A Soul's Heartbeat: Ai Stamps

Monday, February 20, 2017

Using Gamsol with Art Impressions stamps

a Country Craft Creations Design Team Share

Today I want to share how I color using a product called Gamsol, paper stumps and blending. Gamsol can be found in most craft and hobby stores or online. It's an odorless mineral spirit solution that when used with colored pencils blends the colors softly so your lines disappear.

To try this technique you'll need a bottle of Gamsol, I've transferred mine to a plastic dauber bottle which can be purchased at a beauty supply store. It's actually used for nail polish remover and runs about $7. Gamsol has a tendency to evaporate so it's best to keep it closed when not using and this is perfect, you'll see how snappy it works on the video. You'll also need some paper blending stumps or tortillions. These can be found at any craft store or online along with the sanding pad. As far as crayons go you can use the most expensive or the cheapest, I actually like these Crayon twist up pencils which are super cheap. When blended with the Gamsol they all take on a soft blended look.

I've used two different Art Impressions Vintage stamps this example is using the Six Layer Cake set along with the Party Time paper collection from Echo Park that was in my Craftology box. If you're unfamiliar with what a craftology box is check them out in the Country Craft Creations store. A few sequins, some flat back gems and bakers twine ties the card together.

To use Gamsol you simply color as you always do. You then dip a paper stump into a small amount of the Gamsol and blend your colored image. You'll see how the lines simply disappear and how soft the coloring looks. It's such a simple step and one I think you'll enjoy adding when you color your images or color in a coloring book.

Here's the inside of this card. I forgot to share the technique for the bakers twine. I punched a hole on the folded edge and ran my twine around and around through the hole and over the side, knotting it in the front and adding a bow. Just popping one of the cut apart saying from the collection on a couple of bright mats which are all grunged on around the edges completes the inside.

Here's the second Art Impressions stamp set, Bathing Suit Set. I just love these ladies!! I've merely fussy cut around the colored image, popped it on black and re-fussy cut and then popped them up on foam,

Here's the inside of this card using an older Art Impressions sentiment that I'd been gifted, some black netting from the craftology box and a sticker from the Party Time Collection.

I hope you'll watch the video where I really show you up close and personal how beautifully Gamsol can soften and blend your colored images. Since Gamsol evaporates quickly you have no residue left on your page when it dries. I'll link to the supplies I used from Country Craft Creations, and the links to the social media sites just below the video.

Supplies from Country Craft Creations

Ai Stamp Six Layer

Ai Stamp Bathing Suit Set

Prima Color Philosophy ink Chat Noir

Echo Park Party Time Collection

Craftology Box

Art Glitter Glue

Supplies from my Crafty Space

Gamsol Blending Solution

Paper stumps

Sanding pad

Glossy Accents

Cardstock

Colored Pencils

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Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Paper Piecing Ai Stamps

a Country Crafts Creations Design Team Project

If you have yet introduced yourself to Ai (Art Impressions) stamps there is just no time like the present to do so. Tamra Merrill, from Country Craft Creations sent me two of the Vintage stamp sets to play with. I'd mentioned I like to paper piece and decided I'd like to share that technique with you. It's a little time consuming because you are stamping and fussy cutting several times for each stamp but the end result, well it's kind of addicting, like you'd like to do another, just wait you'll see.

I'm just going to do a short run through of what I've used and how I used it here on the blog. You'll really want to watch the video (link below) to get the full benefit. On video we'll paper piece one stamp together and I'll share all the techniques I've come up with through trial and error. As we all know it's nice to not have to make the mistakes that others have made and just reap the rewards of the easiest way to do something, well in this case the easiest way for me. I'll post a link to the supplies I used plus store links directly below the video link at the bottom of this post.

The first step is to stamp your image on white cardstock (I'm using 110# white from Georgia Pacific). This stamped image will become your building base to glue your fussy cut pieces too. I like to have a good set of small scissors, I use Cutter Bees and a set of reverse tweezers. The tweezers are like a third hand when you're trying to glue the small pieces into their respective spots. I also use a cut piece of an old Cricut mat to stick my pieces onto while I'm assembling my images. This mat didn't have a lot of sticky left on it but it's enough to keep the tiny bits from flying elsewhere while you are working.

The first step is to figure out what areas won't be recut, in this case it was her legs, shoes, hair, face, the one arm. I then color these first and start layering. You can see above the first layer, her dress has already been glued down.

Here's a look at the finished paper pieced stamp. The key is to look at your image and decide how many layers you're going to have. Starting with the layer that would be the furthermost away from you begin gluing. In this stamp there are 4 primary layers, her dress, the apron, the bowl and the arm holding the bowl. When I was done I fussy cut the whole image, glued it to a solid green and fussy cut again. I am thinking these will be used in a mini I'm making.

Here's the second stamp I paper pieced. There are three ladies here so I pretend each is a stand alone and fussy cut and paper piece each image separately and then re-glue them in the order they would be standing so some parts of them over lap the others. It will make a lot more sense as you watch the video. This is an extremely fun process and one that will give your cards, minis, or whatever project you used the pieced images in a great added dimension. I hope you'll give it a try.

Supplies from Country Craft Creations