Do you like it? I actually used several techniques, but I have a photo tutorial for just one of them--the butterfly.
So first, let me explain the background. I used Kraft cardstock for the base (no surprise, right?) with a So Saffron cardstock strip at the top. Certainly Celery ribbon (from the free Sale-a-Bration ribbon bundle) separates the 2.
I ran the Kraft cardstock through the Big Shot using a Texturz plate. Here's a quick trick--because the Stampin' Up! ink pads have a raised surface, you can run one over the raised textured surface, and it will ink those raised areas--I used Certainly Celery here. Because I did it with the card left folded closed, it was tougher than if I'd run the ink pad over just one layer (you can see I missed the bottom right edge).
I stamped the small flower from the God's Beauty set in Cameo Coral on Whisper White cardstock, then layered it on a Cameo Coral punchie (punched with the 5-petal flower punch)--I used a Sponge Dauber to add Cameo Coral ink to the edges.
OK, so here's the tutorial:
How to Get a 2-Tone Effect
You will need:
- Classic ink (2 color)
- Sponge dauber
- cardstock (Whisper White recommended)
You can see in this photo that the ink will color the sponge dauber. Some colors (lighter hues) can be cleaned off pretty easily by doing my favorite trick--rubbing them on a wet washcloth--before the ink sits on the sponge for long. Darker colors like this blue are harder to remove (but try a drop of liquid hand soap, then rinse in water). Even if the color remains after washing, you can safely reuse the dauber in another (even lighter) color.
Press the dauber into the first ink pad (I recommend you do the lighter of the 2 colors) multiple times, and begin sponging it onto the stamped design.
Here, I chose to put the lighter color on the outside edges of the butterfly.
Because I will be cutting the butterfly out, I did not worry about staying inside the lines, but gleefully stamped outside them!
The two-tone effect will look more natural this way, and the colors will blend more effectively.
OK, so if you look at this picture, you'll see that I've made a liar out of myself. I stamped the darker color first.
I really do recommend you do the lighter color first! That way there's no chance of the darker color affecting the ink pad as you alternate the dauber on the paper and the pad. A lighter color is less likely to show up on the darker pad than a dark color on a light pad.
(As you can see, it's no big problem if you do it the other way. There are tricks to removing dark ink from a light-colored pad, although it's not fun to do and wastes ink!)
As you sponge the 2nd color on, be sure to overlap with the first color so there's no dreaded line of demarkation!
BTW, I know that I said to cut out the butterfly, and you may be wondering about how to cut those skinny little feelers on its head. You can either cut them out very carefully and slowly (you are of course using small, fine-tip scissors like our Paper Snips, aren't you?), like I did on the card from a few days ago (you can really see it in the sideways view that showed the curled-up effect).
What I did on this card was to cut the butterfly without the feelers. Then I used the masking technique to stamp just the feelers onto the background paper. After that I lined up the butterfly and adhered it so the feelers appeared to be in the right place.
So there you go!
BTW, many people prefer not to wash their Sponge Daubers. If that's you, it's a good idea to dedicate each one to a specific color (label it on the side of the dauber). 12 daubers come in a package, and they last quite a while. If you DO wash yours regularly, you'll replace them more often, but will still get a lot of life from them. (I do NOT recommend washing them in your dishwasher, although I've heard some people do that--try at your own risk.)
Happy stamping!
--Janis
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