Ink, Paint, and .... Bleach!

Hi everyone,

The June issue of Craft Stamper featured an article by Lisbeth Fidder, showing how to use household bleach to add accents to stamped images on a Distress Ink background. There was also a free stamp designed by Riikka Kovasin on the front cover of the magazine. I decided to use the bleach technique AND the free stamp to create my ATCs for the WOYWW 6th Anniversary ATC swap ...


I used the colours in the May Colour Challenge over at Rubber Dance, so I'm going to link up over there as well, as there is a chance to win a FAB prize!



Here's how I made my ATCs ...
Firstly, I gathered all my supplies ...


... the free Riikka stamp from Craft Stamper, Archival and Distress Ink, blank kraft ATCs, white gesso, Distress Paint, applicator tools and a couple of TH Layering Stencils.

Then I got out my craft mat and gave all the ATCs a coat of gesso to give me a good surface to work on ...


... this was actually way too much gesso, so I painted four mini canvases and a page in my art journal whilst I was at it ...


Once they were completely dry, I started to add colour with Distress Ink in Squeezed Lemonade and Scattered Straw. I love how this picks up the texture in the gessoed background ...


Next, I applied Distress Paint in Picked Raspberry through the Dot Fades stencil ...


... to add a bit of texture here and there ...


Then, I used another stencil and blended three different colours of Distress Ink to add another layer of texture to the background ...


This gave me me almost a tie-dyed effect which I loved ...


Now it was time to add the focal point, a greeting and some definition to the edges  ...


Then I applied neat bleach with a fine brush to add some lighter accents to some areas of the stamped images ...


... before using the same brush to add colour to other parts with Distress Paint ...


This was such a fun technique and I love the end result!

Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon :o)

Annie xxx

Comments

Bibi Lindahl said…
Hi Annie,
Thank you so much for joining our May stamping challenge with your cool and beautiful ATC! I really like the batik looking background you created. Thank you for the tutorial! :-)
Lizzy Hill said…
These look fabulous! I love how you've given us a little tutorial--- & isn't it great that you actually used those freebies??!!!!!!
Susanne Rose said…
Those are awesome ATCs. Thanks for joining our challenge over at Rubber Dance! Hugs, Susanne.
Sent an email but found your post and I wanted you to know this cute little ATC arrived in great condition. Such pretty packaging too. Thank you so much.
Have a great week.