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Last fall I tried out a product called Stencil Paste... or Embossing Paste (depends on the vendor). The plan is that you hold your brass stencil down on the cardstock; spread some of the paste (which you have previously tinted) over the stencil; pull the stencil up off, thus creating a "relief image."
:( I have not had very good luck with the process. Sometimes it works, Most times the result looks messy.
Tried to look up the word paste in the galleries section, but got only "pastel" instead. Does anyone have photos of cards they have done with this technique? And, if you have done this, do you have any handy hints?
I have tried this paste from Dreamweavers and it works okay. I use blue painter's tape to hold the template down around three of the edges. this kind of tape will not damage the cardstock. When applying the paste you need to do only one pass over, which is kinda hard to master. As with any technique, I have to practice and practice. Fine line stencils work best. If you chalk the image before pasting, clean the stencil first and replace over the chalked image, if you do not some color smearing will happen.
check out my gallery. it's not big but most of my cards are paste embossed. i just got a camera to take pictures and i just learned how to use this medium. you really need to use watercolor paper, heavy cardstock, or coasted cardstock. PM if you have any questions. i have 7 cards, they much prettier in real life...
Thank You Denier!!! Wonderful cards!! You are truly an artist.
The detailed instructions will be a great help. I'm saving them into my "techniques folder."
the clear paste and the white paste are two totaly different animals IMHO. the white is much easier to work with. the clear is much wetter and much more of a pain in the rear. i'd start with the white and then after you are more comfortable go to the clear.
practice, practice, practice!!!
the size of the stencil (and how detailed or open) does make a difference. so it varies with the stencil opening and with the type of paste you choose.
must move VERY fast.
have everything prepaired before you start.
clean your brass stencils (after the soap and water) with alcohol. it removes the tack from the non-stick tape. (yes it leaves sticky even if it doesn't rip your paper).
use craft ink on top of the white paste. (after it is dry). put the stencil back on and color with your inks. i do like to use one color at a time (let dry) and then move on to the next. less chance of messing up your project that you've already invested ALOT of time into.
the dreamweaver company also has a book on how to use this medium. i highly recommend it. great explinations, pictures, projects.
it is a touch annoying how the search feture works here. i figured that out when i was trying to look up samples of paste embossing. i always got pastels. BUT if you put PASTE-EMBOSSING together (with the hyphen it makes it one keyword) another keyword to look up is dreamweaver.
thank you for the compliment. that's one of the nicest things anyone has said to me. i feel more like a crafter than an artist...
Originally Posted by GarnetJ
Thank You Denier!!! Wonderful cards!! You are truly an artist.
The detailed instructions will be a great help. I'm saving them into my "techniques folder."
I bought some dimensional paste recently and did my name VAL in this really cool stencil font I got on clearance at micheals... it turned out great, I am thinking of incorporating it into my weight loss scrapbook.
The stuff I bought was made locally, and looks alot like drywall compound with some ink refill in it or paint tint... really muted pastels...
I plan on playing around some more this coming week!
Is Texture Magic the same thing? I saw it on Shopathometv on Monday. They sell it at Joann's - not sure if anywhere else - but it looked nice and easy - and it is supposed to be extremely light weight. It came in white and several other colors - and you could mix the colors if you wanted. Looked neat - let me know if anyone has tried it. They said it could even be used on walls - so I was thinking on the front of scrapbooks?
Is Texture Magic the same thing? .......it looked nice and easy...... It came in white and several other colors - and you could mix the colors if you wanted.
It might take a lot of experimenting mixing the colors to match your project. With Dreamweavers Embossing Paste you can add a just a TINY bit of ink and the results will match the rest of your stamped project.
For mixing I use an old CD (AOL freebie) as a palette. Dab some ink onto the CD; put a blob of paste on the CD; smoosh it together with palette knife; blend a little for mottled look or a lot for smooth.
LOL I did a great job with my colors, I just didn't get it quite right with removing the stencil neatly.
I used Dreamweavers paste with no problem. I use removable tape to tape down the
stencil, then put the paste on like icing a cake (one direction helps) then I take
a small spatula to make the paste level. Carefully remoce the stencil and put glitter
on the wet paste, it dries in about 15 minutes and very pretty.
