July 2017 - A Year of Card Making Techniques - Bleaching Your Cards

Welcome to A Year of Card Techniques Blog Hop where each month we feature a different card technique.  We’ve assembled a team of card makers who range from new to advanced, so you’ll see a great variety of cards and ideas.

From laundry, to disinfectant, to fashion, bleach is a staple in many households; but did you know you can use bleach in your card making and paper crafting? Yup, from stamping, to painting, and several techniques in between, we’re going to share our experiments with you. And if you would like to check out our past technique hops, you can do that here:

• January-Shaving Cream Marbleizing
• February-So Sketchy
• March-no hop this month
• April-Stamp Set Showdown
• May-World of Watercolor
• June-Basic Card Folds

Our  amazing sponsor this month is Debbie Bonczek of Close to My Heart.  (Hey that's me!)  

Please take a moment to check out the great products Close to My Heart has to offer. To visit my blog, click here.

And the awesome prize this month is:

 This super cute stamp set, ad the mini stapler pictured below!

We really appreciate feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in the hop today. While you are encouraged to comment at any time, only comments received by Friday, July 21, 2017 at 8:00pm (EST) will be eligible to win. The winner will be announced on Sunday, July 23, 2017 on A Piece of (my) Heart’s blog, so be sure to check her blog on Sunday the 23rd to see if you are the lucky winner.

You should  have arrived here from Stampin Jodie Creations. If you're visiting  here first, you might want to start at the beginning so you don't miss out on increasing your chance of winning by commenting on  each blog.

So first, my 'disclaimer"!  I've tried this technique before and very much like this time, I had mixed results.  Let me start by saying that I make scrapbook pages.  When I purchase paper to scrapbook, I have leftover scraps, which I bag up for several montha at a time.  At some point, those scraps end up in a box in cut pieces that are sized as "card friendly", and eventually they end up on cards.  So I rarely know the type of cardstock on my scraps, and different brands of cardstock react differently to ink.  That's my disclaimer.

So here are the tools I used . . . 

There is a piece of plastic canvas, an embossing folder, a brush, a dauber, a stencil, an acrylic block and an acrylic stamp.  And using bleach, I created all the panels below: 

#1 - Black cardstock - I laid the plastic canvas on it and used the brush to put the bleach on.  The bleached areas turned a bit of a green tone. 
#2 - Red carstock - I used the dauber and the stencil. 
#3 - I used the acrylic block and used the ink smooshing technique, only with bleach instead of ink.  The color variation did not thrill me. 
#4 - The stamp, which I daubed bleach on, and then stamped light blue cardstock.  I think this one was my favorite piece.
#5 - Black cardstock . . . ink smooshing . . . this one turned tan (and very quickly).
#6 - Bleach brushed onto the embossing folder . . . the least amount of change.  I even brushed bleach down the cardstock.  (Whatever!)

And here are my cards . . .

For the yellow one, I merely stamped with back pigment ink and embossed, leaving an empty spot for a sentiment. 

For the blue piece that refused to change it's color (maybe a hint of change in a few spots), I used an embossing folder with bleach on it.  I then dabbed bleach onto those raised circles.  I then pained bleach downward on the card.  Not a lot of luck on this one. 

 
The stripes in the inlaid die were created using pieces of scrap cardstock.  And watch at some point, because I will use the striped "Thank You" on another project one day (just not today). 

For that black/brown ink smoosh piece, I stamped and cut little dogs out of part of it, and used part as a border on the card.  This card is matchy-matchy! 

Those little pups are adorable. 

Now . . . important to note!  Black cardstock above bleached to brown.  Black cardstock in the project below bleached more to a greenish-gray.  So for the black mesh piece, I created a little thank you card for my mom, who sent my new puppy a few toys.  

Dogs love mail. Check out that beard!  As Schnauzer peeps say, "Fear the beard."

My favorite bleach piece . . . the light blue . . . added some of the stamps from the same set used with the bleach, and a nice blue ink.  It's my favorite because of the way it reacted. 

 I do love those bleach images. 

And then my favorite card, just because it's fun . . . two monsters . . . one monster displays words of amazing awesome wowsers, and another monster crashes through the card . . . so there are monster eyes in the dark . . .
 

And there is some dimension to this card where there are monster eyes in the dark . . .

Inside and out . . . check out the action wobble monster who crashed thru my card.   That's the crasher! 

He's a blurry, wobbling fool!

Now you’re off to visit with Ronda's Paper Creations. Hope you had fun and thanks for stopping by. See you next month with another technique!

And, I hope you can find some time to create. 

Here’s the full line-up in case you get lost:  

• Sharon
• Claudia
• Kim
• Wilma
• Card A Day Challenge Team
• Sandy
• Jodie
• Debbie
• Ronda

Supplies Used - Thinking of You

Stamps:  Simply Stated and Wild Garden Stamp Sets (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Ink: Black Pigment Ink (Simon Says Stamp)

Paper:  Desert Storm (Neenah); Scraps of Yellow and Black Cardstock

Accessories:  Clear Embossing Powder (Ranger); Marigold Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Supplies Used - Thank You Inlaid Die

Stamps:  Still Smiling (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Ink: Something Borrowed (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah); Scraps of Cardstock

Accessories:  Beads Embossing Folder (Carabelle Studios); Thank You Card Set Dies (Sizzix); Enamel Dots (Close To My Heart)

Supplies Used - Ruff Day

Stamps:  Four-Legged Friends Stamp Set (My Favorite Things)

Ink: Black Onyx (Versafine)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah) and Scraps of Cardstock

Accessories:  Clear Embossing Powder (Ranger); Enamel Dots (Close To My Heart); Gold Shimmer Trim (Close To My Heart); Four-Legged Friends Die Set (My Favorite Things); Bone Button

Supplies Used - Favorite Human

Stamps:  Four-Legged Friends Stamp Set (My Favorite Things)

Ink: Black Onyx (Versafine)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah) and Scraps of Cardstock

Accessories:  Clear Embossing Powder (Ranger); Enamel Dots (Close To My Heart); Snow Marker (Marvy); Four-Legged Friends Die Set (My Favorite Things)

Supplies Used - Worry Less; Giggle More

Stamps:  Giggles and Medallio Mix-ups  (Catherine Pooler Designs)

Ink: Something Borrowed (Catherine Pooler Designs); Black Onyx (Versafine)

Paper:  Solar White (Neenah) and Scraps of Cardstock (blue)

Accessories:  Cobalt Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh); Blue Shimmer Trim (Close To My Heart); Clear Embossing Powder (Ranger)

Supplies Used - Wowzers Monster Card

Stamps:  monsters2celebrate (The Stamps of Life)

Ink: Versamark and Versafine Black Onyx

Paper:  Scraps of Cardstock

Accessories:  monsters2stamp Dies (The Stamps of Life); White Embossing Powder (Hero Arts); Silly Eyes; Color Box Stencil; Action Wobble