Recommended supplies: Stamps,
watercolor inks
or makers, white cardstock or watercolor paper, small mister, tissues,
small
brush, container of water to clean brushes, heat gun and craft mat or
other
surface to work on. Note: Distress inks and markers are designed to work well
with water so they are recommended for this technique. Other watercolor products may also work.Basic faux watercolor technique
Any stamps can be used for this technique. If this is your 1st time with this
technique you may want to begin with some mid-sized stamps-about 3” where no
more than ½ the stamp is solid rubber.
1.
Color with stamp with multiple colors. There is not a need to be exact in coloring since the colors
will move and blend once misted. No
problem if your colors dry before you stamp-the misting will take care it.
2.
Mist the stamp with a complete coverage of water-start with 2 light spritzes from a mini mister. (This varies according to
the products you use so take a close look each time you mist so you can know
how to adjust in follow-up experiments.
3.
Place
the stamp on your paper and apply pressure for a few
seconds before removing so the ink has a little time to settle into the
paper.
4. Dry with heat gun.
Advancing your faux watercolor skills
Negative image stamps (ones that are designed so
you ink the background of the stamp) can be somewhat more challenging to achieve terrific results. Make a trial image as described above. If you have lots of areas that are not colored on your image after misting you may want to lay your stamp face-up flat to the
table and place your paper over top and rub one hand over the paper while
holding the paper in place with the other hand.
Gently remove paper from stamp and heat set.
Improving faux watercolor issues:
·
Too much water on some areas of the stamp-carefully remove water with tip of tissue.
To
add color- Paper must be dry. Place some additional color on an acrylic block or mat
to use as a palette and apply with a wet paint brush. Dry with heat gun. Additional
layers can be added as desired.
·
To
remove color- Paper must be dry. Add clean water
to area with a paint brush, blot water with tissue, repeat until it is
satisfactory. Be careful not to rub
paper or it may peel off.
·
If
your paper curls after drying- hold paper with both hands on
opposite ends of the paper and roll back and forth a few times over a tabletop’s
rounded edge.
Tips and tricks:
·
To
avoid accidental water spillage-set up you workspace with all your
supplies on your side of your dominant hand except for your water container and
any beverages to the opposite. Reaching across your work takes extra attention
which hopefully will eliminate some accidents. Unfortunately I remembered this
just today after I ruined a couple nice images.
Other things to try: gradient
multi-color inkpads; sentiment and background images; color with distress
strains instead of ink; dilute liquid pearls with water to brushed on faux
image to create a sheer pearlescent effect; if full image is not acceptable can
a portion of the image be used for border, pendant, banner or a punched image?
Paper:
Inking
may leak through regular card stock-work on a protected surface. - Hot press paper is smooth, inks more evenly when stamping.
- Cold press paper has some texture and absorbs water faster than hot press. Note: this is all I had and found that the flatter backside worked much better for this project.
One of the terrific participants was Michele Duffy whose blog is It's About the Paper. I overheard a secret tip that she is having a GIVEAWAY on her blog today for a Sweet Stamp Shop stamp set and you may just want to make it your next stop!
I hope you get to enjoy some creative time today!
...Jan
