For newbies, make sure the markers you use are, indeed, watercolor markers. Tombow, StampinUp, and Memento all make suitable markers, and perhaps readers will add more to the list in the comments below. Sharpies, Copics, Bic, and other alcohol-based, permanent markers will NOT work.
Anyway, as I've explored my neglected rubber stamps, I came across four beautiful stamps from Hero Arts. The Watercolor Marguerite, Coneflower, Sunflower, and Dahlia are designed to look like watercolors even when stamped with plain ink. Spritz them, and they are even more beautiful.
I'd come across THIS GORGEOUS PIN on my Cards Pinterest Board, and it inspired me to make this set of cards.
The background is from a Hero Arts clear set called Dictionary Greetings. It's stamped in black on each of the above cards to help the brightly colored flowers pop.
After finishing this floral set, I decided to make a masculine version of the card. It's nowhere near as nice as the more colorful versions, though. The flat color of the Hero Arts soft leaf ink over the cup o' Joe brown just doesn't do much for me. I should have used the same technique as above and used brighter colors.
But that's okay. Live and learn.
I found that many of my red-rubber floral stamps invite this technique, so you'll see it a few more times over the next week or so.
In the meantime, what are your favorite old-school techniques?
Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan
Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts Dictionary Greetings, watercolor flowers, leaf
ink: Archival black, Hero Arts cup o' Joe
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Memento and StampinUp markers, water spritzer bottle
Very nice! Pretty much all my stamps are woodmounted rubber stamps, so I like this technique.
ReplyDeleteSomething I do every once in a while is dry embossing, because I like the look and texture. Not good for mass production, labor intense, but ever so often I will get out my old templates.
Petra, you make me sad I got rid of all my dry embossing stuff years ago!
DeleteI love these cards! And I love that technique as well. It was also one of the first techniques I learned, oh so many years ago. I'm thinking now what image stamps I have to make sets of these cards. You are such a wonderful inspiration for me to use stamps long neglected.
ReplyDeleteDig out those old stamps! This has been so much fun!
DeleteI have no "old school" techniques, since I just started cardmaking in 2013. I'm still learning from all you pros. These cards are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Carol!
DeleteLove your flowers over the black text! Paper crimping is the old-school technique I should use more often. I made a card with it recently and really like how it looked.
ReplyDeleteOh, man! I always forget about that, and I've still got my crimper. Must take it out and play. Thanks for the reminder, Cindy.
DeleteI recently "inherited" my parent's 2-dictionary set, with the purpose of cutting out some of the definitions to use for cards - giving me the same look as your cards (except I could only make 1 for each definition...). I'm going to heed your warning about the brightness of the ink for stamping the images. Thanks for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteOh, I just saw a card in Take Ten that dulled down the book print with a thin layer of gesso. You could still see the words through the film, but it made a lovely background. I've been meaning to go to the area antique shops and buy a few old books just for crafting. What a great idea to get a dictionary! Thanks, Jannette.
DeleteLOVE these! You can use alcohol markers for this technique; you just need to spritz with alcohol!
ReplyDeleteLOVE these! You can use alcohol markers with this technique. (Copics) You just need to spritz with alcohol!
ReplyDelete