Bleached Coloring technique

Yes, again, SIMPLE! Basically, stamp your image with VersaMark or pigment ink, heat emboss, "paint" inside of image with bleach, use heat tool to dry cardstock, color in image with markers! See? Simple! Here is a list of the products I used to make this card.

Stamp sets: Crazy for Cupcakes, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red, Basic Gray

Ink: VersaMark, Basic Black

Other: bleach, Q-Tip, black embossing powder, heat tool, Whisper White Satin ribbon, beads (these are Stampin' Up! but they are not available anymore), Stampin' Write markers, Stampin' Dimensionals, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch

All products (except bleach, Q-Tip) made by/sold by Stampin' Up!

Polished Stone technique

I'm not sure where I got this technique. I've had the tutorial for quite a while. But, yes, as usual, it is really simple and easy! You need reinkers and a metallic reinker, glossy cardstock, rubbing alcohol and some cotton balls! That's it! All you do is put a few drops of the metallic reinker on your cardstock. Then, soak your cotton ball in alcohol and then add a couple of drops of your other reinkers onto the cotton ball. Then, just start dabbing on your cardstock. You will end up picking up the metallic reinker onto your cotton ball of course. Allow the cardstock to dry and then spray on some acrylic sealer. You can then use StazOn ink to stamp on the cardstock or use it as a background as I did for this card. Here is a list of the products I used to make this card.

Stamp set: Butterfly Prints

Cardstock: Glossy White, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Soft Suede

Ink: Marina Mist, Marina Mist reinker, Daffodil Delight reinker, Encore Gold metallic reinker

Other: rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, acrylic sealer, 1 1/4" Circle punch, Big Shot, Perfect Polka-Dots embossing folder, Flower Folds die, Two Tags die, Beautiful Wings Embosslit

All products (except cotton balls, alcohol, acrylic sealer) made by/sold by Stampin' Up!

Texture Plate Smoosh Technique

Yes...another really simply technique with really cool results! Basically, you pick out a texture plate, use your ink pads to apply ink directly to the texture plate, spray the texture plate with water, lay your piece of cardstock on the texture plate and run it through your Big Shot, let dry and use on your project! The hardest part is waiting for your cardstock to dry! (have you noticed that I'm not a very patient person? LOL) Here is a list of the items I used to make this card.

Stamp set: Cheep Talk

Cardstock: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight

Other: spray bottle filled with water, Brights Glimmer brads, Rich Razzleberry 3/8" Taffeta ribbon, Small Oval punch, Large Oval punch, Daisies Texturz plate, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Ticket Corner punch, Big Shot

All products made by/sold by Stampin' Up!

Embossed Vellum

OK....first things first! Some of you who are "ALL" Stampin' Up! might get a little peeved at me over this one! So, NO, the stamp of the dasies in the vase is NOT Stampin' Up! But, any time I see a stamp (or anything really) with daisies or daisy looking flowers on it I MUST have it! Daisies are my all time favorite flower! Anyone who really knows me knows that if they want to give me flowers for some unknown reason they should NOT buy roses...buy daisies if you want me to be happy! Anyway, when I started to do this technique this particular stamp just called out to me so I answered the call!

This technique is really simple. You just stamp your image (and, of course, you want an "open" image so you can color it) using white pigment ink. Then, apply white or clear embossing powder and heat. Flip your image over and use a stylus and mousepad to trace over the embossed lines to give it a dry embossed look on the front. Then color in the image. The embossing is the "front" and the coloring is the "back". Allow the coloring to dry and then flip it back over and attach to your project! EASY! Here is a list of the products I used to make this card.

Stamp set: Just Believe, other stamp that is NOT Stampin' Up!

Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Crushed Concord

Ink: Whisper White Craft, Concord Crush

Other: eyelets, vellum, stylus, mousepad, heat tool, white embossing powder, Stampin' Write markers in Concord Crush, Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz

All products (except daisy stamp and mousepad) made by/sold by Stampin' Up!

Jenny's Coat technique

The technique for this card is called Jenny's Coat. I got this technique from the Technique Junkies newsletter. It was suggested to them by Cathy Yamashita. It's really quite simple! Use DSP (patterned paper) and stamp your image on it using VersaMark. Emboss using clear embossing powder. Use a brayer to apply black ink over your embossed image. Wipe off any ink on your embossed image using a soft cloth or paper towel. That's it! Your patterned paper shows through your embossed image! Can't get much easier than that! Here is a list of the items I used to make this card.

Stamp set: Upsy Daisy

Cardstock/paper: Basic Black, Real Red, Love Impressions DSP, Red Glitter paper

Ink: VersaMark, Basic Black

Other: clear embossing powder, heat too, Stampin' Dimensionals, Small Heart punch

All products made by/sold by Stampin' Up!

Textured Toothpaste technique

This was another fun one using an every day household item! TOOTHPASTE! Everybody has toothpaste at home (well...unless everybody in the house has dentures I guess LOL). This technique came from the Technique Junkies Newsletter. It's pretty simple. You get one of those little painter palettes and squirt some toothpaste in the little cups. You squirt as many times as different colors you plan on using. So, for this card I had three different "squirts" of toothpaste. And, on a side note, the tutorial said it didn't matter if you used gel toothpaste or paste toothpaste. Anyway, then you add reinker to the different squirts of toothpaste and use a toothpick or spoon or whatever to stir up each squirt to mix the reinker and toothpaste. Then, you place a brass stencil over your cardstock and use a paintbrush to paint the toothpaste into the open areas of the stencil. Then, remove your stencil and cover your colored toothpaste with Ultra Thick Embossing Powder. Heat it and you are done! Here are the items I used to make this card.

Stamp set: Live, Laugh, Love

Cardstock/paper: Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Rose Red, Springtime Vintage DSP

Ink: Rose Red, Baja Breeze

Other: toothpaste, paint palette, reinkers in Rose Red, Baja Breeze and Pear Pizzazz, ultra thick embossing powder, paint brushes, heat tool, toothpicks, Antiques brad, metal stencil

All products made by/sold by Stampin' Up! except the toothpaste, paint palette, ultra thick embossing powder, paint brushes, toothpicks and metal stencil

Texture Duet technique

I know I say this about alot of these techniques but, really, this was SO easy! Seriously easy! I have tried some techniques that were more difficult and, quite honestly, they came out NOTHING like the picture in the technique tutorial showed. Maybe it's that I say all of the ones I've posted are easy because they easy ones are the only ones I can manage! (grin) This one is really basic! What you are going for is one texture at the top, a different texture at the bottom and a "non-textured" area in the middle. All you do is put your cardstock in your embossing folder but only have part of the cardstock actually "in" the folder. Run it through your Big Shot. Then, turn the paper around and run the other end through your Big Shot using a different embossing folder. Then, use whatever scoring tool you normally use to put a "line" at the top and bottom of the untextured (is that even a word? untextured?) section. Then, using the scoring tool, you "frame" the whole piece of cardstock. I'm not sure you can really see that part in the picture above. But, there is a scored line about 1/8" in from the edge of my cardstock all around the edges. If you have any questions please either leave a comment here or email me. This technique came from the October/November Technique Junkies newsletter. The "original" idea came from Lee Conroy. Here are the items I used to make this card.

Stamp set: Tiny Tags

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Perfect Plum

Ink: Wild Wasabi

Other: Big Shot, Finial Press embossing folder, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, ScorPal, Victoria Crochet Trim, 3/4"X16/16" Oval punch, Small Oval punch, Large Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

All products (except ScorPal) made by/sold by Stampin' Up!