Friday, March 25, 2011

Hope for Japan

Our hearts go out to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and like so many of you, we’re eager to help. From now until April 30, when you or your customers purchase the exclusive, non-commissionable “Hope for Japan” A-size stamp set (A1118) for the special price of only $5 (US and CAN), Close To My Heart will donate 100% of the profits to the American Red Cross’ efforts in Japan. This stamp set has a retail value of $8.75 CAN but is available to you and your customers at a great discount, with the profits going toward helping this urgent, important cause. To purchase this set and help Japan and get this fabulous stamp set please click HOPE FOR JAPAN.

Tips & Techniques

**** Spray Pen****NEW: I am very excited about the new Spray Pen. It is fabulous and offered at a great price! They come in a pack of three so you can have lots of fun with different colours! You can use it as a spritz or to create a shimmer mist. All you need to use it as a colour spritzer is the spray pen and re-inker in any colour. Unscrew your spray pen and fill it up to the 7^th line with water and then add a few drops of re-inker. Carefully screw tthe spray cap back on and then you are ready to go. I recommend placing newspaper or cardboard underneath to catch any excess spray from the pen. You can now spray onto cardstock to add texture and a touch of whimsy to any card, scrapbook layout or project! You can use your craft heater to quickly dry the ink and set it into the paper but it will dry on its own too if you do not have one. A tip is to hold it about 7 to 10 inches away from the paper to avoid getting a ringed or circle spray effect on your project. The circle spray effect can be a cool look too however most times a splattered look or fine spray is the desired result. It is great for snow if you use white! To have a glimmering shiny look add a pea sized amount of CTMH Create-A Shade Pearl Paint to the water and shake it up and then add a few drops of re-inker and shake and you are ready to spray! Be sure to water the pearl paint down in water and do not add too much or it could clog your spray pen.

Waterbrush:

The waterbrush is one of my favourite tools. It works better than applying watercolours to the cardstock because it uses CTMH inks! Simply unscress the blue tube from the brush and fill it with lukewarm water from your tap. Sometimes you have to squeeze it to soak up the water from the tap into the brush. Next close up the brush and then you are ready to stamp. Be sure to use an Archival ink like the one from CTMH or Staz On to prevent your stamped image from running, To apply colour, gently press your closed CTMH ink pad down in the centre of the pad and then twist and open but instead of locking into place leave open and you have a built in paint tray! Close To My Heart really thinks of everything when it comes to great product design! Dip your brush into the ink in the white tray and begin to paint. Use as much or as little as you like and as many colours as you desire! You can add more water to your palette by gently squeezing the blue part of your waterbrush but be careful not to add too much as it will make your paper warp. With a bit of practice you will have striking images that look like they were painted by a pro!

Blending Pen: The blending pen from Close To My Heart is great to merge colours for a softer look. It really gives a professional looking blending result to your projects. The blending pen can be used to lighten colours or create a watercolour effect. The blending pen features a brush tip at one end and a fine tip at the other end. The blending pen can be used with CTMH's inks, markers and stamp pads. To use with CTMH re-inkers , add a couple drops of the re-inker to the lid of your ink pad and use the tip of the blending pen to pick up the ink color and then you can begin blending. To use with our CTMH markers touch the blending pen directly to the tip of a marker and then apply to your image or project. To use a blending pen with the CTMH ink pads gently squeeze the lid of your closed ink pad a few times so that the ink pad touches the white tray inside and leaves some ink on it to work from. Open it up and use the blending pen to pick up the ink color that is now on the white inside "tray".

Brayer: Remember brayers from high school art class? They are typically used for printmaking and stamping is a form of printmaking. My favourite techniqueto use with the brayer is a play on negative/positive space. Start by stamping an image with a watermark ink on white or a light coloured cardstock and then pour a Clear Embossing Powder to cover the stamped image and set it with the craft heater. Once this has dried then ink your Close To My Heart brayer with any colour of CTMH ink pads and roll over the clear embossed image on white cardstock. You can roll over the image with several colours and even sponge colour over top to soften the look. To clean the brayer, run it under water and gives it a gentle scrubbing with your fingers and let dry.

Cleaning Stamps: To clean your Close To My Heart My Acrylix clear stamps it is recommended that you clean the stamps immediately after use. If the ink stays on there too long it will be more difficult to remove. Close To My Heart Archival Ink and Staz On will permanently discolor the stamp image due to being pigment inks. The best way to clean your stamps is to use the CTMH My Acrylix Spritz and the Stamp Scrubber . These 2 products are going to be your best bet and most effective for removing the residual ink without damaging the high quality My Acrylix clear stamps. Both of the double scrubber pads are removable and can easily be washed in the sink and rinsed out with water. If your well loved stamps become less sticky over time simply rinse them under water lukewarm water and the stickiness will come back. A mild dish soap can be used but try with water and a gentle hand scrubbing first.

