Mixed Media Fun: A Faux Cyanotype Christmas Card

Hello, friends!  It's Walter on the blog with you today.  Do you like trying different techniques?  I do.  I like to experiment with different techniques to create and see where it takes me.  Sometimes they work out and sometimes . . . well . . . I'm glad that it's only paper since it didn't work out!  Our theme for the Topflight Design Team this week is "mixed media", and I wanted to try something different.  I've always loved cyanotype images - those beautiful blue & white pictures that are so bright and rich in color.  I don't know the first thing about actually trying to create a real one.  It got me to thinking of how I might replicate one using stamping.  I played around a bit and found a faux version that I really like.  I used it in creating today's mixed media card and will walk you through it.

The first thing that I tried was painting an A2 card panel with a navy acrylic paint.  I really didn't like the way it looked and the white pigment ink that I used to stamp just didn't settle onto the paint all that well.  It then dawned on me - blue tissue paper!  I have some for filling gift bags but also save any that comes as packaging with orders.  I took a small piece and tried stamping on it with the white pigment ink.  It looked much better than my prior attempt!  I cut a piece down to an A2 size and used double-sided tape to adhere it to a white card panel.

I then used a foam brush to apply Lavinia Snow White Acrylic Chalk Paint to the bottom of my card panel (in a landscape position) to create a snow-covered ground.  I applied two coats to make sure that I had good coverage.  I then applied some Tim Holtz Rock Candy Clear Glitter over the white panel to add a little sparkle.

The panel was ready for stamping as soon as the paint & glitter was dry.  I aligned my panel & Indigo Blu Festive Village stamp in my Misti, inked the stamp with white pigment ink, and stamped.  I removed it and dried it with my heat tool on low.  I then put the panel back in my Misti, aligned the stamp to the left of where I already stamped, and stamped it again with white pigment ink.  The scene looked great!  I adhered the panel to my A2 card base.

Next up was creating my sentiment.  I grabbed a scrap of white cardstock and added a layer of PaperArtsy Blue Smoke Fresco Acrylic Chalk Paint with a sponge brush.  I then went over that layer with some of the Lavinia Snow White Acrylic Chalk Paint using a sponge brush.  I made sure to press the sponge hard enough to mix with the blue and lighten it up.  Once dry, I aligned PaperArtsy Stencil PS073 and stenciled the words Let it Snow and two snowflakes using Chipped Saphire Distress Oxide ink.

As a final touch, I mixed a drop of the Snow White paint with a little water and added splatter to the sentiment strip.  I also added a few clear gems to it and then cut it down to size.  Some foam tape was added to the back and I centered it towards the top of the panel.

I am thrilled with how well this turned out!  It really does resemble a cyanotype print.  What do you think - does it look like one to you?  Do you think you'll give this a try?  Let me know in the comments!  Here are a couple of closeups for you:

I hope that you enjoyed today's post and card.  I'll see you back here again next Monday.  Until then . . . be well!

Topflight Products Used:

Indigo Blu Festive Village Stamp Set

PaperArtsy Scrapcosy PS073 Stencil

Lavinia Stamps Snow White Acrylic Chalk Paint

Paperartsy Blue Smoke Fresco Acrylic Chalk Paint

 

Gel Printing with Lavinia Inks

 

Hello crafty friends! Ericka from Strangely Creative here, and today I’m sharing a journal page that started with one question: What happens when you put those gorgeous, juicy Lavinia Dye Inks on a gel plate?

The answer? Lots of vibrant color, beautiful blending, and a background that was so much fun to make that I couldn’t stop at just one!

For this page, I combined a bright gel print with layers of stamping, washi tape, and a dramatic black-and-white bloom. I love the contrast between all that bold color and the detailed flower sitting on top.

Starting with Lavinia Inks on the Gel Plate

I started with my 6x6 gel plate, a brayer, and Lavinia Dye Inks in Sundance, Pink Elephant, Violet Chalk, and Blue Lagoon.

I love working with the Lavinia inks because they’re so juicy and the colors are absolutely gorgeous. I added the inks to my gel plate, used my brayer to move the colors around, and then lightly spritzed the surface with water to encourage them to blend.

 

For my print, I experimented with a piece of glossy recycled paper. And this is where things got interesting!

Why Glossy Paper?

Because the paper has a glossy surface, the inks don’t immediately soak into it. Instead, they have a little more time to sit on the surface, move, and blend together before drying. That gave me those wonderful transitions from sunny yellow into bright pink, purple, and blue.

I loved the result so much that, naturally, I had to make a few more backgrounds while the gel plate was out! You can never have too many colorful backgrounds waiting in your stash, right?

Adding Layers of Texture

Once my print was completely dry, I started building additional layers using the same Lavinia inks.

I reached for an older AALL & Create Background Noise stamp set and added bits of numbers, text, circles, and other marks across the page.

Using the same inks helped all those extra details feel like they belonged in the background rather than sitting on top of it.

I love this part of mixed media—the background starts with beautiful color, but every additional stamp and mark gives you something new to discover.

Creating That Bold Contrast

With such a colorful background, I decided my focal image didn’t need any more color. Instead, I added this beautiful AALL & Create bloom in black and white.

 

I love the contrast! The detailed flower really stands out against all those vibrant pinks, blues, purples, and yellows without competing with them.

Sometimes leaving an image uncolored can actually make it more dramatic.

I also added pieces of AALL & Create Heritage Scroll washi tape around the page. The black-and-white details help connect the flower to the background while adding another layer of texture.

