All Around Creativity: Adding a Splash of Color

Close To My HeartAll Around Creativity, Be Kind, Create, Decor, embossing, Exclusive Inks, floral, flower, giveaway, grateful, National, national papercrafting month, npm, Papercrafting, sponging, Stay Awhile, techniques, VersaMark™ 37 Comments

We’re jumping right into the new year and celebrating National Papercrafting Month with the All Around Creativity special, featuring four gorgeous wreath kits that are only available from Close To My Heart through the end of the month. There are so many different ways to embellish these beautiful wreaths, so we figured we’d have some fun and share with you four simple ways that we’ve added color to the plywood bases.

Adding color to wood doesn’t need to be super messy or take a huge amount of time. It can be quick, easy, and clean. To start off, we’ll take a peek at one of the easiest wood-coloration techniques. This method uses an Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad and will only take you a few minutes from application until it’s completely dry!

Simply select the ink color you’d like to use and gently swipe the stamp pad over the surface of the wood with quick, dabbing motions, going with the grain. Going with the grain helps you to emphasize the natural beauty of the wood, while also protecting your stamp pad from getting scratched up or caught on the wood. As you’ll see in the video below, we left some of the wood grain visible for a more stained look, but you can make it as light or as dark as you’d like.

To achieve a softer, mottled look, try sponging the ink onto the wood.

Cut a Round Sponge into quarters. While gripping the point of one quarter with your fingers, gently load your sponge with ink by pouncing it on your stamp pad. Because the sponge absorbs the ink, it may not look like you have a lot on there, but you’ll have more ink than you think!

Once you’ve got your sponge inked and ready to go, use the same pouncing motion you used on the stamp pad to apply the color to the plywood. The ink will dry lighter than it looks while you apply it. For a darker, richer tone, you will have to apply additional layers of ink.

This next technique uses TriBlend™ markers. When using an alcohol-based marker to color wood, you’ll want to go in the direction of the grain and use a steady hand to achieve even color throughout.

Because you have greater control over color distribution when you use this method, you also have more control over the appearance of the colored wood. For instance, if you want a softer, lighter look, use a light hand and don’t go over the same spot too many times. For darker and richer tones, add more color layers to really get the pigment into the wood.

If you’re going for a darker color, don’t jam the marker tip into the wood, as this may damage your marker. Instead, go over the same area of the wood multiple times for color layering and try using a lighter shade of your TriBlend™ marker.

The last technique we’re showcasing today adds a bit of sparkle to your art. Heat embossing! (We went there, and it’s beautiful!)

First, place your wreath over a piece of scratch paper so you can catch any excess embossing powder. Then, begin by rubbing the surface of the wreath with an anti-static pouch. Apply VersaMark™ ink to the wreath, a few sections at a time, using the same pouncing motion you saw in our first technique. While the ink is still wet, sprinkle embossing powder over it, shake off any excess powder onto your scratch paper, and heat set with a heat tool. (Use your scratch paper to easily funnel your excess embossing powder back into its container for future use.)

We absolutely love these wreaths and National Papercrafting Month, because it really gets us thinking outside the box! We can’t wait to see all the different ways you choose to add color to your wreaths.

Remember, you can only get these gorgeous wreath kits until January 31, and if you buy four or more you even get a discount! Make sure to take full advantage of the All Around Creativity special while you still can. For a few of you who may be on the fence, we are giving away four of these kits to four lucky readers! For a chance to win, you must do two things. First, make sure you are subscribed to this blog. If you are not, find the blue button on the sidebar that says “Subscribe to list” and follow the prompts once you’ve clicked it. Second, leave us a comment below telling us what types of crafts you like to work out, outside of scrapbooking and cardmaking. You have until 12 p.m. (MST) Thursday, January 9, to submit your entries. All winners will be notified by email. Good luck and happy crafting!

