How do I do the White Wash technique?

It's Totally Techniques international Stampin' Up! Demonstrator blog hop again and Nadine chose our theme of the White Wash Technique.  I've created a neutrals card and very simple although did take a little bit of time......

I started by stamping the holly leaves and berries from Stampin' Up! set Christmas Gleaming in crumb cake ink onto a thick white card base.  Next I white heat embossed the Holly, berries and swirly frame onto a piece of crumb cake card.  Now it's time for white wash.  Using a pigment ink, mine was Stampin' Up! craft white,  I used some re inker to put ink onto a clear block and watered it down by letting my aqua painter brush drip some water onto the ink.  I then painted the holly and berries with a white wash.  You need to make sure you let it dry before coming back to add some colour using your aqua painter and ink from your ink pad lids.

With the Happy Christmas I die cut the words first then white washed them all over, allowed them to dry again and then added colour to  either the top or bottom of the letters and then in reverse added Wink of Stella, it's for Christmas after all!! 

Before sticking the words onto my project I used a sponge to add some colour around the outside edges of the piece of crumb cake card helping to make the frame and holly 'pop'.

With glue gots I carefully added the sentiment once it was completely dry.  As I said it is a simple technique but does need drying time which you could speed up with a heat gun if you wished.  One reason for making sure it is dry is trying to avoid things like the holly berries not turning out to be pink instead of red.  You can of course add less colour for even more delicate shades.

You'll get lots more inspiration by clicking on the links below to see the other demonstrators takes on this challenge.  Either click each button and return here or go from blog to blog by clicking the next image on the next demonstrators blog.  Enjoy our hop and projects and have a go yourself soon at this effective technique.

Thanks for visiting and remember you can buy all the products used  at www.zoetant.stampinup.net

Enjoy the hop
Zoe x

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Moonlight Sailing

I was playing with ink and sponging and remembered vaguely that I had seen an article, I think in Craft Stamper, about leaving a narrow line to create a difference in texture.  I'm really pleased how this turned out for a first attempt.  

I masked with low tack tape a square on my piece of shimmery white card stock. The shimmery card stock helps with the misty moonlight effect although I've struggled to photograph it for you to see clearly.   I then added a piece of the same tape across the square to separate the sky from what became the sea.    I stamped the boat and used an almost dry aqua painter to draw in colour from the outline of the boat to add colour to the sails and boat hull.  I masked the boat having cut out a thin paper mask to cover the sails and boat but didn't worry about the ropes  being there as in navy they were strong enough to appear through the sponging I was about to add.  Using sponges I gently added colour to give a sultry sky having used a paper circle mask for the moon also.  Once I was happy with the colour blending I removed the moon mask and did a very, very gentle swipe of colour over the moon to keep the misty haze consistent with the rest of the sky.  

Now I moved the horizontal line of low tack tape and put it along the bottom of the sky plus a smidge extra to give a very very narrow line for the distinction between the sky and sea. I'd positioned my boat just about right before any sponging although it could be a little lower. 

For the sea I did the same process of adding different colours with sponges.  I also used a mask from the Basic Pattern Decorative Masks collection from the Stampin' Up! winter catalogue.   I sponged ink through the mask in a random fashion of light and darker depth.  I then used some water splatter to lift some colour to add to the effect of the sea.  To do this I sprayed some water into the palm of my hand and clapped over the inking. I let the droplets sit for a few seconds before drying with paper towel. 

The final touch was to stamp the birds and sentiment again in Night of Navy ink directly onto the design before adding a narrow Night of Navy matt layer and then position the design onto a  Grey Granite card base.  

It makes a card just right for masculine birthdays and more. 

Thanks for popping by. 

Cheers Zoe x

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