Tuesday, July 8, 2008

3. Gesso Cardstock makes me wanna Marker stuff!



Made this card set for my aunt Kathy's birthday. Happy Birthday Kat! I sure do love you! OXOXOXOXOXO Mwah! Kat loves bright colours, so hopefully these are bright enough! ;0) She loves yellow especially! It's sunny like her:


Gesso makes markering way easier & niftier! Who'd've thunk it? :0) I must admit, I don't usually like colouring in images with markers. It's probably lack of skill & I've never tried Copics on regular paper mind you, but....

...I just don't like these things about markers on plain ol' cardstock:
  • The colour is too dense with little variation
  • Colouring strokes show
  • One slip up and you've wrecked your image
  • You can't remove colour
But not with Gesso!!! You can marker SO easily. Just add the colours you like and the gesso gives them a neat look. (Can you tell I'm all twitterpated with this stuff? heehee) :0) It feels like cheating! Textured gesso cardstock adds all of the interest for you so you can just use your markers simply and quickly. I found this WAY easier than other colouring or water-colouring methods.



Markering on Gesso Cardstock:
  1. Make gesso cardstock (Tut here)
  2. Sand it
  3. Emboss with waterproof ink (I used Encore here)
  4. Marker it (that was hard hey? heehee) ;0)
Of course you can also run it through your printer if you're feelin' crazy like me.


Marker Brands react different ways on Gesso:
(Good news & bad new that's actually good news)

SO do you want the good news first or the bad news that ends up being good news, heehee... Good news: You can correct your marker mistakes with a damp q-tip or damp brush. Bad news: Stampin' Up! markers stay wet so they need daubing off with a paper towel and may look more muted than when you first colour. But know what?...Good news! You can emboss them! YUP! They stay wet and take embossing powder like a dream!

(I am Stamper dork!... faster than a speeding brayer, more powerful than a cuttlebug, able to leap tall stampin' tables in a single bound...and capable of using a zillion exclamation marks in one post!!!!) ;0)
heeheeheehee (Yup, I'm sleep-deprived...insomnia)


Here's how SU markers look embossed:




This dressmaker's Judy was actually stamped in Stazon (YUP! You can emboss Stazon if your cardstock is treated with Gesso) I was floored by the fine detailed look it gives you: each little dot is captured! Neat huh?

This is the gift tag on the box for Kat's gift. The image is #53005 G from Above the Mark. I added the rainbow colours with SU Markers (which stay wet so they can be covered in clear embossing powder!) Maybe I need to get out more, 'cause I find the fact that you can emboss Stazon & Stamp'n'Write markers immensely thrilling!?!




This schtuff makes an easy altered box:
  1. Take a dollar store box (it has a black bottom & HAD a coloured top)
  2. Paint Lid with gesso, & sand to distress.
  3. Emboss Riot of Petals stamp onto back of glossy c.s. (with silver Encore ink & clear e.p.)
  4. Brush on Acrylic Gesso over stamping--If you want more embossing to show, you can work in stages--to manipulate the gesso while wet)
  5. Wipe wet gesso off gently with paper towel for embossing to show through. If you want some texture, you can pounce the paper towel to create some.)
  6. Let paper dry & flatten if needed (under a book)
  7. Adhere to top (a good amount of double-sided tape will prevent curling)
Matte Look with Close to My Heart & S.U. Markers:

Want an unembossed matte look instead of the shiny gloss finish? Got Close to my heart markers? They set nicely with no embossing at all. Want the unembossed matte look and only have SU markers? You can sand clear embossing powder to dull it nicely (Wendy thought of that; brilliant hey? I tried it & it works wonderfully) or you could get Ranger's clear, matte EP: Antiquities Frosted Crystal (Thanks Trish!)

Copics on Gesso:

I can only imagine how other markers will perform. I bought one Copic marker today, so I could tell you how they do on gesso (it was 7 bucks! they must be good, lol.) It goes on nicely (though honestly with the gesso c.s. I much prefer the CTMH markers. They just need less working over than the Copic to look great.)

Granted, I only had one Copic colour : Nile Blue (turquoise of course) so I did no blending. The Copic had a nice intense colour when I layered it on itself and needed no embossing to be colourfast. BUT (and this was a BIG but for me) The Copics were so colour fast that I couldn't erase any mistakes the way you can with the other two types of markers.

Card Details:

All images are Riot of Petals background stamped on gesso cardstock with silver Encore ink & embossed with clear e.p. The main cards are Naturals White cardstock cards, with Basic Black accents. Oval sentiments are "happy" stamp from Define Your Life. stamped on naturals white & punched with the two SU oval punches. The hinges aare large oval punches with white doodlebug brads.


The Card Ingredients:


Tempting Turquoise cardstock mat. Leaves with SU Mellow Moss marker & flowers with Tempting Turquoise SU marker (embossed with clear e.p.)














