Tips & Techniques - RSMadness

Tips & Techniques B y K a y Ti e d e m a n n Yo u n g

Picture Perfect Stamping Watercolor paints and glossy papers might seem like strange bedfellows—watercolors don’t usually soak into nonporous papers. But Judy Cantrell doesn’t worry about breaking rules—she used watercolor crayons to color a photographic image after it was stamped on glossy paper, and the results are lovely. “When anyone sees my photo-type cards, they can’t believe I use watercolor crayons,” Cantrell notes. “My secret: Use a clean stamp, brayer the image with waterproof ink on glossy cardstock, let it dry overnight, watercolor, let dry, then polish the image with a soft cloth.” Her favorite paper for this technique is 10 pt. clay-coated glossy cardstock.

Directions

Materials Photostamp Speedball brayer Cushioned pad (foam pad created for stampers or mouse pad or squishy plastic placemat) Glossy Kromekote cover cardstock
 to
 pt Lyra watercolor crayons Niji waterbrush Archival black or sepia ink Ranger mini staples Adirondack Alcohol inks Felt pad to apply the alcohol inks Glue Rhinestones (Cantrell used Studio
 clear) Black cardstock White china or glass plate Cotton cloth

1) Place a cushiony pad, such as a computer mouse pad Sweet Smiles or a squishy plastic placemat, on (Stamp credit: Sugar and Spice #94—Hearts a flat work space and lay a piece in Touch Rubber Stamps.) of glossy cardstock onto the padded surface. The extra squish of the pad under the paper will yield clearer results from desuggests leaving the stamp on the paper for ten to twenty tailed images, like photostamps. seconds before carefully lifting it straight up and off. Set 2) Place a rubber stamp of a photographic image the image aside to dry. For best results, allow the ink to dry (Cantrell calls these “photostamps”) with the rubber side up overnight. on a flat table surface. (See “Tips” section on next page for 6) With a wet brush, swipe a very small amount of yelhow to prepare the rubber for inking.) low, orange, pink and several dabs of brown paint from wa3) Ink a rubber brayer by rolling it in one direction tercolor crayons onto the center of a pallet or plate. Add over an ink pad. Cantrell uses a Speedball brayer and waterdroplets of water so that the paint has a runny consistency. proof permanent Archival black or sepia ink. Keep rolling Pick up more paint as needed to get the color desired for the the brayer in the ink until it is well covered. face, arms, neck and hands of the photostamp image. Test 4) Roll the brayer in one direction onto the rubber phothe color on a scrap of glossy paper. tostamp until it is well covered with ink. Cantrell prefers to add color to the face in the image 5) Stamp the inked photostamp onto the paper. Press first. If the image gets too wet as you paint, blot it with a the stamp down with an even motion to make sure all lines cotton cloth. Cantrell notes, “Actually I keep a cloth in one touch the paper. Be careful not to rock the stamp. Cantrell hand and the waterbrush in the other, blotting and adding

Coloring on photostamps

paint as needed.” (See “Tips” section below for more tips on using watercolor crayons.)

Adding color 7) Mix orange or yellow with brown to color the hair. Cantrell mixed blue and red to color the child’s clothes. She obviously enjoys playing with the paint, mixing yellow and brown to color the flowers, and highlighting the blossoms with bright orange. Set the painted image aside to dry overnight. 8) Further enhance the artwork and mimic the look of a real photograph by “polishing” the stamped and painted image when it is dry with a dry soft knit cloth.

Creating the background and assembling the card 9) Trim the photostamp image, leaving a narrow white border or trim it closely and glue it to a slightly larger white panel. 10) Make a “polished stone” background panel by loading a piece of felt with pearl, purple and yellow alco-

hol inks and smearing the inks onto a piece of glossy cardstock. Cantrell cautions against over-mixing the alcohol inks on the felt and recommends leaving some areas on the cardstock light. The polished stone panel in this card was trimmed to 4 x 51/2 inches. 11) After gluing the painted photostamp image to the alcohol ink background panel, apply mini staples to the corners. Cantrell added rhinestones for extra pizzazz and glued the embellished portrait to a black folded card.

Tips from the artist • Prepare a new photostamp by lightly scrubbing the rubber with a soft nail brush and dish soap. Rinse well and dry the rubber with a lint free cloth (such as an old cotton sheet cut in small squares). If the photostamp still does not give a clearly stamped image, the rubber might need a light surface sanding with an emery cloth under running water. • Just before inking a photostamp, make sure the rubber is free of pet hair, lint, or dust. • Cantrell advises, “If you are new to stamping large photostamp images, it might take you several times to find the right pressure to get a perfect image.” Don’t give up! • Cantrell uses a total of six colors of watercolor crayons—pink, green, orange, blue, yellow and brown. From these colors she makes all the shades she wants by mixing them together. • Use a clean white china or glass plate as a palette, scribble each color around the outside of the plate, and mix colors on the inside surface. After a session of painting projects, allow the paints to dry on the plate and cover it with plastic wrap until the next coloring session. Reactivate the paints by lightly spraying them with water.

Judy Cantrell mixes orange or yellow with brown to color the girl’s hair

Kay Young lives and stamps in southwest Wisconsin where she stares long and hard at a delightful color Sudoku board. She occasionally finds herself figuring out where to add a new marble.

Copyright RubberStampMadness Inc. 2011