Sunday, August 31, 2014

Tutorials: Stamping on Paper Towels

Welcome to the Stamptember Celebration at Simon Says Stamp!  


Our celebration starts with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme of being BOLD with our stamping (use bold colors, a big bold stamp, etc).  I decided to boldly stamp where I'd never stamped before: on paper towels!  But it was only fun when I added water...and that also kicked up the "not a conducive material to work with" factor.  So I will show you what I did to make this collage, but quite honestly, there may be much easier ways to achieve this visual effect!


I started by dabbing different colors of Distress Ink on this background stamp (Decorative Grate by Stampendous) and stamped it on my textured paper towel.


I spritzed the stamped area with a good amount of water, which caused the colors to spread and bleed together.  The longer you leave it, the more the colors will spread out.  It will also turn more "pastel-y" (totally not a word) as the intense color dissipates.


Before it completely dried, I dabbed on some Distress Paint to give it more variety (Distress Paint has a bit of a "chalky" look to it when wet). 


Once my paper towel dried, I added some light teal polka dots and adhered the paper towel to a burlap panel using Gesso.  I kept forgetting that my paper towel would be hard to work with every time I added something liquid-based.  I found that Gesso and paper towels don't really mix, but modeling paste and paper towels REALLY don't mix!  I smeared some modeling paste through a Tim Holtz latticework stencil and had to gently (emphasis on gently) pull the stencil off my paper towel surface. 


I used Distress Paint to color the modeling paste.


Because I hadn't been challenged enough by paper towels yet, I decided to try and punch some shapes out of my excess colored paper towel scraps.



I can't say I'll be using a hand punch with paper towels again anytime soon, but I do like how these tattered flowers turned out.  I adhered them to my background.


From here on out, it was just a matter of filling in my canvas.  I did an image transfer onto fabric and adhered it to a vintage dictionary scrap page.  I added a hat and some Washi tape and made the sentiment, "Go and Do."

   
The phrase "Go and Do" has special meaning to me because I'm the type of person that dreams big and plans big, but who doesn't always take action.  So I try to remind myself to not only dream, but to go and do something about those dreams.

Here are some of the products I used from Simon Says Stamp to create my piece:



What will you go and do to be bold with stamps this week?  I can't wait to see your creations, which constantly amaze and inspire me.  Plus, when you upload your creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog, you'll be automatically entered to win the drawing for a $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp.  That's a win and win!


http://www.simonsaysstamp.com/