Caught in Crystal
Technique (AKA
Future Floor Finish technique)
This project
was contributed by Stamp Artist Martha Myers
See Stamp
Credits at the bottom of this page.
"Patriotism"
I have recently become enamored
with this technique as developed by Deb Cowan, and featured as
February's Project
of the Month at A Monthly Rubber Stamps
Club.
I didn't have any Tsukineko dye reinkers, which is what Deb recommended
using, so I decided to play around with different inks that I
did have on hand with the following results.
The technique is basically a four-step process:
Stamp your image on a thermal transparency
with black ink. I use Document Ink, available from Stamp Zia, in order
to get a complete image the first time. Any ink that dries
permanent will work, I just prefer Document ink over any of the
others I've tried. Document ink dries faster than the Brilliance
graphite yet stays wet long enough to wipe off if you make a
mistake. Heat set the image with your heat gun or let it
dry completely. If you want, you can seal this with
a matte sealant but it's not necessary if the image is completely
dry.
When the image is dry, tape the transparency
along all edges stamp side down to scrap paper (so no inks can
seep under the transparency). Pour a small puddle of Future Floor
Finish (available at the grocery store) onto this and spread
it with a brush to cover the whole image. Sprinkle glitter if
you want onto this layer.
"Nautilus Sphere"
Crumple a piece of white tissue paper
and smooth it onto the transparency to cover it. Pour another
puddle of the Floor Finish onto this and "drop" different
colored inks onto the surface. Blend them together with your
finger or a brush and dab with a Kleenex to remove some of the
color if it looks too dark in places. Heat set this layer or
let it air dry (if air drying, it will take a couple of hours).
When dry, pour another final layer
of Future Floor Finish onto it and heat set to dry (or again
let it air dry). When dry, smooth the tissue paper with your
hand to make sure it is sealed onto the transparency then cut
the image off of the scrap paper. Trim it and mount it to your
piece with any adhesive.
"Asian Vase"
As I said, I don't have the Tsukineko
inks, so I modified the technique somewhat by using other inks.
I used alcohol-based reinkers on the
Nautilus Sphere and the Asian Vase. These inks are not
as dark as the dye-based reinkers I own so I didn't have to remove
much color in step 3.
I used Posh Impressions Rainbow Inks
for both the Sunny Citrus and Patriotism. These dye inks
came out better than any of my other dye inks and were easy to
control and blend on the tissue paper.
I wanted to try pearlescent colors to see how they looked and
I really liked the way these inks turned out. For the use of
these inks/paints, I modified Steps 2 and 3 above.
Instead of pouring a puddle of Future onto the transparency in
Step 2 and sprinkling with glitter, I just spritzed it with a
little water and dribbled the inks onto that. When I laid the
tissue paper on top of this I used a Kleenex to "dab"
it onto the piece. This blended the colors underneath and also
dried it a little so it required little heat setting.
When dry, I poured a puddle of Future Floor Finish onto it, spread
it around and heat set it to dry again.
The final layer of Future seals the tissue paper to the transparency
and turns the piece transparent.
"VIVE LEROY "
"Celestial Beings"
Because the pieces created
with this technique are somewhat transparent, the background
will show through (i.e. on the Asian Vase, you can see a "hint"
of the Asian writing showing through the vase).
Also, you can play around with different colors of paper to mount
them onto.
I found that some background colors completely obliterate the
image. So with some pieces, I mounted them first to a piece of
white paper and trimmed it so the white didn't show along the
edge. Then I mounted to whatever background I wanted.
The Zia Square Collage
shows another variation to this technique. In that sample, Powdered
Pearls were used instead of inks.
With this variation, drop Powdered
Pearls (or any powdered pigments) into
the puddle of Future Floor Finish and spread around to blend.
Cover with the tissue paper and heat set to dry.
Then cover with a final layer of Future and let dry.
"Zia Square Collage"
"Sunny Citrus"
TIP: Another variation is to create the piece without
stamping an image first on the transparency. When dry and cut
out, you can then stamp and emboss an image onto the front for
a different look.
What I like most about this technique is how adaptable it is
to whatever materials you have on hand and it's always a surprise
when you cut out the finished piece to see what you've got.
Happy stamping!
STAMP CREDITS
All images shown above were stamped
with Document Ink.
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& unmounted rubber stamps & rubber stamping supplies
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