Recipes

Create Wreath
CC12017 Create Wreath Kit, Z2848 Sapphire Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad

Stay Awhile Wreath
CC12019 Stay Awhile Wreath Kit, Z6512 Evergreen Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z697 Round Sponge

Grateful Wreath
CC12018 Grateful Wreath Kit, Z2478 Earth Brown TriBlend™ Marker

Be Kind Wreath
CC12016 Be Kind Wreath Kit, Z2850 Fern Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2835 New England Ivy Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2844 Pixie Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2812 Raspberry Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z891 VersaMark™ Ink Pad, Z3293 Clear Shimmer Brush, Z4235 Gold Loose Sequins, Z697 Round Sponge, Z4249 Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder, Z4220 Anti-static Pouch, Z4252 Heat Tool

8 Ways to Add Color to Your Stamping

Close To My Heartcolor, coloring, colour, emboss, embossing, Exclusive Inks, heat tool, ink, marker, National Stamping Month, paint, pencil, pigment, stamp, stamping, VersaMark™, watercolor, watercolour 4 Comments

September is National Stamping Month and, as you know, we live and breathe stamps here at Close To My Heart. They are where we got our start many years ago, and to this day just simply can’t get enough of them! And from what we can gather, we are not alone in this obsession hobby! 😉

With care, you place your stamp on your block, prudently ink it with a color that you carefully selected just minutes (if not days) before, then press it to your paper and upon removing the block your image looks as perfectly crisp as you planned for. The next step in the creation process of this new image is to breathe life into it with some color.

We’ve taken one of our many (many) favorite stamp sets, My Acrylix^® Bunches of Love, from the Holiday Expressions catalog to illustrate some stamp coloring options. Each is unique in it’s own way and, depending on what you’re looking to achieve, has a place in your coloring spectrum. For comparison purposes, we’ve kept the mediums separate, but by all means do combine them in your artwork to make your images look exactly how you envision them!

First up, the original.

Some of our stamp sets already come with the parts to fill in the white space of a larger image, and the My Acrylix^® Bunches of Love set does just that.

To keep things quick and easy, use the corresponding filler pieces to complete the image.

In cases where the stamp set is not designed this way or you’re wanting to showcase a stamp differently so it’s not the exact same every time, continue scrolling through our list.

A Watercolor Look:

watercolor paint

watercolor pencils

For a soft look, watercolors are the way to go!

If you’re still working on mastering the art of using watercolor paints, try watercolor pencils. By applying color with pencils, shading and color blending is easier to control than with paint. Once you’ve penciled the color in, gently brush water over it with a damp fine tip paintbrush or waterbrush to spread the pigment. For best results, follow the pencil lines using smooth strokes. Keep in mind as you decide which watercolor medium is right for your project, that the direction of your pencil lines will still show through, unlike with paint.

Exclusive Inks™

For a more vivid “watercolor” look that doesn’t require layers of watercolor paint to achieve, give “painting” with our Exclusive Inks™ a try!

Squeeze your stamp pad in the middle to get some of the ink to rub onto the lid. Remove the inked lid, and from there decide how strong or light you want your color to appear. If you want the saturation to match the ink color exactly, use the ink as is. For a lighter variation of this same color, mix some water in with it (straight on the lid). The more water you add to the ink, the lighter the color will be. Pick the color up with a brush and ink-paint your stamped image.

Our Exclusive Inks™ are available in every one of our 41 exclusive colors (plus White Daisy and several black options). Enjoy effortless color coordination with our patterned papers, cardstock, and embellishments by using this method for coloring in your stamped images.

Pens:

ShinHan™ Touch Twin markers

When going for a saturated, vibrant look, especially in small details, ShinHan™ Touch Twin markers are an excellent choice. They are bright, smudge-proof, and, because they are alcohol-based, they are easy to blend. The fine tip on each marker is ideal for coloring and adding intricate details.

shimmer brushes

Until recently, the shimmer brush was considered mostly an accenting tool because it only came in clear and gold. Well, those days are over friends! Now also available in Sugarplum, red, black, and Mint, these new hues carry enough weight to be used on their own to add a little bit more than shimmer. When you use these, prep your brush before you do. You will want to squeeze your brush over scrap paper until the shimmery liquid comes out. Brush it on your scrap paper until you get the consistency you want on your brush before coloring in those details.

Heat Embossing:

Give your stamps a little lift and texture with the right inks and embossing powders. (For those of you who are new to this technique, embossing powder is a special powder that, when heated, melts to form a raised surface.)

