versafine clair

Imagine That: DIY StazOn Markers

In The Studio

While at Creativation, someone asked if the new VersaFine Clair inks would work with alcohol markers. Not having any on hand, I devised a quick substitute using Fantastix, StazOn All Purpose Stamp Cleaner, and a StazOn ink pad. VersaFine Clair appeared to hold up quite nicely in this quick trial, by the way*.

It’s been my plan since then to play with it a bit more, so in today’s Imagine project I made a set of StazOn markers in varying shades of 4 different inks, enough to color a pretty floral bouquet (stamped in VersaFine Clair, of course).

You can see how quickly this came together on the Imagine Blog!

*StazOn markers are solvent-based, so not 100% the same as the more common alcohol inks on the market, but the properties are similar. Always test your ink/marker combos before committing to a larger project, just in case!

Imagine That: Mixed-Stamp Mermaid Card

In The Studio

Have you ever started a project and realized you needed another element or two, but the stamps you have on hand are in a different style from your focal image? That’s what happened as I was working on my mermaid card for the Imagine blog.

I had the background (Joy Clair) and the mermaid (Santoro) stamped and ready to go, but she needed some supporting elements. I was concerned, at first, that the underwater elements from another set (Waffle Flower) would look too different since the outlines were thicker and, overall, less delicately rendered.

But I soldiered on, just the same, and it turned out not to be a problem. I think the fact that all my stamping was done in the same ink (VersaFine Clair, Warm Breeze) helped quite a bit to unify the different stamp styles. Also, I used the exact same colors on the seaweed, coral, and shells as I had on the mermaid (a mix of pastel Memento Markers), even though it meant some non-traditional colors and shading. The consistent color palette definitely helped blend the entire piece together and the result is a very fun card that I am more than a little pleased with!

Head over to the Imagine blog to see just how the card came together!

Imagine That – Behind the Garden Wall

In The Studio

For my next project for Imagine I decided to see how VersaFine Clair did with a gel plate and create a monoprint.

You never know exactly what’s going to happen with gel prints–I had one idea in mind and, per the usual, ended up somewhere rather different. But, once again, I don’t mind!

Instead of one monoprint, I technically created two, then layered them after chopping a hole in the first one to show this little bunny (a chipboard piece I’d used as a mask and then incorporated into the final piece) behind/through the brick wall.

As far as the VersaFine Clair, well, it did wonderfully on the gel plate. It gave an interesting, almost textural coverage on the paper and the natural translucency of the ink is definitely an asset when doing a multi-layer print.

To see just how this composition came to be, hop on over to the Imagine blog!

Imagine That: “Painting with VersaFine Clair”

In The Studio

My love affair with VersaFine Clair continues!

This time I decided to see what the ink could do outside of (or in addition to, I should say) your basic stamping.

I’d had some experience using it with Fantastix while at Creativation and I loved the dry-brush effect it gave. But what about making it more fluid?

Since VersaFine Clair is an oil-based ink, diluting with water wasn’t going to yield the results I was looking for. To see exactly how I solved this dilemma and created the scene above, check out the video over on the Imagine Blog!

Imagine That: Who Can Resist VersaFine Clair? Delicata Can!

In The Studio

When I was first playing with the new VersaFine Clair inks I made the accidental discovery that they interacted with Delicata inks in a very interesting way!

When the Delicata is stamped first and the VersaFine Clair is stamped on top, the Delicata acts as a natural resist! Yes, I’m using exclamation points because this was really cool to see happen and it was something I had a blast showing off at Creativation last month!

What can you do with this technique? I think it’s a great way to add an all-over pattern to your project without having to resort to complex stamping. When you use a faint shade of Delicata (Champagne is my favorite) the patterns showing through the overlaid image are little surprises which I think are really cool.

You can see exactly how this works over on the Imagine Blog!