One of the things I really enjoy is to craft with everyday household items.
Back in April last year I did a blog post about bleach stamping and I stamped on various scraps of card stock to keep as a reference as to what colour card stock produces what results. It's been handy having these scraps for when I've wanted to do various projects but I'll be honest with you, they were a bit of a mess.
So I was making a couple of projects recently where I wanted to use bleach so I figured now was the time to do myself a proper test swatch. Given there have been some big changes to the Stampin' Up! colour range lately too, I thought there was no time to waste.
I cut 7cm x 5cm pieces of card stock out of every colour I have (even some retired ones!). I then used the same stamp from the Stampin' Up! Tropical Chic stamp set to stamp each piece using bleach.
I then punched a whole in the top right corner and joined them all together using a 5.5cm hinged ring. The hinged ring will allow me to add new colours and remove old ones as necessary.
I then got straight to work starting my 2020 calendars (to give as gifts) and a birthday card using these bleach stamped strips.
The leaves that I bleach stamped on the Gorgeous Grape card stock came out a colour very close to Stampin' Up!s Coastal Cabana, so I added a little bit of Coast Cabana ribbon at the back of the strip on the card.
I've stamped the coffee rings from the Stampin' Up! Timeless Textures stamp set in bleach to use on these 2020 desktop calendars.
A few tips for you with bleach stamping:
Only use rubber stamps (not photopolymer ones)
Create a bleach stamp pad with paper towel in a shallow glass or ceramic dish, big enough to fit your stamp
Test on a bit of scrap before stamping your project
Wear an apron if you're a messy stamper :-)
Some colours just produce a lighter version of themselves, some give you a completely different colour and some don't work at all! So having a test swatch will be great for going straight for the colour that's going to give you your desired result.
Happy (bleach) stamping...
