Saturday Show & Hels... Ghost Stamping!

...derder der der derder der... dededeedee dee. Sorry, I have Ghost Busters in my head now... I shall be singing that alllll day long no doubt!
Anyways... ignoring that daftness and moving on, like you do... to today's post which is another Saturday Show & Hels when I get all inky and show you a technique using Ranger products. I discovered this technique the other day when I was getting all my gear together for my Distress Stains Masterclass and was playing with Picket Fence Stains. Well, there I was, supposedly "working" when I had one of those lightbulb moments and thought... "I wonder what would happen if...." And... I tried it... and it worked! Basically, I have used Picket Fence Distress Stains to stamp with... and I have to say... tis loverly... and being as I don't know a name for this technique, I decided to call it Ghost Stamping as it gives a really ethereal effect... kind of chalky and ghostly like. So... I have put together a quicky step by step tut... and here it is!


INGREDIENTS:
Distress Stains - Picket Fence and a dark colour/s
Stamps
Non Stick Craft Sheet
Paper Towel
Heat Tool
*optional - Perfect Pearls Mists Biscotti*



STEP 1
Prepare your Picket Fence Stain by giving it a really good shake. There is a little ball bearing in the bottle and this will help aggitate the Stain. Coat the stamps you have chosen with the Picket Fence, making sure you get an even coverage - don't press too hard as you don't want to flood it, this won't give a good impression...



STEP 2
Coat a tag with your chosen dark Distress Stain - I used Stormy Sky and Chipped Sapphire.



STEP 3
Lightly dab away any excess Stain with a paper towel.





STEP 4
Immediately stamp your images, making sure the tag isn't too wet or too dry for this is important... too dry = stamped images soak right in and too wet = they flood everywhere (trust me, I tried it lol)



STEP 5
Use a heat tool to dry the tag off... if you haven't got one, you can pop it onto a radiator to dry out... the quicker the better tho :O))




STEP 6 *optional*
I love the look of the snowflakes and wondered what would happen if I added some bling... so I tried it... and spritzed the whole tag with Biscotti Perfect Pearls Mists... I had the heat tool going at the same time so the Mists were dried as quickly as possible so the images didn't smudge too much.



The over all effect makes the snowflakes look as if they are "floating" under the layer of the PP Mists... which I lurve... but I have done a tag without them and it looks equally as fab! The photo doesn't really do the shimmer justice, but you can kind of get an idea of what I mean :O))



It has occured to me that you may be sitting there thinking "that's a whole lot of faff when I can use a Snowcap Dabber to do white stamping" Well, I thought about that bit too but... with a Snowcap Dabber, even if you stamp first and add Stain over the top, you will still get the finish of paint and it will retain more of its whiteness. With the Picket Fence, it soaks up a bit of the Stain colour it is stamped onto - hence stamping whilst the tag is still damp - without it losing its opacity or chalkiness... Please do let me know what you think though? :O)) Oh and... just a little quicky... the ladies who are joining me for the class today will be doing this technique - but it is as a little bonus at the end of the book, they are going to be learning 15 different techniques already... so I thought I would share this one with you all.

So, there you have it. I have continued on with the tag and completed it... but I won't show you just yet... you will have to pop back tomorrow as it is going to be my entry for the brand new Sunday Stamper theme... I shalln't give away the theme but... I bet you will be able to guess ;o)) Oh and... I will also be giving the tag away too... Ok then... I hope you like that technique... please do let me know and if you try it, I would love to see your creations! Thanks for looking... TTFN

Hels x