Marigold Morning cardstock mat. Leaves with SU Mellow Moss marker & flowers with SU markers: Yoyo Yellow, Summer Sun, & Pumpkin Pie (embossed with clear e.p.)








Not Quite Navy cardstock mat. Leaves with SU Mellow Moss marker & flowers with Close to my Heart Breeze & Twilight markers (no embossing needed!)











Ruby Red cardstock mat. Leaves with SU Mellow Moss marker & flowers with with SU markers: Only Orange, Real Red (embossed with clear e.p.)









Cool Caribbean cardstock with Close to my Heart Breeze marker & SU tempting turquoise Markers (partially embossed)












Thanks so much for stopping in! Happy craftin! :0)

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

good day sunshine i love your blog !...do u gesso he paper or buy it that way?Mary Rose Gurica

Penny said...

Verrrry cool! I especially like the markers blended and embossd on the dress - fab!

Margaret McDonald said...

gorgeous cards. Happy Birthday Kathy.
another crazy auntie

Lorraine said...

Lucky Auntie Kathy these are gorgeous Mel.

Anonymous said...

Very cool!! my tutorial is up that you wanted to see

Elena said...

You are very-very creative! Your cards are so beautiful! I always visit your blog for an inspiration!
Thank you for your wonderful tutorials!!! You are very talented!

katemade designs said...

"I am Stamper dork!" So you say but you are also experiment and find new stuff AND you share it so you are also my hero. Thanks so much for the information and the inspiration.

AnnMarie said...

Oooooooh preeeeetty!! : )

Dianne said...

Woo Mel
Between you and Michele (zindorf) it would be hard to pick which blog and cards are the best.
Being a mixed media artist not to much card making:):). I have been to a lot of card site, but your cards and tutorials a absolutly brilliant. Kudos to you for helping all the other card makers. Love your work...

Annapurna said...

They are all awesome. Lucky for your aunt. My favs are yellow and red ones. Thank you for showing us these and all the comparisons between markers.

Copics if I remember right are alcohol based and SU and CTMH are not.

I personally like my water color pencils for coloring images. Easy to blend with dove blender pen.

Tonniece said...

Oh Boy woman, this is a super duper post. I love the cards you made WOW,WOW,WOW, and that tag is stunning.
A happy "B" Day to you very lucky Auntie.

Thanks for all the info too, I guess I better turn off the darn TV and get my butt in gear. lol

Happy Tuesday

Allison Rankin said...

What a great idea. I love my markers but I don't use them as often for exactly the reasons you stated. The gesso sounds like a great idea...of well, another reason to go to M's!

Erin said...

Pretty darn amazing! I love them.

SmilynStef said...

Your blog always makes me want to play ... love the embossed markers ... so much fun.

Barb said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michelle Pearson said...

I'll try posting this again as myself! Oops!!

WOW!! These are stunning! You *are* going to make mo go find gesso and try this yet! Sure do wish my name was Kathy....she's going to *love* these....I know I would!!

Maria said...

Hey, Mel! You're officially the Gesso queen! LOL! Wow, your cards are awesome. I still need to buy the Gesso but I can't wait to try all your awesome techniques!

I love the different colors to the dress and wow, it looks great embossed!

Maria

Anonymous said...

You have outdone yourself with this series of tutorials Mel! Gorgeous work! Thanks so much for sharing.

Karen Lindsay said...

Mel,

Your card creations are ALL amazing, but these are just breathtaking. I thank you for the instruction and for sharing your beautiful work. It has encouraged me to move toward trying that technique myself. :)

Karen

Anonymous said...

Wow has Aunt Kat recieved her cards yet? I'm sure she'll be tickled pink! My favs are the red and turq. ones. Your marking is absolutely incredible. I was at Michael's the other day and I was looking at the prisma colour markers. Can you tell me the difference between them and Copics? I've been venturing to Michelle Zindorf's sight on a regular basis lately too and she uses prisma colour markers very beautifully so I called our local art store today to see if they sell Prismacolour markers but they don't. They have some similar called trikic??? They apparently have 3 ends, 1 fine, 1 brush and 1 broad end. Can't picture this myself but they are the same price range as Prisma Colour but apparently have more colours.... as if a person really needs 200 colours???? Hmmm not on my budget.
I was wondering how your job search is going. I'm sure there's no time for that when you're elbow deep in gesso!!
Thanks again for sharing your work!!
Beth Greco

ScrapMomOf2 said...

GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS!!

Christina Smith said...

Hi Mel! I LOVE your stuff. Can I have your autograph? haha! I love your sense of humor. I find myself cracking up as I read your blog.

I have a question. This may be a dorky question, but I just have to ask...how do you emboss, like you did on that dress over the SU marker coloring? I'm one of those who stamps with VersaMark and the pours on the embossing powder. I don't really know of any other way. Maybe you already explained this on your blog somewhere. Oh, and how do you do this without using gesso? (since I don't have that...yet! Hee!).

Thank you!

Christina

P.S. would it be ok if you responded on my blog? You can link me if needed! Thank you!!!