Embossing: Embossing is a great way to create dimension to any stamped image and give it a clean polished look. The lovely shiny and professional raised look is very easy process to accomplish! Simply stamp your image that you want to be embossed onto a versa mark watermark pad or any CTMH ink pad (except archival or any of the pigment based inks) and then generously sprinkle your CTMH embossing powder over the image. Make sure you covered the entire image, then remove the powder back into the container or on an extra paper. I like to catch the extra powder with the CTMH craft tray but a coffee filter will work nicely too. Be sure to get all the excess powder that may be surrounding the stamped image by either using a small paint brush to gently brush away any stray powder or lightly tapping the paper from the bottom side (tapping too hard can sometimes remove powder from your image). Now for the magic to work it's wonders, turn on your craft heater and hold over the powder to give it that raised embossed look. Do not hold the craft heater in one spot for too long or you can over heat it and lose the shine and burn your paper! The trick is to keep it moving around until the entire images is raised and glossy. I tend to hold mine straight up and down and use good light to be sure I do not over heat. Also, never reheat an embossed area once it is perfect.

If you want to add an additional colour to your stamped image that you want to emboss then before you go to use the craft heater, use an embossing pen to draw the area where you want the second colour and then sprinkle that colour of embossing powder overtop and then use the craft heater. The powders may bleed into each other a little but that is sometimes a nice effect too.

Journaling Lines: A great trick to creating straight journaling lines is to start with a CTMH My Acrylix Clear Block and use the straight edge of the block edge directly onto an ink pad.. Then stamp your lines right onto your paper, being careful to keep then the same width apart. You can make them any colour you want! The internet is also a great place to get ideas for quotes, titles or poems if you cannot think of anything to journal.

Liquid Glass: The Liquid Glass from Close To My Heart is a truly amazing and versatile product. I LOVE it! Liquid glass can be used to add shine, brighten, highlight, accent, and add dimension to your stamped images, embellishments and projects. It can also be used to "glue" things together. It is almost like a clear sap. To use it simply hold the bottle upside down and squeeze it onto your project. The hard part is to wait for it to dry without touching it! It will take longer depending on the quantity you have used. I tend to leave my project in a safe place overnight to be sure it is dry. Although it was take as little time as half an hour. I used this to hold the handmade paper flowers together.

Masking: Masking is a technique that allows you to change the end result of a stamps image or stamp several images by cutting and layering them over top of one another . Another very NEW Technique is done with our new spray pen, it is so FUN! You can place an acrylix stamp face down as you would if you were going to stamp the image on the paper and then use the spray pen to spritz colour over top of the stamp onto the paper. Carefully lift the paper and wash the stamp under lukewarm water and set aside to dry. Once the spritzed paper is dry you can place the stamp on a block and stamp the image where you had placed it originally (the area will be lighter in colour and will have a high impact). Really fun! I like to shorten a word or change a phrase on a stamp. Simply ink your image or phrase and then use tape to cover up what you do not want to stamp and then stamp. You will get a stamped impression from whatever was not taped.

Placing Stamps on Blocks: My favourite thing about CTMH blocks are the side finger grooves. It makes them very easy to hold and use! The best way to place your CTMH My Acrylix clear stamps on your clear block it to have the most appropriate sized My Acrylix block to use with your image. When using alphabet stamps and are trying tomake a word with several letters on a block you can use the line guide called the Block Buddy that can stick right to your block to help with your letter alignment. You can also have a random letter look with them purposely off line for a more relaxed look. My Acrylix stamp allow you to look through the top of the block and ensure that the ink is on evenly and allows you to place your image exactly where you'd like it to go. When you have it in place apply firm even pressure to the block. I find it easier to stand and press down with larger images. Don't worry if it does not stamp perfectly with clear stamps you can ink your image again and reposition it directly over top of your previous try and stamp again. The image will be a little darker but perfect!

Random Stamping: Random stamping is a fun technique which allows you to be able to create your own background paper. You have complete control over colour(s), texture, size of pattern and if it is repetitious or crazy. To have a repetitious pattern take one image and stamp it evenly placed over the paper. To have a more random or crazy pattern place a number or stamp (3-10 ) on a block and stamp all over the page, being carefully the images. A great hint is to have some of the images half on and off the page. Do not be afraid to experiment and rotate your images around on the page. I love this technique to have a snowflake or floral background. You can even emboss your images using this technique.

