Look Ma, No Coloring - Part II

...look at me go! COPIC markers still snuggled nice and comfy in their little Angel Hello Kitty case feeling a little bit left out. Sorry COPICs, that's the way the ball crumbles and the cookie bounces!

I am having so much fun trying different ways to stamp - some of the experiments I tried didn't work, almost kind of worked or turned out okay, but it's getting me to pull eeeeverything out and trying new things! Never distress embossed before? Never used acrylic paint daubers on a project before? Never distress inked anything before? Who cares! Bust them out and fake it 'til you make it! That's the fun part about distressing - even if it's kind of messy or imperfect, nobody else needs to know that, just tell everyone it's "distressed!" What? It's not ripped, it's distressed! What? It's not splotchy, it's distressed! Have fun, get inky, get meeessy! *gasp* I know...You know when your craft table is messy? When you set something aside so that it doesn't get inked on and five minutes later, you can't find the thing you set aside. So you make another one because after searching frantically, you still can't find it and then when you go and set something else aside, you find the other thing that you couldn't find before. HAHAHAHA...I don't know who that happens to................

Aaanyways, after a few misplacements, I finally was able to get it together but I did have a bit of trouble today. Work sucked the rest of the mojo out of me and left me with not much else to work with today! Here is my completed project:

Hey, do you know that movie that came out a while back called Inkheart? This post has nothing to do with it, except for the word ink. *LOL* What DIDN'T I ink in this project?!

Starting off with a piece of glossy cardstock and my oh-so-useful, oh-so-trusted foam ink applicator, I used a couple colours of Distress Ink (Tea Dye, Vintage Photo) and inked up the entire surface going around in circles with my foam ink applicator. Next, I turned to my rich and creamy Versamark Dew Drop in Jumbo Java and inked up my Butterflies a-Flutter stamp and hit up each corner with a nice thick coat. When the ink dried (with the help of my heat gun) I rubbed my finger around over it to give it a more "distressed" look (or did I just not stamp it right? Who knows, that's the beauty of distressed! *LOL*) Okay, I lost track of what I was talking about...HAHAHAHA!

Oh right, using my ONLY Nestability set, I cut out my verse. I was going to go a different way, but since today is the first day of Lent, I thought I would go the biblical path. I also cut out a larger oval to mat my verse. For the verse, I misted it over with Perfect Pearl mist (left over from yesterday, no sense in that yummy, shimmery mist to go to waste, right?!), dried and then inked over with the Versamark ink. The ribbon was a sheer PURPLE when I pulled it out of my ribbon drawer, but with a couple swipes of my little Dew Drop, voila! Now it matches everything else! Took a little bit of Cinnamon Stickles because I haven't bonded with them in a while and Stickled certain areas!

That's it for me for now, please come back later on for a little bit more SillySkittle-isms! I've got my last installment of pictures for the giveaways - it's THIS WEEKEND! Please come by on Sunday and visit for a chance to win my blogaversary THANK YOU prize! Thank you for stopping by!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp: Butterflies a-Swirl by Pez-a-Doodle Designs
Ink: Versamark Drew Drop in Jumbo Java, Distress Inks in Tea Dye, Tattered Rose and Vintage Photo
Paper: Glossy Cardstock (NOT the same as photo paper!)
Embellishments: Stickles, Ribbon
Tools: Oval Nestabilities, Foam Ink Applicator

CURRENT MOOD: LAZY CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: SUNGLASSES

Look Ma, No Coloring...

...our own fearless DT leader Marti has definitely set us up with a challenge with our DT assignments this week (or TORTURE considering that I *just* got my COPIC markers...*LOL* however you choose to look at it) our mission: stamp but nooooo colouring! *gasp* I KNOW! How could she DO this to me? Hahahaha...

Actually, my poor neglected COPICs aside (which isn't that big a deal since I don't even know to really use them yet!), the challenge was AWESOME! I love how it got me to pull out all the other materials I've been hoarding but haven't really used to their full potential!

So today I am looking at Distress Embossing Powders!

These are the colours that I used for this project:

Dusty Concord	Peeled Paint	Dried Marigold

The difference between these embossing powders and the other powders that are normally used is that when heat is applied, these don't melt down into the shiny, raised look that most people associate with heat embossing and powder. These distress powders end up with a rough, gritty feeling and the weather-worn look when heat is applied - just like the packaging says! They also differ from other embossing powders in that they have to be shaken very well first get the "distress" crystals distributed before use. These crystals is what gives the embossing powder their name! Once sprinkled onto a project and heated, when the powder has cooled, you can rub your finger over the area you have just embossed and these crystals will give the project it's distressed look! I don't really emboss much or distress enough to really be able to say that the project gets an authentic distressed look, but I *LOVE* using these embossing powders as it definitely lends any projects a totally different look and feel that other regular ol' embossing powders just don't do!

Anywho, I used these on my no-colouring project and this is how it turned out:

Can I just say that I *heart* how this turned out!?! So to break it down, I first made sure that I had shaken all my jars of embossing powder that I would be using and had them open, lined up and waiting to be used. Then I stamped my image on the INSIDE of the card with Versamark. While Versamark was still wet, I took a pinch of one colour of powder and sprinkled it over certain areas of the wet stamp and did the same step for the other two colours. Once I had a nice sprinkling in different areas of the colours that I wanted, I held up the card and tapped my fingers underneath the card to make the powder "dance" around. This ensures that all the areas are covered in powder. Then I just dumped the excess powder in the trash...with the colours all mixed up, I knew I wasn't going to be using it again. But feel free to save it if you think you'd like to use some funky, mixed-up colours to emboss one day. So once I had everything powdered, I applied heat, let it cool and then rubbing the living daylights out of it to distress certain areas. To finish up the card, I pulled out my brand new Oval Nestabilities and punched out an oval at the front for my stamped image to show through.

I also used another no-colour technique for the front of the card...I wonder if that gets me any bonus points with the DT leader! LOL...but for the front of the card, I embellished my oval window with a flourish stamp that I inked using three matching Studio G ink pads. So basically, I attached my clear stamp to the block and went at it with the three different coloured ink pads starting from the lightest to the darkest. When I stamped, all three colours showed through making it nice and multicoloured without me having to bust out any colouring materials! Less the effort but maximum effect! I sure like that equation! I also did the same technique with the Studio G sentiment and finished it all off with coordinating FLOWER SOFT and paper piercing! *swoon*

That's it for me today, I'm supposed to be lookin' busy stuffing tax receipts! *giggles*

Thanks for dropping by and visiting!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are from Marti from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp(s): Butterflies a-Swirl by Pez-a-Doodle Designs, Studio G clear stamps
Ink: Versamark, Studio G ink pads
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder, Flower Soft, rhinestones
Tools: Paper piercer, Oval Nestabilities, Heat gun

CURRENT MOOD: OVERLY CAFFEINATED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: STUDENT COMPLAINTS