Tomorrow is my first tile class and in true Stacie fashion, I was working on the techniques last night. While I'd announced there would be 3 techniques for the tiles and I'd watched a "Wow" video presentation provided by Stampin' Up! as training for demonstrators, I hadn't actually tried my hand at one of the 3 techniques until last night. Unfortunately, while I thought it would be the easiest, it's actually the least forgiving - so I'll be doing some more practice later today (LOL).
This first tile is actually my favorite I think - and it was inspired by a card that was featured yesterday on Stampers' Showcase made by Ilona Svedber. I had this set because everyone has done such beautiful work with it, but I struggle in the coloring department so I hadn't actually put ink to the rubber until last night. It turns out that once you get used to working with tile, it's a much more forgiving medium than paper is because it isn't as porous so it allows extra time for corrections and improvements to be made. I'd actually switch to all tile work, but I think it would definitely require extra postage if I put it on a card (LOL).
This set is called "Morning Soft" and is a set of 2 for $18.95. The other stamp is a beautiful statement by Mother Teresa "It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into the doing that matters." The inks I used were all craft refills - Brocade Blue, Ballet Blue, Always Artichoke and So Saffron and the image is stamped in black Staz-on ink.
I first used this stamp on tiles last fall, but none of the techniques I made up came close to giving this rich of a color. I tried coloring them in with our markers (but that definitely requires sealing with an acrylic sealant and if one isn't careful, the sealant will shoot the ink off the tile and onto the table where it will become permanently sealed to the table by the sealant - ask me how I know!!). I also tried using Sharpies because I'd heard of people doing that, but I didn't like the shades as much as this and with the Sharpies I ended up with lines that couldn't be corrected. Now, for that trickier technique - it's "Poppin' Pastels" on tile. Here is a picture of what I created last night. I think it needs a bit more work so I can better advise people how to do this technique - but at least I didn't wait until the class and try it out with everyone else. Anyone out there have suggestions on how to avoid the shadow around the the images? I'm going to try my embossing buddy to see if that helps out. This next tile uses the same watercoloring technique and features the large stamp from the "Thankful Thoughts" stamp set. The colors used are all from the Earth Elements family, but in some cases they are the result of mixing some colors before or while applying them, so they are not all true Earth Elements colors as they appear here.
These last tiles are all from the "Jolliest Time of the Year" set. Even though I'm not a Santa decorator (snowmen all the way for me), I think he turned out the best and was the easiest to color. Again, this is a watercoloring with craft refills technique. (excuse the date on this picture - my batteries died in the midst of photographing the tiles.)