Technique of the Week: "Score" with Solid Stamps by Marj Marion

This technique was shared with me by Sue Moffat, former staff member and a great friend of Art ’n Soul and me!  Thanks, Sue, for letting me share it in our weekly email and on our blog.

Supplies:  Nice, smooth card stock, a Score Board Tool, solid style rubber stamps, Distress Oxide Inks and assorted embossing powders and bling.

by Marj Marion

Step 1.  Place your cardstock in a scoring tool (I like the Martha Stewart ones, either large or small). 

For this first sample, I chose to score every 3/4”……both horizontally and vertically.

Step 2.  Place your scored cardstock in your MISTI with the score lines that are “depressed” facing up. Position your solid stamp in one corner, and ink up with desired Oxide ink. Press somewhat firmly to transfer the ink, but not TOO hard. You want the ink to show in the resulting raised “squares” between your score lines, but if you press too hard, the ink will sink down into the depressed score lines, and you want these score lines to remain un-inked.

Step 3.  Repeat the stamping if you need more ink for a complete image; don’t press harder, just add more ink. Then, clean the stamp, and repeatedly reposition it so you cover the entire scored card stock panel with stamped images. It’s fun to use a wide variety of inks, and use your creativity in selecting your colors.

Step 4.  Trim your panel to fit your desired card size, and stamp a message in coordinating ink if you want a message on your card. Mount your decorated panel to a coordinating colored panel, and then to your card, add your message, and a ribbon if desired. You will love the silk ribbons at Art ’n Soul because you can add a bow without a lot of bulk.

I used Magenta 07.700 G —“Life is Art” and Magenta C 42.111K—Solid Roses in this first card.

Step 5.  You can vary this technique by scoring your paper with different widths……and make even or uneven measurements between your score lines.

by Marj Marion

This card shows uneven scoring, with Magenta CL 0354 I —flower, and Magenta 21.036 B—Bubble for the circle over-stamped in the middle of the flowers. All inks were Distress Oxide. The small pink dots were made by pressing the end of a poker tool in ink, and “stamping” with it. If you ink your stamps well, you can do this technique without a MISTI…..just apply lots of ink from a well inked pad, and press with medium pressure.

by Marj Marion

Step 6. The above example shows a 3/4” even scoring pattern,  Magenta 85.012 K —Solid flower with Abandoned Coral Oxide ink, embossed with clear powder. I added black sparkle sticker paper die cut with Hero Arts DC 151 Stamp and Cut, and stars cut with a hand held punch.  A double bow of twine adds more interest.

by Marj Marion

Step 7. My last sample shows 1”  even scoring, with Magenta 41.073 J—Branch Silhouette.  I used Twisted Citron Oxide ink and embossed with Judikins Iridescent Sparkle Embossing Powder.  The little flower stamp is Magenta C 0616 B, stamped with assorted Oxide inks.

Have fun with this technique, and bring in your creations to show us!

What's New at Art 'n Soul

Pam's mini class is almost here!!

Sunday, July 30th, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. "MINI CLASS - CHRISTMAS IN JULY” – Pam Nelson $5 cash or store credit

by Pam Nelson

Do you want to get an early start on your holiday cards? Drop by the store any time between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to make this fun card featuring a new die from Memory Box’s holiday release. Pam will show you how to use two colors of glitter to make a shiny, yet easy, card. Please bring your double sided adhesive and fine tip glue applicator, if you have them.

We will be opening the Memory Box/Poppy catalog in conjunction with this class! The newest collection from Memory Box and Poppy is Holiday and Christmas, and there are some beautiful new dies that you are going to love!

Ranger is finally shipping our first order of the Tim Holtz platforms! They are in New Jersey, so it will be about a week before we receive them, and we are so excited to finally get these into our hands. Unfortunately we have sold all of the initial ones we ordered, but we will be ordering more. If you don't have to have it immediately, please order through us.

 

We also want to thank all of you who have ordered the platforms and other new items through us. We know that some people may have been able to get them faster from an online company. We can't compete with them, and really appreciate your loyalty and patience more than you know. You keep us going!

Rubber Moon will be here on Monday and Tuesday!

There are still some spots left in Kae Pea's classes. Come by and see the samples in person and sign up, or sign up by phone with your credit card.

Monday, July 31st, 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. "STENCIL pARTy!" – Kae Pea of Rubbermoon $50
Photo is not necessarily exact creation you will make, but is representative of techniques you will use.

by Kae Pea

Explore a myriad of stencil, stamp and mixed media techniques to create awesome journal pages and canvas or paper paintings. We will create numerous pages and one 8 x 10 canvas. NEW CLASS! 

Monday, July 31st, 2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. "ART ON THE BLOCK" – Kae Pea of Rubbermoon $50
Photo is not necessarily exact creation you will make, but is representative of techniques you will use.

by Kae Pea

In this super fun class we will create some wonderful pieces of art using wood blocks as a substrate. Not only will we be using recycled Materials, We will be playing with a variety of Mediums, Including paper collage, acrylic paint, Gesso, inks and Stamps. This class will give you the knowledge and tons of inspiring ideas for future projects too!

Tuesday, August 1st, 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. "LET’S PAINT THE TOWN" – Kae Pea of Rubbermoon $65
Photo is not necessarily exact creation you will make, but is representative of techniques you will use.

by Kae Pea

by Kae Pea

In this awesome class we will use stamps, magazine pages and gel prints to create amazing collaged cityscapes full of whimsy and wonder. We will work on flat panel or board to create an 8 x10 piece. NEW CLASS

Student supplies for Rubbermoon classes: Basic kit including scissors and pencil; Paintbrushes (recommend brushes that are good for mixed media #6 or#8 round and #12 or #14 bright); Tim Holtz collage brush 1.25"; Brayer; Black and/or Grey Archival ink pad; a few colors of acrylic paints* (student grade tube acrylics such as Liquitex basics, NOT Fluid or high flow); a few Pan Pastels*; a few colors of radiant watercolor concentrates*; A couple of black Micron Pens (.02 recommended); Black Sharpie fine; paper towels; baby wipes; water spray bottle. *note: Kae Pea will be bringing items to share, but it helps if each student has a few of their own to cut down on sharing time and also so that you have your favorite colors to use.

