Trying Something New

Hi all.  I've been playing around with some stamping this week and wanted to share with you the results.

This experiment started with me clearing off my crafting table from my last project.  Like everything else I do, I am a very messy crafter.  Paper, paints, stamps, dies, die cuts, inks, brushes, fibers, and all things crafty just end up everywhere and anywhere.  As I was picking everything up and sorting, I saw a clear plastic cover piece for a clear stamp set lying on top of one of my stamped tags.  The plastic cover had the images of the stamps printed on it.  It was such a neat overlay for my stamped tag.  I wondered if I could simulate that clear transparency overlay look with stamps.  I think I came up with something close to the look that I wanted.  Here is how I  made it work:

I started with a piece of Tim Holtz's Mixed Media Heavyweight Cardstock.  I used several of Tim's stamps (ok ... too many sets to remember -- you can see a Tiny Things 2 butterfly, a Fabulous Flourish, Floral Border, Floral Swirl, and I'm sure you will find others in there) and Texture - Iron Orchid Designs from Prima in Sepia and Jet Black archival ink to create my background.  I then muted all of those images by given them a wash of watered down gesso.

 Next I used Heidi Swapp's Butterfly Stencil set to create my "transparent overlay".  (This stencil was really important because it has a lot of "open space" to do my next stamping layer.  I tried this technique with other less open stencils and the end result looked really chaotic and indecipherable.  Another nice thing about this stencil set is that you get the butterfly stencil and its corresponding butterfly mask in the same package.  Cool ... right?).  I applied Ranger's Transparent Gloss Texture Paste through the butterfly stencil with one of my local hardware store's putty knifes.  The putty knife really was the tool that gave me the smoothest (but not perfect) finish.  After it completely dried, (it took awhile) I put the mask over the stenciled butterfly and inked the paper with Distress Oxide Inks (Peeled Paint, Fossilized Amber, Walnut Stain).  Some of these inks were applied with a water brush and some were applied with a blending tool and then spritzed.   I used a Walnut Stain Distress Crayon to create drop shadows for my butterfly.

Next came my second stamping layer on top of the dried transparent paste.  I removed the mask that I had over my stenciled butterfly and put the stencil back over it (to protect my background as I added this next layer of stamping).  To further differentiate the stamped layers, I went for stamping on the transparent butterfly in some bright colors.  The ones used here are from Ranger Inks' Archival Mini Ink Pad Kits-Kit 3 (love these mini archival inks ... perfect for when I travel).  Again, more Tim Holtz stamps (another tiny things butterfly, some stars, a Flourish stamp, the "Out of Limitation Comes Creativity" sentiment stamp, and some from his Floral Tattoo set) were used for this second layer.  I absolutely *love*❤️ 💕 💗 💖 the effect!  I think its one of my favorite stamping experiments to date.

I had a little more space on the left side of the paper, so I added some crackle paste through Tim's Numeric Layering Stencil.  I gave the crackled paste a wash of Antique Linen Distress Ink with a water brush.  I then used the Walnut Stain Distress Crayon to add more drop shadows.

I used Tim's Paper Distresser around the edges of the cardtock.  I backed it with a layer of Distress Stain and Inked (Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain) recycled corrugated cardboard and a canvas board.  The canvas board was given a Distress Paint treatment (Peeled Paint, Walnut Stain, Antique Linen) then covered with Tissue Tape.  I used finger to really burnish the tissue tape so that we can still see the canvas underneath.  I even gave it a bit of sanding with sandpaper.  Then I mixed a little Walnut Stain Distress Ink with Matte Distress Collage Medium and covered all of the Tissue tape.  Tim Holtz Ideaology Corners were covered in a layer of Black Soot Distress Paint.  I sanded the edges of these metal corners and took off some of the black paint.  then I used Rust Alcohol Ink to cover the exposed metal.

I found some awesome Ideaology Chit Chat sentiments to put on my canvas board background to celebrate the way that creating this lovely winged beauty made me feel.  I gotta say, the "out of limitations comes creativity" sentiment also was perfect for this experiment as well.   On the right side, I embellished with a few Remnant Rubs, Design Tape, a Little Yellow Bicycle "happy" (so true) die cut (topped with Glossy Accents).  .  But I needed something to balance the left side.

I die cut some Distress card stock with Tim's Trellis die and sanded the edges.  I then applied Rusty Hinge Distress Ink to the sanded edges.  I added some inked Tattered Garland die cuts and flourishes from Tim's Festive Garland Strip die.  I alcohol inked some pearls and a metal bumble bee embellishment (no idea where this guy came from, but he's awesome!) for the finishing touches!

 Thanks for letting me share this creative experiment with you.  I am going to enter it in

Frilly and Funkie's "B" Happy Challenge
Craft Stamper's Take It Make It July Challenge: Inspiration
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Summer Fun! and
A Vintage Journey's Get Sentimental Challenge.

Hope you all have a great week!  Mary Elizabeth