I use Dreamweavers paste. I attended a stamp convention last year where they demo'd it. One tip is to put the first piece of removalbe tape at the top of your stencil to hold it down. Do not remove this tape until you remove your stencil as this will act as a hinge when you go to lift your stencil off (I think this is supposed to help the paste stay in place when you remove the stencil). Also, before removing the stencil slide your project to the edge of the table so that part of the paper is hanging off the edge (do this after removing all but the top piece of tape). Hold your paper down with one hand and lift the stencil up with the other hand. If you chalk your image first and then put the white paste over it the color will show thru, this will eliminate trying to color your embossed piece later. Also, immediately after removing the stencil pour on glitter (I use SU dazzling diamonds) for a gorgeous effect. Have a container of water to put your stencil and spatula in after you finish using them to try to make clean up easier.
If you chalk your image first and then put the white paste over it the color will show thru, this will eliminate trying to color your embossed piece later.
Thank you for the good instructions Bev,
I read this before but, I do not "get" how to chalk the image. Do I use the tiny spongy things -- like makeup applicators -- and put chalk directly to the paper through the stencil?
I actually like the blended colors that I made with ink, but it was the mess of removing the stencil that I had trouble with. The real trick probably is in that pharse, "Practice, practice, practice." :shock:
As Michelle Laycock mentioned, lightweight spackling paste from the hardware store works great. And you can always just mix in juice from your reinkers for exact SU! colors.
I would mention that some stencils work much better than others. The bold and simple images work best because there are fewer areas to stick.
I do not "get" how to chalk the image. Do I use the tiny spongy things -- like makeup applicators -- and put chalk directly to the paper through the stencil?
Yes, you can use the makeup applicators to apply your chalk thru the stencil directly onto your paper before you apply the stencil paste.
I love this technique! I saw Polly's Pals demo the use of transparent embossing paste at the Auntie Amy Rubberstamp Convention earlier this year. As others have said here, use a single piece of removable tape (wider than the stencil) along the top edge. The gal who demo'd the technique used stencil brushes to apply the chalk, but I've found that cotton swabs from the dollar store work the best (not Qtips brand - they have too much cotton on the tip for this). After coloring the stencil design with the chalk, carefully lift the stencil and blow excess chalk. Firmly apply removable tape around all other edges of the stencil. Add yellow post-it notes over the removable tape (keeping edge of post-it higher up on the stencil than where you put the removable tape). Use spatula to apply ample amount of Dreamweaver Transparent Embossing Paste, moving from one side of the stencil to the other (not back and forth). I bought a small squeege from Polly's Pals to remove the excess paste, leaving the paste flat with the top of the stencil. You can use the spatula to do this, but the squeegee makes it simpler to do. Remove the post-its, remove all but the top piece of removable tape. Pull the paper to the edge of the table, push down slightly, and grab the stencil to remove it from the paper. Put stencil, spatula and squeegee into water that has a few squirts of Simple Green in it (have it standing by in your work area). Sprinkle wet paste with glitter - I use Stampendous Crystal Glitter, multi, ultrafine (I've seen it at Michael's). Set aside to dry. As it dries, the color will darken. The white embossing paste on dark cardstock (with glitter as described earlier) is also pretty. Stencils with large areas don't work well for this technique - it they outline a shape or a sentiment, it's all the better.
I agree with Stamp'n Scrap my mother saw the same stuff at the Portland convention and brought the those exact tips to me. I loved the look of the egg she brought home. I'd given up on the whole thing because I had no luck with it before. Make sure you do a stencil that isn't too detailed the one with the rooster and the sunrise just doesn't work well for me no matter what but with the info given above you should be able to do beautiful things. I did easter eggs where I chalked underneath and then did the white paste and added glitter on top and they were beautiful. It's not the easiest technique in the world but it's worth it in the end.
I really like Dreamweavers Translucent paste. I take a pallette knife at lightly skim the sufface and then finish with embossing powder or dazzling diamonds I like the effect.
Have you used Stencil Paste?
Thank you
