St Augustine Stamp Club happened this week. I already shared my challenge contribution:
Rain or Shine back on April 1. I would like to share the technique that I demonstrated on Monday. Rock Candy Distres Stickles. I printed technique directions on the back of paper printed from
Designer Digital. This is a technique from Tim Holtz's online class:
Chem 101; This is a great class for learning about the different properties of ink as well as techniques that reflect various ink properties. He is an awesome teacher and the two week class features two videos a day: one to help your understanding of various products and the second dealing with techniques. Each video is lenghty (at least 25 min) and reflects Tim's awesome skills as a teacher.
For this technique, the Rock Candy Stickles gives a wonderful antique, glass like image when spread thinly over a stamped background. (See closeup). This look is nice, but of more interest to me was Tim's technique of double inking a background stamp in order to blend ink right on the stamp. With distress inks, there is no worry about the contamination of one pad by another. He inks a background stamp with one color (I am traditional, so I ink with the lighter color first) and then adds a second color of distress ink to the stamp before stamping. I found that if there is a big difference in value (lightness or darkness) of a color, the results are
two-toned. If the values are closer; the the result is a blend and represents a new color. In the picture below starting clockwise from top left:
Honey/Brick Red; Broken Spruce/Faded Jeans; Peeled Paint/Faded Jeans; Honey/Victorian Velvet;
Victorian Velvet/Concord. Because the stickles are wet, they activate the distress inks just a bit and they help the colors blend more. One more tip from Tim: when a background stamp doesn't cover the entire tag, don't fret. Use your blending tools to pick up the excess of your new custom color direct from the stamp and blend the edges to fill in unstamped areas.
Here is my card showcasing this technique: The tag blends Vintage Photo and Broken China. The verse is stamped in Vintage Photo and comes from a new stamp set from My Favorite Things and is called
Big Greetings. The CS is from SU: Vanilla, soft suede, and crumb cake. There is a tiny piece of DP (from my desktop) and the flowers and pearls were from my stash. The ribbon is organdy and seam binding dyed with Broken China and Antique Linen Distress Stains.
While I was playing around, I worked on some new rewards for my students. They are made from heavy, single-sided DP cut in one of the SU Two Tag die cut. The stamp design is also from SU and is called "You're My Type." The stamped message is an older stamp from my collection. The trimmed image is popped up with foam tape so the tag will close. I can include personal comments on the inside of the tag and then attach to a treat or even include a piece of gum or pencil to the inside of the tag.
One last bit of playing around: I copied an Easter Card from my friend, Jeanne (who probably copied it from someone on splitcoaststampers.com.) It was so quick to make. The base is white CS with a layer of DP. The top layer of white CS is dry embossed with Swiss Dots and then punched with the blossom punch from SU. A circle of CS, a button and pearl finish the center. Raise the embossed layer with foam tape for the best effect. The card is finished with ribbon and a bow and a word punched title raised with dimensionals.
Next is a picture of my tag for the St A exchange (that I had to miss because of tornado warnings). I tried to go, but had to turn around because of the bad road conditions. I loved making this tag using the techniques from Stephanie Ackerman's class. I needed to order a black distress marker. None of the ones tht I own gave the look I wanted. 
