Technique of the Week: Combining Earth Arts Stamps with Nuance and Distress Inks

Technique of the Week is posted in conjunction with the Art 'n Soul weekly newsletter, and this week's technique is by Marj Marion. Marj has kindly agreed to tell us how she made these gorgeous cards, just using some Earth Art stamps and some background panels she just had lying around.

Maybe like me, you enjoy making several Nuance background panels or Distress Ink panels at a time, and having them handy for future stamping projects. I keep a stash of these panels handy, and find it easy to then add stamping or other techniques when I’m ready to make cards.  I recently made a number of cards using Earth Art stamps, and panels that I had previously made.

Earth Art Roadrunner card by Marj Marion

For the Roadrunner card shown above, I choose a sort of mottled, Nuance background panel. I created a few colors of Nuance colored water on a palate. With a 3/4” watercolor brush, I painted horizontal streaks at the bottom of the panel to create sort of a “road” for the Roadrunner to run on!  Then, I did partial stamping in black Versafine ink with Stampscapes 286 E background stamp, making the sketchy lines along the “road”.  Then I stamped the Earth Art Roadrunner stamp in black Versafine ink as well. I think this roadrunner is so adorable, and I can think of several quotes that would be fun with it…….”The first step is always the hardest!”, or “I just want to run to your house and play”, or "Can I run over and help you?"

Earth Art Tree of Life card by Marj Marion

For the Tree of Life card, I chose a Nuance panel that had some pale blue and green shades of Nuance in the upper sky area, and more autumn shades in the ground area.  I made some colored water with Distress reinkers in a palate and painted some swooshes in the lower ground area.  I stamped the Earth Art Tree of Life image in Black Versafine ink. I layered the colored panel on a black panel, off-setting it to the right.  I wrapped some multi-colored narrow green ribbon around the black panel on the left, and glued a leaf-shaped wooden embellishment on top of the ribbon. Then, I adhered the entire panel to a folded green card. This Tree of Life image would be good for any friend in any "stage of life". 

Earth Art Bee card by Marj Marion

For the Bee card, I dug deep in my stash for this unusual panel!  :)  I had experimented with watercolor techniques on Yupo paper (a smooth, somewhat shiny paper), but didn’t finish a card with it.  As I looked for a panel to use with Earth Art images, I choose this one for the Bee image.  I had painted swirls or splotches of red, yellow and orange watercolor paint on the Yupo paper.  After it was dry, I stamped this lively Bee image from Earth Art, using black Brilliance ink, as it dries well on glossy surfaces. After the ink was dry, I used scissors to cut wavy edges on the panel. Then, I layered it to a black panel, and cut wavy edges here as well.  Next, I layered it to a red panel, and then to a yellow folded card. The lively colors suggest a message like “Bee kind to yourself!”, or “Bee sure to make some art today!"

Earth Art Elephant card by Marj Marion

Who doesn’t love gentle elelphants?  I made this elephant card using the Spellbinders A-7 Modern Stationery die set S-6013.  It contains 7 dies, and you can make small, medium or large cards. I cut a white panel, and stamped it with Impression Obsession Clouds Cover A Card CC091 using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.  I stamped the Earth Art Elephant stamp with black Versafine ink, and then layered this to a black folded card which was also cut with the Modern Stationery Die Set. I added three black bling dots at both the upper left and lower right corners. Inside the black card, I glued it a text weight panel of white paper so I could write with a normal pen.

Earth Art Lovebirds card by Marj Marion

For the last card in this series, I felt that sometimes simplicity is the best choice. I cut a circle in a black panel to accommodate the Earth Art image “Love Birds”.  I stamped the image with black ink on a cream panel, then centered the opening of the black panel over the image and adhered in place.  I layered this onto a dark red folded card. I added the word Soar, from Impression Obsession C 13041, layering with foam tape for dimension.  Last, I added four dots of black Pearl Pen in the corners of the Soar tag.

Look through your stash of prepared background panels when it’s time to do your next card!

Come in to Art 'n Soul and check out all of these samples in person; and be sure to come to Gwen Evans’ demo of Earth Art stamps on April 9th from 11-3.