Rick Adkins : watercolor bleaching technique

Friday, May 10, 2019

All That You Are Stamp Set is Retiring....So Sad

Image by Stampin' Up!

I am sad that the All That You Are Stamp Set is Retiring. It has been one of my favorites to use these past few months since it came out in the 2019 Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalog. The Stamp set is guaranteed to be in stock until May 24, 2019 after that it will be while supplies last. So if this stamp set was on your list and you haven't gotten it yet I encourage you to visit my online store and get it now. Let's have a look at a few cards I made using it shall we.

On the first example I used ink blending to create a ombre' background using a few of my favorite Stampin' Up! blues. Then I dried the ink and heat embossed the flowers from the stamp set using white embossing powder. I then used just plain water and showed you in the video tutorial how to do the flux bleaching technique. If you missed that video you can watch it here.

The next card I did I did in watercolors. I stamped each of the flowers in a light color ink and did a no line watercolor card. This takes a little time and isn't something that I would say a beginner should try if you've never watercolored before. This technique takes a little time to master and it's one that you have to keep going with even if you don't think it's right. It will all work out in the end.

It has such fun bold flowers that's great for many different techniques. Here's a closer look at the stamp set and the cards that Stampin' Up! created for the catalog.

image by Stampin' Up!

You can see from the stamp images above that you can use this bold lined images for your favorite coloring technique or would work well just with a simple stamped card. If I did a simple card using this set I think I would do a tone on tone card base stamping the large flower image everywhere to create a dramatic background on my card base. And, then stamp the sentiment on another piece of paper that I may have punched from whisper white cardstock, adding it with a few dimensionals. I love the font on this stamp set, they are great. And, the sentiments are great for any occasion. Here's a little closer look at the cards from the Occasions Catalog.

The smaller flowers coordinate with the Frosted Floral dies from the 2018 Holiday Catalog. So that makes cutting them out so much easier.

Thanks for dropping by today I hope that you have found a little inspiration today and that you have fallen in love, if you haven't already, with the All That You Are Stamp Set. Remember that this stamp set is retiring and will be gone after June 3, 2019. So if you want it you need to place it in your shopping cart now.

Happy Stampin'

Rick Adkins

Use my May Host Code on orders of $50 (before shipping and taxes) and receive the May Creative Stampers tutorial bundle Free. The may tutorial Bundle features eight masculine themed projects. In the tutorial bundle you will find sizes for the US, Canada and International A4 users. If your order is over $150 please don't use the host code I will send it to you as a thank you gift. All other orders do have to use the host code to get it. Not sure how to use the host code click here.

Live outside the US or you're a demonstrator or you just want to purchase the bundle; you can still purchase the Creative Stampers Tutorial Bundle in my Tutorial Store. Cost is $20 USD and will be emailed to you with 48 hours of purchase.

Join my 2019 Annual Catalog Paper Share and get 166 6 x 6 pieces of new designer series paper from the 2019 2020 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog. Find out all the details and Sign up here.

Stampin' Up! Shopping List

All That You Are Cling Stamp Set [148664] $23.00	Frosted Bouquet Framelits Dies [147895] $33.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272] $7.75	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad [147110] $7.50
Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad [147138] $7.50	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad [147098] $7.50	Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad [147105] $7.50	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [147101] $7.50
Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad [147094] $7.50	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad* [102277] $5.95	Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad [147052] $7.50	Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101910] $9.00
Aqua Painters [103954] $17.00

Monday, March 25, 2019

International Highlights Winners Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my blog for the second post today; I am here with you this time for Kylie's International Highlights Top Ten Winners Blog Hop. This month's theme was encouragement and I can not think of anything more encouraging as a simple thank you. My card features the All That You Are Stamp Set and a fun easy technique that's called Watercolor Bleaching. Here's a look at my card.

To create this card all you have to do is a little heat embossing and then ink blend over it. So I started out with the large stamp from the All That You Are stamp set and versamark ink and heat embossed it in white embossing powder on Whisper Whiten cardstock (4 1/4 x 5 1/2). Next I did my ink blending using four different shades of blue. I used Balmy Blue, Pacific Point, Blueberry Bushel, and Night of Navy inks in that order to create a gradient look. Once I had all the ink blending done I used a paper towel to rub all the ink from the embossed areas.

After I made sure all the ink was dry I then came in with a watercolor brush and just pain old water to left the color from the areas I didn't want it. This is what gives the bleach effect. A little trick is if you load the area with a good bit of water to begin with and flow it out to the other end and let it just a few minutes, you get better results. Then you take a paper towel and blot off the water. You then continue to work around the images in the same manner. As your working the areas that you started out in will get a little lighter as it dries. It's not going to pull all the water up but it gets enough where it leaves a beautiful result that is very reminiscence of the bleaching technique without the smell of household bleach.

Video Tutorial:

I told you that this was a super easy technique and looks so cute when done. To finish off the card I added a sentiment heat embossed on a strip of vellum and added it to the card with a little tear and tape. then added the card front to a whisper white thick card base (4 1/4 x 11 scored at 5 1/2). Thanks for dropping by for my second post today. If you need any of the products you've seen today you can order them in my online store. Make sure you hope along the blog hop you will find the blog roll below unless you're on my WordPress site. If you're viewing this post there you can click here and go to the blog roll.