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Showing posts from June, 2007

Making and using a grid stamp

1. Cut two pieces of craft foam into identical sized squares. Using an exacto knife, cut geometric shapes out of the middle of one piece, leaving at least a thin border all the way around the outside. Mount one on top of the other using spray adhesive. 2. Paint a background piece of cardstock or watercolor paper with thinned acrylics. Let it dry thoroughly. 3. Use a brayer to roll out either black acrylic paint or ink on a piece of waxed paper. Use your craft grid like a stamp, making as many impressions as you can on your painted paper. Let it dry. 4. Cut out a grid that you like, and mount it on black cardstock or matt board. Finish it off with a quote or images of your choice. Copyright 2007 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact. Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered boo

Things to do with texture plates (Part two)

This is what happens when you try to use texture plates as a stamp! Not much!! Another use of texture plates is to use them as a reverse stamp. They don’t make good stamps in the classic sense, because the ridges are not all the same height. Therefore, when you try to apply ink to them, you end up with little dots on your paper instead of the pattern. However, if you place the texture plate underneath thin paper and press the inkpad down onto the paper from the top, you’ll get a much better texture impression. Use slow-drying ink, add embossing powder, heat, and you’ll have an even more noticeable texture. You can use your texture plates to texture thin metal. Tape the piece to the plate and rub the metal either with your finger or with a spoon. Using a piece of waxed paper over top of the metal will make your finger or spoon glide more easily, but can leave a residue on the metal that you’ll need to remove afterwards. When you’re done, you can use a stylus or an old dried up ballpoint

Things to do with texture plates (Part one)

I bought a set of texture plates recently, and then sat there trying to figure out why I had wanted them! In typical fashion, I got interested in the tool before I had thought through the results. But with a little experimenting, I found out that there are a whole host of things you can use these for…besides using them for interesting water glass coasters! The old classic is to place a thin paper overtop of the texture and rub with crayons, pastels, chalks, or colored pencils. This is one of the easiest ways to add texture to your work, building up layers of rubbings and then overstamping or painting. Crayons will act as a resist, so you can add water media on top and still see the pattern you’ve made. If you use a crayon that matches the color of the paper, or a clear wax stick (even a candle), the paper will show through. To texture a small shape, you can either go ahead and texture a larger piece of paper and then cut out your shape, or you can cut it out first and use a small piece