Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tutorial Tuesday - Faux Leather Technique


Materials needed:
White cardstock
White tissue paper – non glossy
Assorted inks of your choice
Ink applicators
Gel medium or Mod Podge or PVA glue
Brush or sponge for your glue


I have chosen Palette Inks in Cognac, Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber for the demo.  The white cardstock has been cut to 5 ½ X 4 ¼ inches.


Step 1…Randomly add the lightest color of ink to your cardstock using a sponge or ink applicator leaving some white space.  I used Cognac Palette ink.


 
Step 2 …Using your next darkest shade of ink, in this instance Burnt Sienna, apply ink over entire area of cardstock.


Step 3…Now you are ready to add your tissue paper.  Squeeze the paper into a ball to get lots of wrinkles then open it up. Apply your Mod Podge or whatever glue you have chosen to your inked paper covering the entire surface.  Take your wrinkled tissue paper and lay it on top of the sticky surface of you cardstock.  Wrinkles and creases are good and will add to the texture of your finished piece.

Let dry thoroughly before proceeding to the next step. You can speed up the drying time by using your heat tool.


Step 4…Taking your darkest color ink (Burnt Umber) start pouncing the ink over the entire sheet covering all of the tissue that is adhered to the cardstock. There is no need to ink all of the tissue as you will be cutting off the excess.  Try not to rub the ink onto the tissue with too much pressure as the moisture in the ink may cause the tissue paper to tear.



Trim off the excess tissue.  You should have paper that looks similar to this.


Step 5…Taking a brush or sponge brush, cover the entire surface of your paper with Gel Medium or Mod Podge.  You can use either matte or glossy finish.

 
Step 6 (optional)…After my paper was dry, I ran it through my Big Kick with an embossing plate to give it more texture. I then ran a Brilliance teardrop pad (Coffee Bean) over the raised areas to give it a little gloss.


Here is another piece that I made using Haystack Palette ink as the base color applied directly to the paper from the pad, covered with tissue paper and topped off with TH Old Paper Distress Ink then stamped with the Ancient Map Background rubber stamp from RRD using Charcoal Palette ink.



Supplies from Red Rubber Designs



Rubber stamp  http://www.red-rubber-designs.com/ancient-map-background-rubber-stamp.html



You can download a PDF version of this and all other tutorials for free at Red Rubber Designs.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Memorial Day Weekend Sale!

We're having a

Memorial Day Weekend Sale

at Red Rubber Designs!

Join us Saturday, Sunday and Monday
~ May 26, 27 & 28 ~

FREE Creative Clingtm with every stamp purchase

~ Free Cling sheet(s) will fit size of selected stamp(s) ~
~ Free Cling is manually added to your order - just order stamps and you'll get it! ~

FREE Shipping on ALL Orders!

While we celebrate the weekend with a sale, we do not forget
the sacrifices that have been made for us. Please remember
the service men and women who have made these sacrifices
so that we may know Freedom.

And remember! You always get a
FREE Gift with every purchase!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Tutorial Tuesday: Creating A Stamped Masterboard

Creating a Masterboard is a fun way to create your own background papers.  You can choose any assortment of stamps and inks to create your own personal paper, which can come in handy for special crafts you may have in mind.  Later on I'll show you ways you can use your Masterboard, but for now let's get to making the actual board.


Pictured above and below are the necessary items.  I've chosen an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of Stardust cardstock.  You can certainly use a 12x12 piece of cardstock or even a colored one if you'd like.
I have a few basic rules I follow when choosing my stamps.   I like images that are different but also seem to belong together.  I choose between 5-7 stamps and I'll vary the sizes.

Since I'm only working with  an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, I'm not going to choose any stamp that's too big.  It's good not to choose an image that if torn in half will look strange.   Choose stamps that even if you only see a part of it are still pleasing. My masterboards usually include some kind of text or script, but they don't have to. For inks I am going with the Palette inks.