Finishing Touches

To finish the page, I added a sentiment from the Lavinia Uplifting Collection along with my signature hand-drawn frame.

The simple “follow your path” sentiment felt perfect surrounded by all those free-flowing colors and layers.

 

And with that, my journal page was complete!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope this page inspires you to pull out your gel plate, experiment with your Lavinia inks, and see what happens when you let those beautiful colors play together.

Have a wonderful weekend and happy creating! 

 

Topflight Stamp Supplies 

AALL & Create - 92 - Anemone Whispers Shop at: TP	Lavinia - Sentiment Stickers - Uplifting Collection Shop at: TP	Lavinia - Elements Dye Ink - Pink Elephant Shop at: TP	Lavinia - Elements Dye Ink - Blue Lagoon Shop at: TP	Lavinia - Elements Dye Ink - Sundance Shop at: TP
Lavinia - Elements Dye Ink - Violet Chalk Shop at: TP	Tsukineko - VersaFine Clair - Nocturn Shop at: AZ | TP	AALL & Create - Washi Tape Heritage Scroll Shop at: TP	Gel Press 6x6 Plate Shop at: TP
Speedball - 2" Brayer Shop at: TP

Inky Halloween Card with Lavinia + AALL & Create

Hello there, Lisa Hoel here! This week at Topflight Stamps our theme is "Inks". The store carries a veritable rainbow of colors in different brands. Lavinia's Elements Ink Pads are some of my favorites – they blend beautifully.

I started with a shimmery background made with Lindy's Enchanted Forest Magicals powders. Over that, I used the Halloween House mask and Violet Chalk and Lime Punch Elements ink to blend an inky background. I stamped, watercolored and fussy cut out the cute characters from the AALL & Create Pumpkin Pals stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the Topflight Stamps store for a wide selection of different and hard to find stamps, stencils and other paper crafting supplies from all around the world! Also keep an eye here on the Topflight Stamps blog. There is new inspiration posted often!

Topflight Stamps Supplies Used:

Lavinia Elements Ink pads - Violet Chalk, Lime Punch

AALL & Create stamp set - Pumpkin Pals

Carabelle Studio Mask - The Halloween House

AALL & Create stamp set - Funny Coquelicots

AALL & Create washi - Burlap Black

Lindy's Magicals - Enchanted Forest

Versafine Clair ink - Nocturne

watercolors

 

Bursting with Fall Colors with Versafine Clair Inks

Happy Monday, friends!  It's Walter on the blog with you today.  Fall is in full swing where I live in the New England area.  The colors are as beautiful as it gets and full of bright shades of yellows, oranges, reds, and browns.  It's truly spectacular and it was my inspiration for today's design.  Our Design Team theme this week is a very broad one - inks - and it worked in my favor as I used Versafine Clair Inks to create a fabulous autumn colored card.  It took just a few quick and simple steps to create it - let's jump into the process.

I used a cream A2 cardstock panel as my base layer.  I thought that cream would be better than white because any bits of the panel that peek through the ink wouldn't look so stark.  I began by taking my Versafine Clair Carrot Orange ink pad and just randomly swiping it onto the cardstock.  No rhyme or reason as to where I swiped it - just random swipes.

I repeated this with my Versafine Clair Strawberry ink pad.

I repeated it yet again with my Versafine Clair Lemonade ink pad.  This time I went over the entire panel with it to make sure that much of it was covered with ink.  I applied a little pressure in some areas and just lightly swiped in others.

The result was this beautiful tapestry of vibrant autumn colors.  The next step was to take the Aall & Create Autumny Falls stencil and add yellow, orange, and red leaves to the panel.  The yellow and orange leaves are more subtle but you can see indications of them as you tilt the panel.

I added a part of the tree by stenciling the PS450 Stencil from PaperArtsy and Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves ink and went over the edges of the card panel with some of the ink to distress it a bit.

I could now do my stamping onto the panel.  I used Versafine Clair Acorn ink, a lighter shade of brown with a slight red tinge, to stamp various small falling leaves and a sentiment from the All & Create Falling for Fall stamp set, as well as a beautiful sparrow with text elements from the All & Create Sparrow stamp set.  I also stamped a second sparrow onto a scrap of cream cardstock and lightly blended ink remaining on my brown brush over it.  I proceeded to fussy cut the sparrow, put some double-sided foam tape onto the back of it, and adhere it down to the panel.  I purposely placed it a little offset from the stamped sparrow to create a shadow-like effect.  A few randomly placed small Hunkydory Gold Precious Pearls were added to finish the design.

Here's a few closeups of my favorite elements of the design:

As you can see, the Versafine Clair is so pigmented and bright and just swiping the pads onto the cardstock created such a brilliant background.  An added bonus is that there wasn't a need for coloring any images as the background provides all the color that you need.

I hope that you enjoy today's design.  Post a pic of what you create using this technique in the comments - I'd love to see it!  I'll see you here on the blog again next week.  Until then . . . be well!

Topflight Stamps Products Used:

Versafine Clair Carrot Orange ink pad

 Versafine Clair Strawberry ink pad

Versafine Clair Lemonade ink pad

Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves

Versafine Clair Acorn ink

Aall & Create Autumny Falls stencil 

PS450 Stencil from PaperArtsy

All & Create Falling for Fall stamp set,

All & Create Sparrow stamp set

Hunkydory Gold Precious Pearls