Hi everybody, Regina here with a post showing how to use Bister to make a beautiful background in no time at all. Bister is watercolor powder. Do you
like making your own backgrounds? Then you really need to experiment
with these. I'm going to give you a link to Bister at I Brake For
Stamps. The powder is in small containers and cost about $1.65, so
affordable for everyone to try. Here's a link to
Bister and here's a link to the online store,
I Brake For Stamps. I used two I Brake For Stamps stamps on this card. One is called
Rustic Barn and the other is
Fall Leaf Background.
First,
I embossed the Fall Leaf Background stamp with clear embossing powder.
I decided to use Bister in red, yellow and a little bit of green. You can choose
how much color you want and can even add more if you want more of a
certain color in a certain place on your card stock. I used
watercolor paper. I use 140# cold press Strathmore. I would recommend
taping the watercolor paper down with washi tape or some kind of easy
release tape. The main reason for this is so that the paper doesn't
buckle. The first couple of times I tried this I didn't tape down and I
had watercolor dripping down the buckled paper. This makes it much
neater I promise. You need a fine paint brush, just an old one but not
those super stiff bristle ones. This powder will last forever because
you need to use so little. I compare it to Bare Minerals makeup. If
you wear this brand, you know exactly what I mean. That stuff lasts
forever because you barely need to use any. Same here, a little bit
will go a long way after it is activated by the water.
Lightly dip your paint brush in the powder getting a little on the brush
and tap the paint brush lightly. This is what it will look like.
This is what it looked like after I used all 3 colors.
After
you have all your colors down, lightly spritz with water. The more you
spritz, the more the colors will move around the paper, Here's what it
looks like after a few spritzes.
Then
I decided I wanted a little more red in that bare area so you can go
back and add more and put it where you want it. I love that! See where
I added some red powder.
Then
continue to spritz with water. The next 3 pictures will show you the
progression and the final result. You can see the embossing.
Isn't this cool looking?
I
blot the little puddles with a paper towel and then use a heat gun to
dry. Look at the awesome results for such an easy technique.
I
colored this beautiful Rustic Barn with Copics listed below. I used a
little Copic blending solution on a cloth and dabbed it lightly on the
grass and drive part to give it that textured look. For some reason,
whenever I see an old barn in the middle of a field, it reminds me of
Fall. I remember growing up everybody had one of those 1,000 piece
puzzles that ended up being a barn in a field in the Fall. This is a
fantastic stamp to use for those masculine cards that are so hard to
create. This stamp is appropriate for any male I think and of course,
females as well.
For this card I used Gina K Designs
heavy base weight Ivory card stock as well as Tomato Soup and Chocolate
Brown. I wanted to try Neenah card stock with my Copics because I keep
hearing people say they like it, well, I thought I ordered the wrong
kind because it was flimsy then I remembered Xpress blending cards are
flimsy too. I bought Neenah 110# Smooth White Exact Index and I love
it. I can blend very well on this paper. It is reasonably priced too
at Amazon, ream of 250 sheets around $15.00. I used Spellbinders Labels
8 dies and then used it as a template for the layering one. I sponged
Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs distress ink around the edge of the cut out
stamp and the edge of the leaves background. That's all I used on this
card. I wanted the stars to be the background and this beautiful
scenery stamp.
Copics Used:
Barn: E11, E15, E19
Fence and Roof:: W2, W5 and tip to tip also
Stone on barn: E42, E44
Pumpkins: YR04, YR07
Cart: E23, E25
Driveway: E31, E33
Pines: YG63, YG67
Shadow in Doorways: C9
Tree: G40, G43, Y35, YR21, YR24, YR27, YR18
Grass: YG91, YG93
Next Wednesday I will post a Halloween card using Black Bister powder in the background. Ooooh spooky! lol
I hope I have inspired you to want to try Bister watercolor powders. Have fun making your Fall cards! I hope you'll visit my blog at
http://cardsbyregina.blogspot.com for more inspiration and fun techniques.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Regina - I Brake For Stamps Design Team Member
