New! Technique-a-Week: Beyond the Basics Week 1

Finally!  I’m getting my Technique-a-Week video series going!  This video series will be a technique series for people who have the basics of stamping down and want to learn more and take their cards and scrapbook pages to the next level.

I have a printable PDF that you can download to a digital file on your computer.  The PDF will have links to the supplies that I used in the video.

I’m not going to lie…the first video is long!  I will try to make them shorter in the future.  I’m also going to add some supplemental videos during the week with just one card or one tip that goes along with the techniques that I used in the video series for that week.

I’ve been taking classes for years and I’m ready to start sharing all of the techniques that I love to do in one video series.  Maybe you’ve done some of these, maybe some are new, or maybe some will be techniques you haven’t done in a long while.  I just hope you feel inspired!

WEEK 1:  Watercoloring with dye inks, simple masking, new trends in stamping that include rainbow colors, black and white sketch images, adding just a little color to an image or adding color in a random way.

There are 4 card samples in this week’s video.  You will find all the measurements on the PDF and in the video.

Card 1:

I used what I think of as the ink smooshing technique.  I’ve seen this used in several ways and it is inspired by Vicki Boutin and Laural Beard from classes I’ve taken with them.  The layered outline technique is inspired by Therese Calvird.

All of the cards use either a watercolor or Bristol paper piece attached to a card base cut at 4-1/4 x11″ and scored and folded at 5-1/2″.  The card front is attached to a piece of craft foam with double sided tape and then attached to the card front. I added the sequins to all of the cards at the same time at the end.  They all use the Simon Says Stamp Look for the Rainbow stamp set and it’s a keeper!!  I don’t have the matching die set so I did some masking for this project.

Card 2:

I love this layout.  This trend that I’ve been seeing of just leaving the stamped image as a black and white outline image is so elegant.  I also love the masking technique that allows you to use just a portion of your card front to add color and then overlap your image so that some of it has color and some of it doesn’t.

Card 3:

This one is so quick and easy to do!  I call this the messy coloring technique.  This was inspired long ago by both Debby Hughes and Kelly Latevola.  They are amazing colorists in multiple mediums.  I’ve learned from both of them that you need to practice daily, embrace the imperfections, and that it takes years to get really good at watercolor and alcohol marker coloring.

This is a wet-on-wet watercolor technique and it is truly one of my favorite background techniques.  I love that no two pieces will turn out the same and that the water will do all the work if you let it.

Card 4:  My favorite in this series!

This is a boutique card!  It’s minimalistic and just that touch of color adds to the elegance of the black and white image and sentiment.

And that sentiment!  I just love the font they selected for this sentiment.

Let’s not forget the masking that I used on all the stamped images.  These are 3 separate floral images and the masking makes it appear like one large stamped image.

When masking, make sure you stamp the image you want to appear to be in front of the others first and then mask it before you stamp the other images.

I love peeling away the mask to reveal the overlapped images.  It’s always a “WOW!” feeling like heat embossing.

Here you can see all 4 cards together, all from that same stamp set:

A fun day of stamping for sure.  I had the supplies out and lots of time to play with them, so I just kept creating variations with the same materials.

I selected these quick techniques to start with because I love to watercolor and I am assuming if you are beyond the beginner stage that you have some basic supplies, like a selection of ink colors and materials you can use to mask images with.

The first stamping class that I ever took taught masking and heat embossing.  Of course I was hooked after just one class!

I also tried to use several techniques in this video together.  I also assumed that you might have supplies or tools that you have purchased that you want more ideas for using so that you get more bang for your crafty dollar.  The more ways I find to use a tool or a supply, the better I feel about purchasing it.  There is nothing worse than spending money on some crafty item and then never use it or only use it once or twice.  If you have it…use it!

If you don’t have masking paper:  use a Post-It note or use regular copy paper with some temporary adhesive on the back. (You can get Scotch temporary adhesive tape from the office supply store and even the dollar store or pharmacy.)

Here is the YouTube Video:

Supply List:

Are you interested in the products I used?  To make them easier for you to find, I have linked them below. (Affiliate disclosure ) Your purchases help keep my blog running at no additional cost to you and I thank you for the support!

 

Printable PDF: Technique-a-Week Beyond the Basics Week 1

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I really appreciate your visit.  I hope that you find time to lose yourself in crafting and forget about the chaos in the world right now.  Be well.