I'll identify the specific stamps and colors inks I'm using as we proceed along.


Another rule I follow when I start stamping is not to over think the placement.  I'm always happier with the results when I just go for it.  I do remember to stamp off the page so I get a full sheet to work with later on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


For my script I am using this quote from the All Things of Nature set and I am stamping it in Cognac.  Notice how I have varied the direction of the stamp and also stamped off the top, bottom and sides of the page.


I'm drawn to music stamps so I added this set of notes from the Vintage Backgrounds Set.  That I stamped in Jardin Moss.  I varied the shade by sometimes stamping on another piece of paper before my masterboard.   Notice how I stamp over some of the text I had previously stamped.  One thing you do not want to do is try to place your stamps entirely on empty space.


I'm now adding my largest image which is this flower from the Be Fabulous set.  I have stamped it appropriately in Sunflower.   This image fills in a lot of the white space, but I still make sure to stamp off the page with it.








Now comes one of my favorite little additions, and that is the bee stamp from Be Fabulous.  I have stamped that in Charcoal.  I add a lot of these -- mostly because I like them.
See how it's starting to fill in?   We are almost done.







I adore this bird's egg as well from the All Things of Nature set.  I'm adding it in Beaux Arts Blue.  That really seems to pop off the page.








The last step for this masterboard is to use a small fill-in stamp just to bring everything together.  I've chosen this small background stamp from Fly Fairy which basically looks like spilled drops of ink.  It's perfect for the final touches on this piece.  I stamped that in Cognac again.



That completes my Masterboard!
You can use this original in your art projects or make a color copy of it to get multiple pages from it.
Below you can see the cards and tag I made by tearing, cutting, punching pieces of my masterboard.






Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Tutorial Tuesday: Making Your Multi Image Rubber Stamps Work for You


Have you ever looked at a multi image or collage rubber stamp and decided not to buy it because you thought there was only one way to use it...as a whole stamp?  I am going to show you how you can get more use out of those sometimes overlooked stamps.

For my example, I am using the Life of the Party rubber stamp available from Red Rubber Designs.
Trim your rubber stamp and mount it on creative cling cushion. as you normally would. 
(You can find a free tutorial for mounting and cutting rubber stamps here.)


Your next step is to carefully cut out the different images of your stamp with sharp scissors.  I used the Kai gold 4” scissors. It is important not to trim off any excess rubber because you want to be able to put the puzzle back together.


Here is my sample with one of the images cut from the original stamp.

 
Above is my stamp after cutting out all of the images. You now have the option of using the separate images as seen below.




  Or you can put all of the pieces back together and use the stamp again in its entirety.  

You can find this tutorial as a free download at Red Rubber Designs.

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Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Tutorial Tuesday: Etching Dichroic Glass with Stamps

Though I have many crafting interests, I have a passion for glass! I make a lot of fused glass jewelry, and have been etching on dichroic glass for a long time.  Recently, I discovered that I could use rubber stamps to provide the pattern on the glass and use them in etching. The possibilities are ENDLESS!!! So today I'm going to show how to use your stamps to etch dichroic glass.

First a little about Dichroic glass....Here's the Wikipedia definition:  Dichroic glass is glass containing multiple micro-layers of metals or oxides which give the glass dichroic optical properties. The main characteristic of dichroic glass is that it has a particular transmitted color and a completely different reflected color, as certain wavelengths of light either pass through or are reflected. This causes an array of color to be displayed. The colors shift depending on the angle of view.

In short - it is glass (usually black or clear) that has a thin, shiny coating on one side.  If the glass is used in a fired (fused) project, that coating becomes permanent, but prior to firing it can be removed through various methods. This means it needs to be protected to not accidentally scratch the coating, but it also means that you can etch designs into the coating to add really cool effects to your pieces.  You can etch it by scratching a design, or with a powered Dremel tool, but I think the easiest way to etch is to use Armour Etch Etching Cream.  