Don't forget that next weekend, August 5th and August 6th are the next Recycled Rubber weekend! The last day to bring things in for the sale is Wednesday, August 2nd. We have a link at the top of this blog for our Recycled Rubber guidelines if you are interested in bringing things in for the sale, and have not done so before.

We have heard that someone is going to bring in some card racks, and also House Mouse stamps. We are amazed at how much has already been brought in. It's going to be a big one, so don't miss it!

To see the latest copy of our newsletter, please click here. To see our calendar, please click here.

Technique of the Week: Painting with Oxide Inks by Dianne Johnson

To continue our postings using the very popular Distress Oxide inks, I decided to try and see how these inks would work if I painted with them. By the way, we have all of the Oxide colors in stock at Art 'n Soul as of the date of this email. We absolutely love these inks and how they work. Not that we would give up regular Distress inks... they are different.

Here's my finished card

To begin I cut a panel of watercolor cardstock with the second largest die of the Memory Box Postage Rectangle Layers 30052. I selected the Magenta background stamp  14.660.R, and stamped it with Versamark ink and embossed it with JudiKins Iridescent Sparkle embossing powder.

I chose Broken China and Wilted Violet Oxide inks to start and pressed them onto an acrylic block and added water. I painted the centers with the Broken China first, then added Wilted Violet.

Once all the flowers were painted, I added some Peeled Paint Oxide to the block and painted the leaves. I watered down the Broken China color a lot and painted it all around the images. I colored the berries or buds in with a glitter pen.

One of the things I noticed about painting with Oxides is the same thing I have seen when blending with them. Oxides are a hybrid of dye and pigment, and while the dye soaks into your paper, the pigment sits on top. This makes them more opaque than regular Distress ink. The colors are beautiful, but getting shading is not easy.

After painting the images and letting it dry, I selected a Magenta sentiment 07.954.G Think about you often. I chose a panel of So Silk Fair Blue cut to 4" x 5.25" and stamped the sentiment at the bottom of the panel with Versamark ink. I embossed it with JudiKins White Diamond embossing powder.

Since I wanted to stamp my background stamp on this panel, I decided to mask my sentiment. I stamped the sentiment onto some JudiKins Eclipse masking paper. By the way, this masking paper is the best out there, and it is now available again. We just got a few rolls in stock at the shop.

I fussy cut the sentiment out of the masking paper and applied it to the panel. I then stamped the background stamp with Versamark ink over the entire panel. I embossed it with clear embossing powder and then removed the mask over my sentiment.

For mounting the watercolored panel, I decided to pop it up, so I used the Hero Arts Infinity Nesting Rectangle Dies DI198. This set has so many sizes of rectangles that you should be able to find the right size for most anything. There are 16 dies with 0.125" between each one, and the largest is 4.25" x 5.5". I found the perfect size to use to cut a piece of fun foam for the back of my watercolored panel.

I don't like the white sides of the fun foam to show, so I colored the sides with a dark blue Copic marker (B26). The fun foam creates a solid backing for the panel. I adhered the pieces to the background panel (using scor tape), and adhered it all to a white base card. I sprinkled a few sequins.

I really love the Distress Oxide inks for so many things; but at the end of the day, I would say that I think that regular Distress inks are better for watercoloring. Since the dye inks soak into the paper, they are more transparent, and shade more easily. It's nice to know thought, that if you just have one or the other, you can watercolor with all of them.

For step by step photos of this technique, please visit my blog here.

Just a reminder, this weekend is Recycled Rubber Weekend! 
Come and see us this weekend for our monthly Recycled Rubber event! We have SO much merchandise for you again this month, and we know you will love it! Once again, lots of everything, and we heard a rumor that some staff people cleaned out some things for the sale. We know we saw some practically new Impression Obsession Cover-a-Card stamps, among lots of other things, including dies and embossing folders. There is something for everyone at this sale, so be sure to join us. Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 12:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Just to sweeten the pot, we have received our anticipated shipments, and we have so many new things on the shelves and tables. We have so much great bling in the shop that we had to create a "bling table" just to hold it all. We have all of the mini Distress inks back in stock, and the tins, blender tools and foams. We also have all of the Distress Oxide inks and inkers in stock, and we got some of the new mini Archival inks and inkers as well. Lots of scor tape and other adhesives are in stock, including the 6" x 6" scor tape sheets AND the 8.5" x 11" Be Creative adhesive sheets. We also have Stick-it adhesive back in stock, and much more! 

While you are in the shop, check out our class boards and sign up for some classes! This month alone we have Terry Medaris classes and trunk show; Dianne's mini Alcohol Ink class; Lost Coast class and trunk show; and Marj's Intriguing Inking class;

In mid July we have Mariëtte van Leeuwen, an amazing Magenta design team member from The Netherlands; and Rubbermoon will be here in late July/early August. Also in August, Sally Penley will be hosting another Mini Masterpiece workshop - this one with a Christmas/Holiday theme!

You do not want to miss these fabulous classes, so hurry in or call to sign up. You can access our calendar here where you can view everything we have scheduled. If you are not subscribed to our newsletter, you can view our latest newsletter here where you can find out lots more information about our classes and more.