Technique Tip: Bleached Bug

Here's something a little different. Usually we are concerned about adding color. This technique is all about removing color. The wings of the dragonfly have been bleached!

Yes you heard right. I used an AquaPainter because I wanted better control of exactly where the bleach goes. The Aquapainter delivers the bleach in a controlled way and I love the way the fibers on this tool stay together in a nice sharp point. I have in the past used some of the cheaper paint tools (the knock offs) - I owned them before I ever joined Stampin'UP! But the quality of the "wanna be's" doesn't even come close to what Stampin'UP! sells. The plastic body is thicker and you have better control of the flow. The bristles are more lush and have a better point. And (this is really important: the gasket is very high quality so it can hold bleach without damaging the parts. I leave water in my Aqua painter indefinitely without any worry of a leak. You can do the same with bleach, with no damage to the Aquapainter - I know this because I've done it. But, you don't want to leave the bleach in because the bleach will actually begin to deteriorate chemically when its exposed to light. So leaving it out for a week, you come back to something considerably less potent.

The dragon fly is from a Stamp Set called Bugs and Kisses. This is such a cute set - one of my favorites. To make this card I heat embossed the dragon fly in black. The bleach won't affect the embossed lines but would take out any color you tried to stamp with. BE CAREFUL painting the wings. The bleach pulls out the color. Here the Always Artichoke cardstock bleaches to a lovely yellow. If I'd added more bleach it would have gotten much lighter. Now, the caution again - BE CAREFUL! For 2 reasons. (1) Any tiny fleck of bleach that gets on your clothes will permanently alter them, yes I have personal experience with this. (2) Any tiny fleck of bleach that gets somewhere on the card you didn't plan for will permanently alter the card in that unwanted place.

You can place an order for these items or any Stampin'UP! product from my SU website.
Remember to check out the Clearance Rack too - there are some amazing deals there.

Thanks for checking the blog, contact me if there's any way I can help you with your stamping.

Happy Stamping
--Katie