VersaMark™ ink and embossing powder

Sometimes a flat image just isn’t the way to go. That’s when heat embossing comes to the rescue. To start, stamp your image with the VersaMark™ ink pad (embossing ink), which will create a clear, wet-looking print of your stamp. While the ink is still wet, cover it with embossing powder and carefully shake off any excess. Use a heat tool to dry and seal your design. The heat tool blows extremely hot air with a low air current, which keeps the powder from blowing right off—hair dryers are not a good substitute! We have several new embossing powders in our new Holiday Expressions catalog to choose from (for a complete list click here).

Pigment Exclusive Inks™

Okay, so we’ve shared this last idea on here before, but with our new large stamp pad-sized pigment inks added to our coloring repertoire, we just have to share again.

Did you know that you can pair any of our Exclusive Inks™ pigment pads with clear embossing powder to emboss in that exact color? Yes, really! Stamp an image with your choice pigment ink, cover it with clear embossing powder, and then set it with your heat tool! It’s that easy! Match our exclusive colors perfectly using this last technique!

Whether you use these stamp coloring ideas alone or mix and match them, we hope you enjoy a full spectrum of color in all of your stamping projects!

Happy stamping! 🙂

Stamping Technique: Embossing

Close To My HeartBoo, embossing, Halloween, My Craft Channel, National Stamping Month, Nevermore, stamping technique, VersaMark™ 3 Comments

National Stamping Month’s been a real treat: From designing the My Acrylix^® Hello, Life! stamp sets to looking at all the beautiful artwork you’ve shared on social media, we’ve enjoyed every moment of it! Ready for another great stamping technique to celebrate this special month? We’ve got a great one to share from this spooktacular layout!

Did that “BOO” stamp on the right page pop out at you? Well it should have, not because it’s scary but because it’s embossed! For those who don’t know what we mean by embossing, we’ll quickly explain. Embossing means to create a raised design on a surface. This stamping technique gives the stamp a gritty texture that sits on top of the page for added dimension.

Now, how do you emboss? We’ll walk you through what our artist did for this stamp. First, she stamped the “BOO” image onto the page using a VersaMark^™ ink pad. Then she sprinkled Ranger^™ white super fine embossing powder onto the ink, and lightly shook off the extra (the powder will cling to the ink). To set the image, she heated it with a craft heater. Here’s a closer look at the finished product:

What’s particularly cool about the embossing on this Halloween layout is that our artist surrounded it with an Eggplant fog to create a ghostly feel. This technique is really easy to do and adds extra charm to the embossing. Using our Eggplant Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad, she simply took a sponge dauber and lightly daubed on and around the embossing. The stamp doesn’t become obscured because the embossing resists the ink. It’s almost like magic!

On the prowl for more artwork featuring our Nevermore paper collection? You’ll find lots more by searching Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest using the hashtag #ctmhnevermore. Also, in case you missed it, check out the fun artwork in this video that came out earlier this month on the My Craft Channel website:

Recipe

12″ x 12″ Halloween Layout
B1503 My Acrylix^® Steampunk Scoundrels, B1488 My Acrylix^® Pumpkin Chevron, X7198B Nevermore Paper Packet, X5769 Thistle Cardstock, 1386 Black Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3126 Paper Fundamentals Enchantment, Z3128 Paper Fundamentals Basics, Z2648 Sapphire Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z2647 Eggplant Exclusive Inks^™Stamp Pad 44751 Archival Black Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z891 VersaMark^™ Ink Pad, Z3083 Nevermore Assortment, Z3166 Fundamental Stickers Basics Pack, Z3104 Fundamental Assortment Black, Z2013 Sequins Silver Assortment, Z2068 Ranger^™ White Super Fine Embossing Powder, Z2462 ShinHan^™ Touch Twin^™ Peony Purple Marker, Z1979 Marvy^® Uchida^® LePen^™ Journaling Pen, Z3169 Cricut^® Artbooking Collection

Cricut^® Shape:
Artbooking
2 ½” Shift+Title <I> (p. 55)

Make It from Your Heart

Tag Archives: VersaMark™

All Around Creativity: Adding a Splash of Color