Welcome to the Ink it! Stamp it! Design Team Blog Hop - we hop every month so be sure to pop back and visit us again! Today we have a Technique theme - which always makes for an exciting Blog Hop with tons of inspiration!
You are currently at my page - Stephanie Fischer, The Crafty Thinker. At the end of my post there is a full line up of team members, please click on the name after mine in the list to continue the hop.
The technique I have chosen is bleaching - one of my favourites. Sometimes I "paint" with bleach, adjusting the amount of bleach in various places to achieve light or dark shades but this time I kept very simple so as not to detract from the gorgeous butterfly.
The technique I have chosen is bleaching - one of my favourites. Sometimes I "paint" with bleach, adjusting the amount of bleach in various places to achieve light or dark shades but this time I kept very simple so as not to detract from the gorgeous butterfly.
 |
| The only place I like to use bleach is in the craft room! |
The base card and decorative panel are Fresh Fig cardstock and there's a layer of Sweet Sugarplum. In order to be thrifty with my Gold Foil Sheet, I simply added a strip to each side of the central panel before adhering to the Sweet Sugarplum layer.
The greeting, from the Birthday Blooms stamp set, is gold heat embossed and the little splodges (or perhaps they're supposed to be little flowers) are stamped with Versamark.
The beauty and the frustration of bleaching is that every batch of cardstock reacts differently so you ever know what to expect. My original intention was to use Basic Black cardstock. In the past I've had great success with Basic Black but this batch just wouldn't react! Eventually I gave up and switched to the Fresh Fig cardstock!
 |
| You can never tell how the cardstock will (or won't in this case!) react to the bleach. Every batch is different. |
Step by step
- Wipe the cardstock with embossing buddy.
- Stamp image with Versamark
- Cover with gold embossing powder (or colour of your choice) and then tap off the excess
- Use a heat tool to "melt" the embossing powder
- Apply bleach into areas that you require to lighten
- If you wish, once the bleached areas are dry, you can add colours with your favourite medium
Tips and Tricks:
- Bleach is harsh on brushes so apply the bleach with an old brush and then keep that brush for bleach. Rinse the brush well afterwards.
- Use more bleach in areas that you want the lightest and a dryer brush in areas that you require a little darker
- Let the bleach dry between applications (until it's dry you don't know what it really looks like)
- If you're impatient like me you can dry it with a heat tool but only from the back (to preserve the heat embossing)
- Keep adding layers of bleach until you're happy with the outcome
I hope you've enjoyed this card and I welcome your comments.
Thank you so much for joining us today. We hope you'll join us again next month for our projects featuring our favourite new papers in the Occasions Catalogue! I'm Stephanie Fischer and to keep hopping around, see the list below to see who is up next with another great project!
Thanks for visiting
'Til next time!
Stephanie
Product List - click on an image to shop in my online store (Australian Residents only)
Great technique, I especially love that you've shared the Black attempt and the tips are really useful. This is a technique I've been too scared to tr, but I might just give it a go now with your helpful tips.
ReplyDeleteThank you Carolina. I'm actually really excited about the way the black one turned out in the end. I did something quite new!
DeleteThis technique is super effective! Do you use straight bleach or dilute it?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Fiona. I use straight bleach .... very carefully!
DeleteThanks for the great tips Stephanie....have always been a little weary of the bleach but am thinking I shall have to have a go.
ReplyDeleteGo for it Vicki! xx
DeleteI love the bleach technique , it’s not scary at all ! You have created a beautiful card using it Stephanie!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cheryl. You're correct - the only possible scary factor is spillage on clothing & that's easily overcome by wearing old clothes!
DeleteLovely card Stephanie. Might need to try this out - I'll need to overcome my fear of spilling bleach first. Thanks for all the tips :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kirsten!
Delete