For this project, you will need -A piece of thin, clear dichroic glass.  (I'm using silver as my Dichroic color)  You can find dichroic glass online or at many art supply stores that carry stained glass supplies.  
-A large, rectangular pendant blank.  I found this one at my local craft store
-Stazon metallic Ink Pad - (Copper works best)
-Rubber Stamp - I'm using a leaf from the Red Rubber Designs "Place in My Heart" stamp set.  I really like leaf motifs and this stamp is solid enough to show up well in the dichroic glass, but also has nice detail in the veining.
-Complimentary color of acrylic paint.  (Dark colors will make the image stand out the best.)
-Jewelry Glue
-Rubber Gloves
-Rubbing Alcohol
-Cheep flat paint brush


1.  This first step, for some, will be the toughest....You'll need to cut your glass to fit inside the pendant blank.  If you are a glass crafter, this is not a problem, but if you are not used to cutting glass, this may present a challenge.  Since this post is about stamping, not about cutting glass, I'm not going to go into how to cut glass.  If you are not familiar with it and don't have the tools, you have options.  1 - find a glass shop in your area and have them cut if for you - even hardware stores that do window repair have what it takes to cut the glass.  or 2 - if you order the glass from someone online, ask them to cut a piece the size you need.

2.  Rub your glass down with rubbing alcohol to remove any residue.  Place the glass, dichroic coating side up, on the table.  Ink your stamp with Stazon Metallic Ink, and stamp a leaf on the glass.  The really nice thing about stamping on glass is that it can be removed easily if you botch it the first time.  If you're happy with the clarity of that stamp, re-ink the stamp and do another one, and another one, until you are happy with the results (I only did two for this piece).  It may take a couple of trials to figure out how much ink works best.  If you make a mess of it - clean it with rubbing alcohol and start over.  

Before and After the Etching Cream
3.  Let the ink dry completely - 5 - 10 minutes.  Put on the rubber gloves to protect your fingers (this stuff will eat glass - it's not good for your skin)  Holding the glass carefully by the edges, brush a thick layer of Armour etch over the front (dichroic) side of the glass.  You won't want to use one of your best paint brush for this...use an older brush or buy a cheap one.  Be sure to come all the way out to the edges of the glass.  Some dichroic coatings etch faster than others - some will etch in 30 seconds or less - some will take 5 minutes or more.  For this reason, I usually hold onto the glass so I can check it frequently.  By looking at the back side of the glass, you can watch your design appear.  The stamped leaves will retain their shine and the background will begin to turn white.  Once the background is completely white, with no shimmer, rinse the Armour Etch with clear running water.  (rinse your paintbrush out too)  The Ink will probably rinse off too, but if it doesn't you can remove it with rubbing alcohol.  You're almost done!

4.  Paint black or a dark color acrylic paint on the FRONT side of the glass - over the leaves.  Remember I said that the dichroic coating can be accidentally scratched?  We are going to mount the glass upside down in the pendant setting so that the clear glass is towards the front and the dichroic coating will be protected. 

5.  After the paint has completely dried (it may take two coats to get nice even coverage), glue the glass piece, paint side down into the pendant setting.  Add a jump ring and chain or cord and you have a beautiful necklace!

You can find this tutorial in the Red Rubber Designs store where you can download it for FREE!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Blog Hop Winner

We hope you enjoyed the first of our series of First Thursday blog hops presenting our new rubber stamp releases.  We (and the "Bicycle Lady")  are pleased to announce that Bernice is the correct answer to our contest. After consulting with Random.org the winner is #1 who turns out to be............ Nancy Yankowski.  Congrats, Nancy!!  Please send your information to contest@RedRubberDesigns.com so we can get your stamp set sent out to you. 

Nancy won our spotlighted stamp set of the month.


This stamp set will be available during the month of May at a discounted price. Did you know that you can qualify to receive this stamp free?  Go here for the details. You can view all of the new releases for the month by going to  Red Rubber Designs  and clicking on New Releases.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Happy National Scrapbook Day!

