Bleaching

I was looking through my card samples a few days ago and realized that it has been a while since I have done any bleaching. Here's a card that I created a little over a year ago for an Open House. Some of you will remember making it...

First, I stamped the flower image from Natural Beauty onto Bravo Burgundy card stock using VersaMark ink. Then I embossed it with Black Emboss Powder. This step is important because if you were to just stamp the image with ink, the bleach would discolour the ink. Bleach doesn't change the Emboss Powder though.

After I punched the images out, I painted bleach on the flower petals and let them sit to dry. As the bleach absorbed into the card stock and dried, the card stock turned a nice yellow colour. It reminded me of So Saffron so that's what sparked my colour combination on this card.

A few important tips for bleaching...

1. You don't want to use a paint brush with natural bristles as the bleach will destroy your brush. Stampin' Up!'s Aqua Painters work really well - they have synthetic bristles which are not damaged by the bleach. They are also fantastic for this project because you can put the bleach right in the barrel of the Aqua Painter and then it will flow out of the brush consistently.

2. Bleach loses its power after it's been exposed to light. You'll want to be using your bleach within a few hours of filling the Aqua Painter. If you try using bleach that has been in your Aqua Painter for a while and it's not working, pour it out and refill with fresh bleach.

3. Once you have used an Aqua Painter for bleach, it should not be used for water. Since the Aqua Painters come in a set of two, I've dedicated the one with the blue lid for bleach and the one with the white lid for water.

4. Different colours of card stock will bleach differently. As shown on this example, the Bravo Burgundy turns a beautiful yellow, like So Saffron. Others turn completely white. Play with your card stock and bleach to see what happens! Oh, and you can also bleach your card stock again if necesary - to cover a missed spot or to try to lighten the card sock even more.

5. After bleaching the colour out of your card stock, you can add colour using crayons or inks.

Have fun playing with bleaching... just remember to protect your workspace and yourself in case of any accidental spilling of bleach!

Happy bleaching!

Bev.