Friday, April 8, 2016

Color Wash Backgrounds

Good afternoon, my paper crafting friends,

As often happens in early spring, I start cleaning out the cupboards and storage places.  And, almost always, I find something that I haven't used for a very long time.  The found object is the inspiration for these cards and this blog post.  Long before spray washes were so popular, Stamp Zia (Zana Clark) had created a color wash that was packaged in little bottles - without a spray nozzle.  I used them a time or two and then put them on the shelf.  Sound familiar?  Well, needless to say, my cleaning cupboards quickly came to a halt and I sat down and started playing with my "new" old toys.  Here are a couple of the final results.



Stamp Zia is now out of business, but Ranger has wonderful color washes, (with nozzles LOL).
The Ranger craft mat is perfect for this technique.  After spreading it out, I poured onto it a drop of three colors, followed by misting it with water.  Next, take a quarter sheet of white water color paper and lightly touch the ink with it, moving around to cover the whole paper.  You can blot off the extra water or just leave it.  Use a heat gun to dry both sides of the paper - it will curl then flatten out.  Once dry, I used a small paint brush to randomly brush on Pearl EX powder.  I used colors to match my color wash colors, but any complementing color should look good. I used Memories black dye ink to stamp the images.  On the green card, Clear Wink of Stella was brushed onto the black flowers and leaves.

The measurements for the blue card are:
8 1/2 x 5 1/2
Score at 2 1/8 inches and 4 1/4 inches.

May you have a gloriously blessed day!
Annie