Time for another Twisted Challenge!

Happy Monday!!  It is the 15th, which means it's time for a new challenge over at The Technique Twist!  This week's technique is water stamping.  Yup...just like it sounds...use water instead of ink on your stamp!  Check out my take on it then I'll give you some how-to's:

Thank you card featuring the Fabulous Florets stamp set and using the Water Stamping Technique for the background.  Sentiment is from the Best of Greetings set.

Inside view featuring the Hello, Doily background stamp.

Ok, so while this technique may sound very simple, there are some tips that will make it much more successful for you.  Firstly, start with a light-coloured, heavier-weight card stock.  Here I used Naturals White because it is heavier than Whisper White, which means less warping when it gets wet.  Secondly, sponge liberally with dark colours...the water will dilute the ink under the stamped image revealing the lighter-coloured card stock underneath.  For this project I used Island Indigo and Always Artichoke and sponged with a lot of pressure so that I had dark, rich colour to stamp on.  Thirdly, choose large background stamps that have fine lines and are fairly detailed.  Thicker lines and solid stamps do not work well for this technique (think shapeless blob, rather than stamped image...ask me how I know!).  Fourthyly, to "ink" your stamp, use a spritzer.  There are many tutorials out there that suggest using a soaked paper towel as your "stamp pad", but I had little success with that method.  I found that if I spritzed my stamp and then blotted it once on my grid paper it stamped beautifully and I got a clear image.  After you place your stamp on the sponged surface, let it sit there for a few seconds to allow the water to transfer...you'll get a better image that way.  Finally, don't be alarmed if your stamped image doesn't show up well at first.  It will emerge as the water dries...you can speed up the process with your heat tool.
So, now that you know how, let me tell you how I did this particular card.  As I mentioned above, I started with a 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" piece of Naturals White card stock and sponged it with Island Indigo and Always Artichoke ink...I love how those two colours blend!  Then I spritzed my Hello, Doily stamp, blotted it on my grid paper and stamped it.  Now here's where my twist comes in...immediately after removing the stamp I stamped it again on a second piece of 4" x 5-1/4" piece of Naturals White card stock for the inside of the card...(kind of a tie-dye meets watercolour variation using the sponged card stock as my "ink pad"!)  Once it had dried COMPLETELY I heat embossed the stem from the Fabulous Florets stamp set in pewter.  I then die cut the large label from the Apothecary Accents Framelits, making sure to get part of the doily in the background.  On a separate scrap of Naturals White card stock I heat embossed the blossom in Pool Party and then sponged Island Indigo over top to fill in the background.  I fussy cut the blossom and adhered it with a dimensional.  I created a mat for the label using the tutorial you can view here and then adhered it to a 4" x 5-1/4" piece of Island Indigo card stock that had been embossed with the Beautifully Baroque TIEF and adorned with a piece of Smoky Slate Chevron ribbon.   I adhered the card front to a base in Smoky Slate and finished it off with the sentiment from the Best of Greetings set, which I heat embossed in pewter and punched with my Modern Label punch.  Add a few pearls and you're done!
Now early tomorrow morning I leave for Salt Lake City!  I am SOOOOO excited!  I have pre-posted a few projects for you but I will also be posting a daily wrap-up from convention each day.  Be sure to check back in toward the end of the day for my take on that day's events.  It promises to be a ton of fun!  I am going to be blogging from my iPad, which will be a brand new experience, so don't mind if my posts are lacking some of their usual polish.  I'll be typing on the touchscreen keyboard...yikes!!  I'll do my best to get my point across ;)