Sunday, July 15, 2012

Spritzin' and Flickin'

Before I explain the title of this post, I just want to say that tomorrow I am leaving the Empire State for the Garden State.....yep, I'm heading to Jersey with my pals Pat and Cheryl for six days at CREATE.  It's the first time being held on the east coast, and I am so excited.  I'm taking six classes with some fabulous instructors, so in a week or so you can expect to hear all about it.  Classes will be held Wednesday through Sunday and it is my understanding that there are still some openings, so if you're interested, click on the link and maybe I'll see you there.

Now, back to spritzing and flicking.  That is the technique for this week's Compendium of Curiosities 2 challenge.  It's an oldie but goodie from Tim, and just the right thing to add to my fishy tag.  My wonderful friend Elena sent me the LaBlanche stamp as a present because she thought it looked like me.  No, not that I look like a fish, but that the stamp looked like my style.  And right she was.  I absolutely love it and had a wonderful time working with it.


I stamped the fish on the tag (it's a smallish tag, to give you an idea of the size of the stamp, the tag is 2 9/16" x 5 1/4") with clear embossing ink and embossed it with fine black powder.  Next step, coloring the fish with distress markers.  Here's a close up, and I hope you can see a bit of sparkle on some of the fish's scales.



This is how I did that:  I reheated the embossing and scattered bits of two different powders on the areas where I wanted a little bling.  I used the tip of a craft stick and very little powder, so I did have some control.  The powders were a blend of Ranger's verdigris from the Antiquities line, and goddess gold from the Ancient Gold line.  Then I reheated again and the newly added powders melted into the image.

The last thing I did was apply the background inks (salty ocean, peacock feathers, and mowed lawn) and do the spritz and flick distress technique (which can be found on page 42 of Compendium of Curiosities, Volume 2).

I enjoyed this process so much, I did a "few" more.  Looks like I have enough to share with some friends.



This week Simon Says Stamp is offering a $25 gift certificate for one randomly selected participant, so there's another good reason (besides the fun of getting inky) for jumping on the CCC train.

17 comments:

Bearcrazyman said...

Love it..
I have this stamp too and use it alot

Bearcrazyman said...

Love it..
I have this stamp too and use it alot

Dorothy said...

Great tag and love the color!!

Scrappin' Stacy said...

Love the sparkles on the fish.

Barbara said...

Oh, wow, it really does look like fish scales! Gorgeous!

Alicia B said...

Awesome tag, love that fish! *Hugs*

Tammy D said...

Looks like a fun stamp.

Elena said...

This looks amazing! I KNEW you would do something fantastic with it

Mary-Beth said...

Very cool tag Eileen! Love the colours and added bling!

Mary-Beth said...

Very cool tag Eileen! Love the colours and added bling!

SusanK said...

Cool fish! If I still lived in NJ CREATE would literally be in my backyard. Have fun and can't wait to hear about the classes and see pics!

Vic said...

Beautiful tags! Your fish are so sparkly and bright. Have a great time at CREATE!

Patzee said...

That fish may be king of the sea, but you are queen of tags! Great job!!

Lori said...

Very cool! That fish stamp is awesome, have a great time!

Unknown said...

Love your 'school' of fish! lol

inge said...

Hello Eileen,

I had to laugh ready you did a "couple" more... A couple is two for us, you have a whole bunch !!

The fish tag would suit perfect in Elena's mermaid journal !
Love the layering of the embossing powder: really makes it look like the fishes scales.

I ordered my distress markers in the UK and I'm still waiting for them to arrive... next time I order on AE...

BUT I did receive the new seasonal distress inks ! Very bold: so completely my style !! Especially the blues...

greetings from belgium
Inge

CuddlyBunny said...

This is such a fantastic tag, with beautiful colors and shimmering fish scales!

And I love the school of fishy tags ... made me giggle at the happy fluttering fins!