National Scrapbook Day was started in 1994 by Creative Memories: On the first Saturday in May, people from all over celebrate scrapbooking.

We just have to be different - here at Red Rubber Designs, we're devoting the month of June to all things scrapbooking! Projects, tutorials, new stamp releases, sales and all things scrappy will abound during the month of June. You won't want to miss it!

Meanwhile, we're celebrating our May stamp release with another wonderful Blog Hop by our Design Team. Check out their creative projects, see the new stamps and play the "name the Bicycle Lady" game for a chance to win the May Spotlight Stamp, "Hey Life"! Contest ends Sunday, May 6th at Midnight (US-CDT).



Each month on the First Thursday, the Red Rubber Designs Design Team beautifully showcases one stamp set from the new stamp releases - this is our Spotlight Stamp. But that's not all! Every month, the Spotlight Stamp is on sale for 25% off its regular price OR you can get it for FREE with an order of $99 or more from the Red Rubber Designs store!

Also, I've reduced shipping costs for you! Now for orders under $99, you'll pay only $6.95 in shipping (USPS Priority Mail) and for any order over $99 shipping is FREE! You can find more information on our Shipping Information page.

So go hopping and don't forget to name the Bicycle Lady!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

First Thursday: Stamp Releases and Blog Hop for May 2012

Welcome to our first First Thursday!

Today and the first Thursday of every month we will be sharing with you the new Red Rubber Designs stamp releases for the month as well as fabulous creations by the Design Team that spotlight one of the new releases.

Today each member of the DT is showing off one of the stamps from the "Hey Life" collection, our Spotlight Stamp for May. We have been calling her "the Bicycle Lady" but she really deserves a name - and we need your help to find it!

Each blog on the hop (except the Red Rubber Designs Blog) has one of the letters of the Bicycle Lady's name somewhere in their blog hop post. Once you find all seven letters (that's a hint!) put them together to form her name. You may have to rearrange them a little bit!

Note: The letter you need from each blog is obvious if you read carefully.... it looks just a little different from the rest of the letters!

Once you figure it out, email the name to contest@RedRubberDesigns.com and be sure to put your name and email address in the email with the Bicycle Lady's name. Every correct answer will be entered into a drawing for the featured stamp set - "Hey Life" - and one winner will be chosen at random. Good luck!

Contest ends Sunday, May 6th at Midnight (US-CDT).

###

Besides "Hey Life", Red Rubber Designs is releasing EIGHT more stamp sets for May's First Thursday! Here is one of them --
Lady Liberty herself, just in time for summer's patriotic holidays!

 Liberty Rubber Stamp


Want to see more? Go to the next blog on the hop!

Red Rubber Designs  http://blog.red-rubber-designs.com/ (you are here)
Sarah - Vintage Figments

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tutorial Tuesday: Paper Piecing Borders Seminole Quilting Style

Hi! Diana here with a tutorial I hope you'll enjoy. I hope you give it a try. It's fun! You can use brights, pastels, and even patterned papers. The possibilities are endless. 



1. Choose three contrasting card stock colors.


2. Cut 1/2 inch strip from each card stock color.


3. Glue the three strips to a light weight base such as printer paper.


4.Cut the excess base paper from the edges of your tri-color strip.


5. Cut a pile of 1/2 inch pieces from the tri-colored strip.


6.Lay your pieces out in the pattern shown above. 
Then glue them down to a sheet of light weight base paper.


7. Using a ruler draw very precise lines down each side edge of the middle block.


8. Cut very precisely down the line you drew in step 7. 
Both excess edges should be trimmed off. 
(the trimmed off sections also make a nice border .)

9. Now trim your new border strip to size, matte it if you'd like...


and you're ready to use your border strip in a project!


This tutorial can be downloaded for free at the Red Rubber Designs store!