Tie Dye Stamping: Tie dye stamping is a really cool technique to add multi-colour to your stamped image. Start by taking a large block and layer a stack of baby wipes (make sure they are alcohol free) about a cm thick on top of the block. Then you can take a few different colours of any CTMH re-inker and drop them onto the baby wipes to create a truly unique “stamp pad”. You can add as many colours as you like or just a few. Stamp your image carefully into the baby wipes not to move it around too much and then stamp onto paper as you normally would. Clean off your stamp and try inking it up again in a bit of a different direction for a totally different look. No two images will be exactly the same. Using colours in the same colour family works well with flowers or animals. You can play around with values while using pattern and fall leaves. It is fun to have a rainbow effect on text such as for a Happy Birthday for a child's card. Experiment and have fun. It is a bit messy but simple to wash up. Simply throw out the baby wipes and wash your block with soapy water and everything is clean once more!

Rock and Roll Stamping: "Rock and Roll" is a really fun technique to try! This is a two part technique that is easy to do once you get the hang of it. First stamp an image onto paper. Then the second part is where the term rock and roll comes into play. The term rolling refers to stamping and image by rolling the outside only of the image with a colour and stamping directly over top of a the same image stamped before. This can be used to produce a two-tone looked on your image or even to create shading. You can use second generation stamping with your first image and then rock and rolling your second image over top to create a dramatic look. this can be done with the same colour or two different colours. You can also go for a more subtle look by stamping a solid image base for your first image and then rock and rolling using the same colour over top to have a more defined look.

Season Your New Stamps: This tip is great to get your new stamps ready to pick up ink more evenly. Seasoning is a process used to remove any residue that may have gotten on your Close To My Heart My Acrylix clear stamp during the production process. There are two ways to season your stamps. The first is to ink your stamp as normal but stamp it a few times on scrap paper first until you notice the colour eventually stamps evenly. Some agents also like to use the CTMH rub & remove eraser to gently rub off anything that may be on your acrylix stamp. This will make the stamp have a slightly rough texture which will help to absorb ink more, but will not transfer to your stamping. You can also wash your stamp under lukewarm water as well. Although I usually just ink it up and stamp it a few times on scrap paper because it is the fastest way! And we all love easy!

Second Generation Stamping: The Second Generation stamping is a favourite technique that I love to use. It is very simple and can extend the colour palette of your ink.To start ink up a stamp image and have a scrap piece of paper. Stamp it first on the scrap piece of paper and then without inking it up or cleaning it off stamp it directly on your desired location. It will be a lighter shade of the original colour. You can also use this same technique to to third and fourth generation stamping although you may want to hold the inked stamp close to your mouth and take a deep breath and breathe over top of it to moisten the image once your get to the 4th generation!

Solid Stamping: Basic stamping technique is a solid stamping method to give you a nice clean image. I like to start by placing my Versamat upside down so the cushioned all black side is facing up. This gives you a nice workable surface to ensure a solid crisp image every time. Another trick if you do not have a mat is to place the white foam behind your stamps underneath the paper when stamping. It also helps. Gently peel your stamp from the package and place on a block. When using a new stamp be sure stamp it a few times on a scarp piece of paper to " season it" before you stamp it on your project. To ink up your image tap three or four times onto your ink pad, then check it to see if it is inked enough. If not then keep tapping until the ink is evenly spread over your stamp. Now you are ready to stamp your image onto the paper and press down firmly in the middle of the stamp without moving the stamp. Make sure not to have ink on the rim of your block or this could transfer onto your paper. Lift the block from the paper and your will have a nice clear stamped image. Be sure to clean your stamp after each use!

Stamp Kissing: Is the term that refers to two stamps acting as one or used together to create an overlapping image. For example you could use a background stamp (something to add texture or design like our new music notes or wood stamps or even text) on a block and ink it up and then place another stamp (another image) onto another block and ink it up and place that image directly onto the background stamp on the other block so the are "kissing" and then stamp the image onto paper. You can also use tissues to blot coloured ink onto a stamp to create a soft multi-coloured kissed image.

Storing your Clear Stamps: Store your My Acrylix Stamps in a cool and dry place and protect them from direct sunlight. Check out the My Acrylix Organizer for durable storage that is a perfect fit for the Close To My Heart My Acrylix Clear Stamps. I love these containers as they hold 15 stamp sets. You can have deciding how to store them and they come colour coded to help you stay organized!

Tinted Liquid Glass: The tinted liquid glass is a wonderful technique to add a hint of color and shine to your projects or embellishments. Pour a pea size amount of liquid glass onto a non-porous surface, then add a drop of CTMH re-inker at a time and blend them together with a toothpick until you get the desired colour. Now you can dip embellishments right into the tinted liquid glass or brush overtop to glaze any paper project. Remember liquid glass takes a long time to dry so set it aside in a safe place and do not touch it for as long as you can! I like to leave it for the day or over night.

Scrap With Heather

Tips and Techniques

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Friday, March 25, 2011

Hope for Japan

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