All the beautiful samples above and below were produced by Arlene Stump using her original technique and Repeat Impressions' stamps. They really must be seen in person to fully appreciate their beauty. Trust me when I say these photos don't do them justice.
Stamps Used in Samples:
4401-O, Dragonfly (lg), M $9.99, UM $5.00 was used to make all
of the pins photographed above.
4402-O, Damselfly, M $9.99, UM $5.00 was used to make the pin
photographed immediately below.
4405-K, Dragonfly Deco, M $7.99, UM $4.00 was used to make the
pin photographed immediately below.
4103-K, Sea Turtle (lg), M $7.99, UM $4.00. was used to make the
pins photographed immediately below.
4111-F, Starfish (sm), M $5.49, UM $2.75
4110-K, Starfish (lg), M $7.99, UM $4.00
were used to make the pin and earrings photographed immediately
below.
Paper
Hot Press 140 lb. Watercolor paper
Cold Press 140 lb. Watercolor paper
Bristol 100 lb. paper
Ink
Ranger Archival Ink or similar permanent ink
Fabrico or Color Box Crafter's pigment ink pad
Color
Radiant Pearls
Tombow water-based ink pens/markers
Watercolor paints
Watercolor pencils
Watercolor crayons
Liquitex
Pearl-Ex powders
Enamel/Embossing Powder
Suze Weinberg's Ultra Thick Clear Embossing Enamel
Top Boss clear embossing ink pad
Other Items
Paint brushes
Water
Paper towels
Stamp cleaner
Bone folder - for shaping and curling
Scissors
Heat clip or tweezers
Heat gun
Suze Weinberg's Beadazzles
Beads
Foils, foil flake
Art Quest Perfect Fx (flakes)
Regular embossing powders
Colored wire
E-6000 glue
Depending upon the stamped image that you are going to embellish,
you may wish to add threads, ribbon, buttons, charms and whatever
else you have in the house. The most important tip is to have
fun...be creative...try new methods...experiment!
Instructions:
1) Use a permanent dye-based ink
and stamp images on 140 lb. hot press watercolor paper. Stamp
entire paper with images and set with heat gun for one minute.
2) Cut out all images.
3) Water down Radiant Pearl color and paint the reverse side.
Hold with tweezers and paint dragonfly front side with a light
wash of Radiant Pearl color. Brush on additional paint to build
up layering and colors where desired.
4) Re-wet reverse side if it is dry with wet paint brush to totally
moisten. Dip image and immerse in a Tupperware container holding
SuzeWeinberg's UTEE clear. Heat with gun until powder melts and
dip and heat two more times.
5) When cool rub Pearl-Ex powder sparsely where desired and reheat
with gun. While image is still hot sprinkle on only items such
as glitters, foils and Perfect Fx flakes and reheat. Dip and press
with tweezers from the back of image into beads, Beadazzles or
other embellishments on a coffee filter that contains a small
amount of the item (i.e. beads) and then reheat to seal.
6) Place image carefully on Teflon worksheet and bend wings when
warm. Attach a foam backed pin on a wing that is STRAIGHT. If
you bend all your wings you will not have anywhere to put your
pin back.
Please read the product list and tips before
doing this project. Prepare color schemes and embellishments ahead
of time to save time and to make life easier!
Project Tips
Hot press watercolor paper works
the best but is expensive. The next best paper to use is cold
press watercolor paper. Bristol board is a good medium to use
but doesn't shape as well as the other papers. This type of paper
is good for flat stamped images that may be affixed to flat surfaces,
i.e. cards.
You may wish to color your paper before using for a different effect.
Only use permanent ink. You may also use crafters ink or Fabrico inks...but to make them permanent they must be heat activated.
Make sure that you dry all stamped images with your heat gun before coloring to make sure that the ink doesn't move or smear. Let your stamp sit on the ink pad at least 15 seconds to absorb as much ink as possible so that you will get a clear stamped image. Remember these papers are heavy and will drink your ink! Always keep your pads well inked for this method.
Cut stamped image out entirely before painting.
Shape your image before applying any medium. You may also reshape while your image is WARM not hot after applying UTEE.
Make sure to paint the underside of your stamped image if you plan to use it where the bottom will show. It looks much nicer finished.
With the Radiant Pearl application...you can put directly into the clear embossing powder. If the paint medium you use dries apply Top Boss clear embossing ink pad to your image before dipping in the clear UTEE or the powder will not adhere. You may paint Liquitex over your dry painted image and then dip into the UTEE...I personally like eliminating one step by using Radiant Pearls. I also like the fact that you can create a texture with this method that you can't necessarily get with the other methods.
Use a clip holder or tweezers to hold the image while embossing to protect yourself from burning your hands/fingers.
I use Suze Weinberg's Teflon embossing sheet to catch all the UTEE that drips while heating...it's an easy clean-up and has other good uses.
Pour your clear UTEE into a Tupperware box for easy dipping. Be sure to move the box when heating your image. Only use this box for powder...no food.
I recommend dipping no more than 3-4 times in UTEE...otherwise your image will drip all over the place.
If you are embellishing with any beads, place them in a shallow container and gently press image into the beads. If you just pour the beads over the image, they will stick...temporarily...until image cools and then they fall off...you must press them gently to affix them permanently...or they will all fall off!!!
You may rub or brush Pearl-Ex powder on your image and then reheat just long enough to bring up the metallic color.
When applying foil flakes...drop sparsely on hot UTEE...let the image cool and then brush excess off.
Use an E-6000 type glue to affix...if you are using pin backs experiment with the foam backed pins or use metal pins with an application of E-6000 glue. Don't try and reheat after you have affixed a pin back!!
Questions or comments? Email Arlene :-)