Guest Post: Faux Bleach Blocking with Stencils with Donna
October 23, 2014
Hello everyone and a big thank you to Julie for letting me on her blog, especially as she's the one who got me into stamp carving.
My technique for you today is one I call 'bleach blocking' but without the horrid smell of bleach! This is a much more friendly and safer way to remove some of the colour from your background via your favourite stencils. I am showing you 2 examples today using Ranger Distress Stains and Inks but it can be used on any medium that's water soluble. I have chosen to use the new Ink Blending Tool with the rounded foam pads as this is easier to dab on the stencils but you can use the square version, cut and dry foam or any type of sponge.
With this method, be careful not to oversaturate your chosen method of removing the colour otherwise it will soak through under the stencil and you will be left with a soggy mess....and then you'll get annoyed with me! Also choose a stencil that's quite 'open', a stencil with tiny detailing will not show as well....all of Julie's stencils will work perfectly of course!
Right, let's get started, gather all your supplies and you are good to go:
#1: Distress Stains
Now all your supplies are gathered, just randomly lay down the colours on your chosen medium. In this case I've just used white 300gsm cardstock, make sure whatever you use can stand up to being wetted.
Now grab your lovely stencil, use your low tack masking tape to keep it in place, now lightly wet your sponge applicator and gently 'pounce' or dab on the areas that are exposed. You can also dab with a paper towel as well to remove the excess water if you've wetted your applicator too much! Lift the stencil carefully to check your progress, if you're not happy, continue dabbing, if you're happy....stop!
Okay, so this is now what you should see when the stencils removed....pretty neat huh?! A lovely cool watery background, ideal for the start of a journal page.
Now to finish it off. Some more supplies gathered, lovely American stamps that I've just received. It's up to you what you use at this stage but I have kept it quite plain so as not to obscure the background too much as that's what this feature is all about, right?!
This is the background now stamped up....see how I picked this lovely lady with her umbrella to keep with the watery theme of course. So now the stampings done we can add some details with the supplies shown, once again, entirely up to personal choice what media you use...we all have our favourites don't we.
Here's the finished page now stuck into my journal. A really quick, fun way for adding interest to any background
#2 Distress Inks
This time I am using Ranger Distress Inks....we all have these don't we. I have grabbed a white card to show you on this time. Repeat the same steps as used in the # 1 example. I have used my square applicator to apply the inks to my card and kept my round applicator for wetting with.
This is what you have after you have randomly applied your inks
Once again, choose one of Julie's stencils (yep this one is not very clean, sorry),tape down and start dabbing!
This is what you should be left with when you do the big reveal! Pretty cool again, huh?! Perfect for a card
Once again, my dear crafty friends, the next stage is entirely up to you how you decorate the card. In this case I have gathered a couple of my beloved hand carved stamps (see I told you what an influence Julie has been) and some distress markers
Now I've included this picture as I changed my mind and decided I wasn't going to use the distress markers after all so used just the supplies in this picture instead....who says I'm not organised!!
So here's the finished card, pretty funky huh. Now I just have to think of someone to send it too....
Thank you so much once again Julie for featuring me, it's been a real honour and thank you to everyone out there who has read all through this! I really hope this is a method you will try if it's new to you, pop by my blog and let me know how you get on :)
Donna x
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Hi, my name is Donna Gray and I live in the UK.
I love all types of crafting and I'm still discovering so many different techniques and ideas. Whatever I am creating, I always try and put my little quirky twist on it!
Please pop along to my blog, Inky and Quirky which you can find at: pickleliciousart.blogspot.co.uk
Hope to see you there :)