Peeled Paper and Magic Stamp Peek (& Giveaway)

I have my final Peeled Paper technique atc class this morning at Scraptivate and if the previous 3 classes are any indication, the girls are going to have some "oh no!" moments that will turn into "oh...yes!!!". lol Some techniques are like that, you think it's all turned to cr*p, and then finally it just comes together and looks fantastic.

"What we see"... (The bamboo stamp is by Hero Arts. This atc is for the WTA - Winner Takes All, sort of like a lottery - that's held each month on the Paperarts Yahoo Group)

"Pilot Light"... (I can't remember who the flourish stamp in the background is by, it's not very clear anyway so guess it's a moot point! This is the raffle atc for this mornings class)

My next technique class is called Smoosh & Magic Stamp! This has had a few of the girls stumped and I've told them I'm not going to tell them what the magic stamp is until the class. The smoosh technique is Tim's one of using Distress Inks direct to craft sheet, spritzing with water, laying down a piece of paper, twisting then lifting to reveal a beautifully coloured piece of background paper. The colours in the atc below in the background are Scattered Straw and Vintage Photo. The magic stamp bit is the stamped background....for that info, you'll have to wait until after the classes! But I will come back in around a week or so with some more samples.

Just for fun, if anyone can guess what I've done to make the background, leave a comment and the first person who guesses correctly will get some atc's from me, including a magic stamp one! Remember to leave your email addy please. (No cheating from any of my girls who know already what it is!!! hahahahaha)

By the way, see the lovely German Scrap on the bottom of this card above? It's new from Scraptivate, click here to see more new ones - click on Scraptivate German Scrap in the left hand column, then New Nov '09. This one started out white and I painted it with Burnt Umber Light to alter it to suit the atc.

More Crackle Paint & some Glass Bead Gel!

Continuing from the last post, here are more of the crackle atc's.

"Breathe"... Picket Fence (white) crackle paint with some Weathered Wood Distress Ink rubbed onto it to drop the starkness of the white back a bit. If you enlarge this picture by clicking on it, you'll see I also used Golden Glass Bead Gel over the image. This goes on opaque but when the medium dries, all you can see are the little spheres of glass and it also gives it a wonderfully textural feel! Love it!!!


"Transformation"... The fabulous H.R. Giger images will always work well with Black Soot Distress Crackle!

"Portal"... Scattered Straw Distress Crackle, rubbed with some Peeled Paint Distress Ink and Vintage Photo Distress Ink after the crackle had dried. The little brick stamp in the top right is by Cherry Pie.

"Reliquary"... Gothic silver embossed script in background is from Michelle Ward's Printed Matter rubber plate and the beautiful silver window is from Scraptivate - it's one of the many, MANY, styles of German Scrap that we sell at the store. These window arches also come in black and white. I love the silver as you can wipe paint over it and then wipe it off and it grunges it up nicely! The image has the Helmar Crackle 2 step used on it with Payne's Grey paint added and wiped off after the crackle had dried.

Next up is Dominoes! So over the next few days I'll be slaving away in my studio with these little cream plastic toys, trying to come up with interesting looking atc's! We'll see.....

Perfect Pearls Class

Next up in my ATC Technique classes is Perfect Pearls. These have been around for years in the stamping community but clever people keep coming up with new ways of using them so they never get "old"! Here are a few samples of what the girls will be learning in my classes.

"Too Many Freaks"... Zetti stamps with the face, also by Zetti, done on shrink plastic.

"Invertebrate #1"... (Stampers Anonymous Dragonfly Legend stamp....again!!!)

It's a real pity that the beauty of Perfect Pearls just can't be appreciated on the computer, it's definitely a must-see in real life for their shimmery colours are just wonderful, especially on black card stock. You'll just have to trust me, or better yet, go buy some and try it out!

