Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Cuttlebug Crayon Resist (makes nice Faux metal) & DIY coloured vellum



More playin' around with crayons! Who'd think that this was a turquoise, a reddish brown & a white crayon? With brown & turquoise ink...? You'd think all that would make is something that resembles a mud puddle, but it looks kinda nifty (better in person, sorry for the low light photos.) Wanna try it? :0)

How to Cuttlebug crayon resist:

First, follow steps for Cuttlebug crayon rub...

Cuttlebug Crayon Rub:

Supplies:
  • Cuttlebug/other embossing machine
  • Cardstock
  • Crayons
Directions:

1. Dry Emboss cardstock with cuttlebug/other embossing folder:



2. Keep embossed cardstock in folder but open the folder exposing the side you'd like to colour. (This supports the embossing so it doesn't cave in when you rub with the crayon in the next step, but you can rub the crayon without this step, if you want easier clean up)



3. Remove crayon wrapper:



4. Rub with the whole side of crayon (using medium pressure for light crayon coverage or very firm pressure for fuller crayon coverage):


5. You can heat-gun it to alter the gloss (gets rid of some shine.) Here's what it looks like in black:


Much tidier than inking it. :0) You can use as is...or it's fun to mix colours...and I'm thinking of crayon resist variation for a kind of faux metal look:



Clean up:

You may remember from your colouring days as a kid those little bitty flakes of crayon. They're messy, but they clean off of your folders with a stiff brush (like a dish brush) and a little dish soap helps too.

And now the Resist part:

1. Apply ink (using a sponge, paper towel, paint brush whatever you like)

2. Remove excess ink from crayon surface (using a paper towel)

3. Dry it (If it appears to be curling, you can dry under a light book or something flat but not too heavy)

Some tricks I tried that might work for you:
  • If you get too much crayon on, you can use your finger nail or an emery board to remove it.
  • If your ink wash colours appear too vibrant, you can apply a thin wash of black craft ink with a sponge to mute them. Have paper towel handy to remove excess water and dry under your A plate or a light & flat waterproof book/object
  • If you get too much ink over your crayon...(I used alcohol ink & craft ink which will stay on top of the crayon)...you can use an emery board to sand away the ink & expose the crayon
  • To bring out the richness of the crayon or the gloss you can heat it with a heat gun
  • After heat-gunning, it can appear glossy. If you'd rather have a matte look, then dab gently at the hot wax with a paper towel
  • If there are little white spots left that you don't want, you can use a bit of ink/ink wash on a small paint brush to get rid of them
  • Or, For a silver look you can use a mechanical pencil/sharp pencil to get rid of white dots or add metallic details
  • You can add glitter with a glitter pen or a shimmer spray
  • To apply colour quickly use a spray bottle of ink wash (dab with paper towel if it's too wet)
  • This can be messy: Gloves help save fingers from staining & the little flakes of crayon are easy to scrub away with a stiff kitchen brush & dish soap. Cuttlebug plates and embossing folders are durable plastic, so they can take it. :0)

Specifics for this texture:

  1. Emboss white cardstock in cuttlebug folder (this is Floral Fantasy)
  2. Rub with turquoise crayon, white crayon, sienna (reddish brown)
  3. Sponge on ink: chocolate chip wash, tuquoise
  4. Sand with an emery board for texture




To make the Bow:
  1. Cut a length of ribbon about 3" (this is SU's chocolate chip 5/8 grosgrain)
  2. Seal ends lightly with lighter
  3. Add adhesive on back in the middle
  4. Bring two ends towards back
  5. Use a piece of cuttlebugged paper (inked) to create center band

Do-It-Yourself coloured vellum:


You can tint vellum any colour you like. The turquoise mat on here was plain vellum cardstock. To tint it just:
  • Sponge on ink using long strokes or a circular motion
  • You can hold it down in the middle (if it'll be hidden) or make the piece larger than you need so you can trim the spot that's marred by your finger holding it while you work in the colour.

Other Card Details:


The Chocolate Chip mat (in between the tinted vellum and the cuttlebugged piece) is sponged with a mix of chocolate chip and black craft ink to darken it. The main Chocolate Chip card is darkened by rubbing the side of a crayon along it (and heat-gunning to rid it of some of the waxiness.)

The "Congratulations" sentiment is from Typewriter Wishes. It's stamped in Timber Brown Stazon. The dollar store gems are glued on with Crystal Effects.


Colour Variations:


CRAYONS: turquoise & sienna
INK:
turquoise & medium black craft ink wash

CRAYONS: turquoise, white, & sienna
INK:
Cool Caribbean, Tempting Turquoise & light black craft ink wash

CRAYONS: silver
INK: Black craft ink wash

CRAYONS: white
INK: Stream alcohol ink (Tim Holtz Distress)

CRAYONS: silver & white
INK: black craft ink wash


Hope this inspires you to play with crayons! ;0)






29 comments:

Peggy Maier said...

Wow! This is certainly a must-try technique! Thanks so much for all the photos as well.

Dizzy Broad said...

