Stamping and Book Pages

Hello all and welcome once again to by blog.

I was wandering through my library not so long ago and I came across an old French dictionary which I never use - I hasten to add here  that this book is too old to be useful in the normal sense but it is not so old as to be valuable and do make that distinction when you are searching for a book to use in craft projects. If it is a first edition, make sure that it isn't worth more than the house!

I am loving stamping and colouring the images with Tim Holtz Distress markers at the moment and I thought that I would show you a few examples.

These are so easy to do as well, simply choose a book which is slightly older - one with a bit of age and the older style papers look lovely and mellow and they are useful for so many crafts.

Tear out the page and get stamping! I chose a couple of birds for this first one and a branch from a completely different stamp set. Think of your stamps as individuals rather than a set which comes together. as individuals you can break them up and use them anywhere. I have had a few which were, strictly speaking, joined together. They looked better when cut up and I have used them constantly since.

The images are all stamped with Ranger Archival Ink in black. This is a more serious type of ink and it is permanent. This is good in this setting because it means that the ink will not smudge and it will not come off onto the markers.

I have used the Distress Markers here to colour and shade the images  and then make a shadow effect around the bird too. To achieve this, make a line with the thick (brush) end and immediately smudge it out with your finger. You have to work like lightening because it dries really quickly but the results are worth it.

Here are some ladybugs made the same way....

I have been a little creative with the colours too. One is traditional red but I have gone for a green and a blue one to see what they would look like.

When you are using this technique, choose three values of each colour marker. A colour value means the lightness or darkness of the colour. It doesn't matter which colours are used, go through your stash and use what you have. The main thing is to use the colours and then to remember the rule of thirds.

The rule of thirds means that the first layer of colour is to be 3/3 - total coverage. The next layer is 2/3 - some of layer one showing through and the last layer is 1/3 - highlighting. Imagine if you coloured something completely each time. No point to that!

With most paints, you can leave the highlighting layer to the last one - think acrylics. With Distress Markers however, because they are transparent, you will do it all in reverse, like water colour. Layer one is the lightest shade (3/3), layer two is the medium (2/3) and layer three (1/3) is the darkest one and is used the least.

Have a look at what I mean with the little girl in the rain above. You can see on the jacket how the shading effect works out. Once it is learned and practised, it will work out every time. Bliss!

Finally for this series are the butterflies to show you another application of the technique. Have a go and see what you can come up with. Then use these images in your cards and layouts. They are money in the bank for Mixed Media projects too.

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting
love Debs
xxx