Published in Paper Crafts Magazine

Bleach Painting

      Paper Crafts magazine just published one of my cards in their May/June 2012 issue. If you have never been on the Paper Crafts website or seen their magazine you are missing out. I get so much inspiration from them. Check them out here: www.papercraftsmag.com/ .

    

     I am so excited to share this card and my bleach painting technique with you!

     To begin with, I made a 5x7 card out of light gray cardstock. On a separate sheet of gray cardstock, I heat embossed the image of the birch trees. Heat embossing forms a kind of dam for the bleach-paint keeping the bleach from bleeding outside the lines.

     To paint the trees, I first mixed one part bleach to two parts water in a small bowl. I dipped a Q-tip in the bleach solution and painted the tree trunks with it. It may take a bit to see the complete transformation of the cardstock so be patient and don't overwet your image. You may want to paint a second coat if you want to go even lighter. Let the paint dry completely.

     Next, I trimmed the image and added black and burnt orange panels.

     The stamp for these trees belongs to a friend who is currently at her cabin in the remote areas of Alaska far away from phones (even cell phones) so I was not able to ask her who made this stamp. But, Northwoods Rubber Stamps has a stamp that would work even better with this technique. The stamp is Three Snowy Pines in Woods. Their website is www.northwoodsrubberstamps.com/

     Designer Tips

     This painting works great on a lot of different stamps. I find that it works great too to add highlights to heat embossed, stamped flowers.

     This technique does not work on coated papers. Regular, smooth cardstock works best.

     I would love to see the cards you make using this method. Send me a link to your card and I might just highlight it here on my blog. Thanks so much for your time and patience. Hope you have a wonderful day!