How do you come up with these?!?! i have been on vacation and just had to go and check out your site for future inspirations for when I got home and OMG!!!! You so rock! Can't wait to get home to try what you suggested with with foam, crayons and my 'bug!

Tonniece said...

You're killing me here, you are knocking these great tutorials out so fast that I am at least 5 posts behind (and might I say knee deep in a MESS) trying to get just one of them done before I try the next.
Needless to say I have not finished one yet. Thank goodness for printers.

TFS
P.S
Hope you had a great Canada day.

Alhambra Club said...

WOW, what a fantastic look you created,thanks for sharing the tecnhique

Alhambra Club said...

WOW, what a fantastic look you created,thanks for sharing the tecnhique

ohradiogirl said...

Wow, I do like the results. Don't know if I have the patience to give it a try. TFS!

Catherine said...

Hi Mel!!
I don't know if I'm brave/talented enough to do the crayon resist technique, but the ribbon I will definitely be trying!
Hugs,
Catherine

Patty Williams said...

WOWzers !! These are absolutely gorgeous! I'm so happy that I've found your blog, you come up with some very creative things! And, I need lots of help learning!

Thank you for your valuable time! I love the step by step how to's !

Paisley Princess said...

What agreat technique. Thanks for sharing with us all. I just bought a CB so I will most surely be trying this.

Maureen said...

What an amazing look!! I'm definitely going to try this!!

SmilynStef said...

Thanks for reminding me how fun it is to play with crayons ... fabulous effect.

Elaine said...

OMG! These are so swell! I would have never ever thought to try that!

Teri said...

This card is elegant! Love the color combo and wow!, love this crayon resist!

Erum Tasneem said...

Lovely! Genius, Ive got something for you on my blog... please check it out :)
hugs

Anonymous said...

Fabulous as always Mel!! Keep on havin' fun! ;)
smiles, Deena

kathleenh said...

Beautiful Mel! It does really look like metal. I bet cuttlebug would love to see what you are creating with their folders!

Anonymous said...

I wonder what M will say when I start hoarding her crayons. Ha ha!!! I love your card. SOOO pretty! Just curious, does it ever say somewhere, anywhere, how long it'll take one normal person (like me) to create a card like yours?

Melanie said...

really nice effect!! :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, this is my favourite cuddle crayon one so far. What a lovely job. I must say thanks so much for sharing! A while back I was sitting at the computer and my dd came walking in and wondered why I was frowning. I was awaiting your pop up card for the challenge from cpeeps (I think). DD says, "Give her a break, she probably has a life." Not when I'm waiting for the new things you're making, you don't! hehehe I just noticed that in June you had 31 postings, that's more than 1 per day! WOW. Just wanted to let you know that it's very appreciated! I love coming here to relax at the end of my day or sometimes first thing in the morning.
Beth G

Erum Tasneem said...

Wow! This is loevly Mel!
I wish I had cuttlebug! And yeah you were talking about that glue pen thingie, no havent got it. I'll look for it here. I hope I find one.

Maria said...

Oooh, this technique is awesome! I love it! Girl, you've been busy! I really love the colors of your card! Wow, awesome!

Thank you for the tips! This is must to try!

Maria

Susie Little said...

thanks for the tech, it really effective , off to have a go now!

Anonymous said...

Hi Mel

I was lucky enough to recieve a Cuttlebug for my birthday last June, I have only just started buying dies and embossing folders but LOVE all these ideas and must give them a try.

Thanks for posting

Billie

Britt said...

Mel,
These are incredible,
I'm not going to lie, I have been on your site for nearly five days straight reading and seeing all your different techniques. This is opening up a whole new world of cardmaking and crafting for me!

Awesome. Simply Awesome.

Pat (mspfd) said...

Awesome! I followed the link rom the leather purse tutorial.

Anonymous said...

I love this technique and tried it with the paisley embossing folder. I found that it looks much better if the crayon is used on the side that has the background raised so the sponging goes into the deeper design elements. I tried it both ways and was much more pleased with the result this way. Just thought I'd pass that on as something to consider. Thanks you so much for the inspiration.
Jeanne

mammasquishy said...

Mel, you are an inspiration and a gift all in one!!!
Thank you for sharing your talents - I love how you think and play

BunBun4life said...

I don't even know what a cuttlebug is, I never have heard of these crafts, and I came to this site after viewing an image on google image that I thought may have been created on wood via sanding machine carving (but it was embossed paper that had been painted and then sanded) but I'll be damned I've been sitting here reading this and wanting to do these crafts with drool falling out of my mouth AND eyes all buggy.

DANG IT ALL Mel Stampz, I'm not even a crafter, and don't have any materials or supplies at all. :(

Anonymous said...

6 Years later, and this post is still very much appreciated! I think I found this through pinterest, I'm not sure anymore since I had the post open in my browser for more then a week. I tried this technique and love it a lot. I think I prefer this over the aluminum foil look, as that is too shiny for me and can't be coloured well unless with alcohol inks.
When I post my card made with this technique I'll link back to this post so you will probably be notified of it :)
Thank you for sharing this!
Debbie / Daqa