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I have a terrific winter stamp depicting skaters on a fairly large pond. I want to create a glossy, smooth finish to the pond. Thus far I've tried Paper Glaze with a paint brush, but the brush strokes remained after it dried. Then, I tried using a clear Sakura Glaze pen, which dried kind of pitty (ice pot holes, LOL!) and uneven. I also have Judikins Diamond Glaze and Ranger Glossy effects--which I haven't tried on the pond yet.
I read on this site that some people use thick clear embossing powder, which makes a nice glassy finish. My problem is that the pond area is the negative space, so I would have to fill the pond with embossing ink. Is there a way to do this? I saw Wet Looks Clear Embossing Markers and am wondering if this would do the trick. It seems like it might be expensive to use a pen this way.
Thanks for your time and assistance; I appreciate it!
Michelle Zindorf has a couple of tuorials on her blog that have iced ponds on them by just brayering. Might not be quite what you're thinking but it's something different to think about.
I just got back from a Heirloom Rubber stamp convention. I made a winter scenery type card and it had a matte embossed fininsh. It is clear ultrafine matte embossing powder. It was from B&J's Art Stamps. I would stamp the pond in a craft ink and sprinkle and heat the embossing powder. It is very nice.
I read on this site that some people use thick clear embossing powder, which makes a nice glassy finish. My problem is that the pond area is the negative space, so I would have to fill the pond with embossing ink. Is there a way to do this?
It depends how detailed your stamp is but you might be able to do it with a negative mask plus positive masks for things like the skating figures. Use a blade to cut the shape of the pond and then use a little repositionable adhesive to put the "hole" over the pond. Cut out masks for anything that you don't want to coat in EP in the regular way and mask them off. Now you can just go direct to paper with your Versamark pad, lift the masks off and add your clear powder.
If your stamp is more detailed than makes sense for that then I agree with Island Stamper - you could use the Versamark pen just to go over the areas you want and then sprinkle your EP on there.
Wow, thanks for all the ideas! I am going to try several of them and will let you know how they work for me. Since I have Glossy Accents, I may try that first. Melissa, I love the crystal glitter idea. I have an assortment of transparent glitter that would be fun to try.
Linda, is Crystal Effects different from Glossy Accents or Paper Glaze, or are these just different brands of the basically the same thing?
Lesley, the VersaMark and Utee Ultra Thick clear I plan to try as well.
Joanne, the mask idea is fantastic, too. I've done this before with small parts of stamps.
Linda, is Crystal Effects different from Glossy Accents or Paper Glaze, or are these just different brands of the basically the same thing?
I'm not Linda, I hope she'll forgive me for answering! Yes, they're basically all the same thing - a clear dimensional adhesive. Judikins Diamond Glaze is another one you'll see around quite a lot.
I have had much success with "painting" areas with a Ranger embossing ink refill with a small paintbrush. Then sprinkle on your embossing powder (UTEE or regular) and heat. You can add sparkle with the Sakura clear Stardust gelly roll pen on top when it's dry. HTH
I use glossy accents on many things and the thing to remember with this is to NOT TOUCH IT lol after applying it you must keep your fingers off it till dry no correcting no fussing with it. Hard lesson for me. Brush will leave brush marks. I use directly from the bottle and then resist the urge to touch it in any way, if there is a goober wait for it to dry then apply a second coat, it will usually level itself out for you.
I would try Diamond Glaze. Haven`t tried it yet on large survaces, but it gives wonderfull shiney surfaces, though I think it would useable. Because it runs great you shouldn`t have problems with strokes.
Again, dear ladies, thanks for your tips and tricks. Here are my results:
For a more subtle look I favored brushing on Paper Glaze and sprinkling a tiny bit of transparent Art Glitter on top. The glitter seems to diminish the brush strokes. I had no luck with Glossy Accents using the tip straight from the bottle, as it was way too thick for me, and didn't smooth out properly. (Paper Glaze applied with the tip didn't work, either. Not enough control, and I would have to create a dam of sorts..perhaps with Post-It Notes.)
I then tried the embossing technique. I used an embossing pen on the pond, then applied Utee Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel in clear...three times. It looked spotty and bumpy the first two times, but as I heated it for the third time, the pond became glossy and smooth. It was amazing! This is perfect if the pond is the focal point of the image. I did lightly go over the pond with the Sakura Glitter pen, and love the effect.
Again, dear ladies, thanks for your tips and tricks. Here are my results:
For a more subtle look I favored brushing on Paper Glaze and sprinkling a tiny bit of transparent Art Glitter on top. The glitter seems to diminish the brush strokes. I had no luck with Glossy Accents using the tip straight from the bottle, as it was way too thick for me, and didn't smooth out properly. (Paper Glaze applied with the tip didn't work, either. Not enough control, and I would have to create a dam of sorts..perhaps with Post-It Notes.)
I then tried the embossing technique. I used an embossing pen on the pond, then applied Utee Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel in clear...three times. It looked spotty and bumpy the first two times, but as I heated it for the third time, the pond became glossy and smooth. It was amazing! This is perfect if the pond is the focal point of the image. I did lightly go over the pond with the Sakura Glitter pen, and love the effect.
XOXO.
I'm glad you tried a few and found a method that works - don't the Sakura glitter pens make the "ice" sparkle just enough??!
ice effect ideas?