"Invertebrate #2"... (same Dragonfly Legend stamp - but the other side of it)

"Melancholy"... (Hero Arts (discontinued) Vintage Map Stamp). The Perfect Pearls is sprayed onto the background of this atc - I used a combination of Weathered Wood Distress Re-inker, Pewter Perfect Pearls and water in a mini-mister and spritzed the card. Also, down the bottom is the new colour of German Scrap we are selling at Scraptivate, Iridescent White. Very different from the normal plain white German Scrap we sell in the various styles, it looks like it's had pearlized paint applied to it, more creamy in real life compared to the starkness of the normal white. Something else to try? Yes, we do post all over the World and we have excellent prices on the German Scrap, probably the best you'll find across Australia!

"Captivating"... Not sure who's stamp this is? The Perfect Pearls are brushed onto a piece of acetate that's been run through the xyron first so it looks like a shimmery painted image.

"Royal"... (Another stamp I'm not sure of? The crackle effect over the top is Perfect Pearls in Pewter brushed over the top of the stamped card (after the face was stamped) using Versamark and the Perfect Pearls. If you tilt it to the light you see the shimmer effect of the Perfect Pearls rather than just a flat grey crackle as it shows here on the computer.

"Awaken"... Stamp by Cherry Pie, background sprayed as "Melancholy" was but using Brushed Corduoroy Distress Re-inker, Gold Perfect Pearls & water in a spritz bottle.

This next atc isn't anything to do with Perfect Pearls, it's a gel medium transfer atc that's for a Yahoo Group I'm in, Paperarts. One talented bunch of girls in this group! It's for the WTA - Winner Takes All - sort of a lottery that runs every month where one person gets to win all the wonderful atc's that are entered for that month.

More Perfect Pearls atc's to come....some are still happening in my studio - have to wait for that Texture Paste to dry!!! lol

Alchol Inks & Transparency atc's

When I heard that Ranger were releasing 24 new colours of alcohol inks I was absolutely thrilled! I love my alcohol inks and am really looking forward to the new selection of "lights & brights"...particularly the lights! If you want to check out the new colours that are coming, as well as the already released 24, click here. Gorgeous or what!

So my next set of atc classes that I'm teaching at Scraptivate is called Alcohol Inks and Transparency, or more correctly - acetate. I've found that I don't need blending solution as much if I'm using the alcohol inks on acetate to colour it when compared to using the alcohol inks on gloss card. Of course, if it's just way too bright then blending solution is just perfect for lightening it or blending colours if you've just gone overboard and it looks like someone has thrown up a technicolour feast!


I also like to use the alcohol ink to colour gold or silver German Scrap for added cohesiveness. Don't you just love thesaurus.com when you're stuck for a word! German Scrap is available at Scraptivate, look on the left for German Scrap in the list of items for sale. Of course, it works perfectly on all of your metal and plastic embellishments, shrink plastic, glass ...keep up.... I'm talking about alcohol inks, not thesaurus.com. lol


I've also set myself a little challenge...when I make my sample atc's showing each new technique, I MUST use black texture paste somewhere on at least one of them each fortnight. Not a problem she says...I simply LOVE that stuff!!! If you have a look back through the atc's in my previous posts on coloured gloss, embossing, and the original texture paste class, you'll see at least one of the atc's will have black texture paste on it, generally with rub'n'buff over the top. You can also get this at Scraptivate too, though it's not on the website but you can email us contact@scraptivate.com.au with "black texture paste" in the subject line, or ring us on (08)9444 6626 and ask us all about it!


"Conjurer"... (with black texture paste along the bottom)

"Embrace the unusual"...

"Rubies"...

"Visionary"...

"Contemplate"...

All of the above atc's were made by using stamps on gloss card (Stazon of course!) and then alcohol inked acetate over the top. You can also use images instead of stamping if you like, as shown in the following samples.

"Anatomy"...

"Inner-beauty"... (with black texture paste down the sides)

"Bachelors"...

One more class before I go away to Melbourne - brushless watercolour - coming soon!