me) it's always ourselves we find in the sea."  --ee cummings