Stampendous/Eileen Hull ATB Tutorial

Hello everyone! I missed the blog hop that the Eileen Hull Inspiration Team had together with Stampendous. I was working on my project the evening that Leo was born, so I will always remember this Artist Trading Block. I was planning to photograph it the next morning, but that of course didn't happen.

I made a watercolour Artist Trading Block with very pretty flower and sentiment stamps from Stampendous: Frantage Flowers, Queen Bee, Say It Today. I thought this would be a nice spring-time gift for someone special (although I am not planning to give it away anymore). The flowers were coloured with Derwent Inktense pencils, which worked great for these detailed images. The Inktense pencils are great, and if you add water on top, they turn into watercolours, but once dry, the colour is permanent. This is a tutorial.

Start by die cutting the pieces of a block using the 3-D Blocks/Cubes die. Die cut the largest of the three blocks on the die. It is an XL die, so you need the Extended Cutting Pads together with your Big Shot or Vagabond. You can also use one of the other block dies, such as the 3-D Block/Cube/Bank die, which is just slightly larger than the block here. I used white mat board as my base since it takes ink and paint beautifully. If you use chipboard, you might want to cover it with paper first, to give you a white surface to work on.

Stamp flower images from Frantage Flowers and Queen Bee with Jet Black ink. The ink needs to be waterproof.

Stamp sentiments with the same ink. Colour the flowers with Inktense pencils, leaving some areas white for highlights.

Use water and a paintbrush to turn the pencils into watercolours. When dry, the paint is permanent, which is a great characteristic of Intense pencils.

Smear Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink on your craft sheet, mist with water and pick up with a paint brush. Paint around the flowers, starting with Antique Linen and dropping in the darker Frayed Burlap.

Apply a strong adhesive along the edges. I used Ranger's Wonder Tape.

Don't assemble the block yet (like I did), instead stamp swirl stamps from Frantage Flowers here and there with Frayed Burlap, using both first and second generation stamping. It is easier to stamp before you assemble the block. Dry with a heat tool.

Smear Ranger's Emboss It dabber around the edges of the block, one side at a time. Sprinkle with Stampendous Aged Ivory Embossing Enamel and melt with a heat gun. Be careful so you don't burn yourself. I love the vintage look of this embossing powder.

This block comes together real fast and the recipient will be happy for a different type of thank you gift.

The sentiments work so well together, and would be great for cardmaking too.

The Inktense pencils work very well when it comes to colouring such detailed images, since you can easily get the colour exactly where you want it to be. Just don't use too much water when you turn them into watercolour.

The neutral background lets the bright flowers stand out nicely.

I love these honey bee stamps and the way in which the embossing powder frames the panels.

You can see the round up with links to all the posts in the blog hop here on Eileen Hull's blog and here on Stampendous blog.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! Have a great weekend!

Happy Crafting!

Anna-Karin


Supplies:

Stampendous QUEEN BEE	Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die 3D BLOCK CUBE BANK	Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die - Blocks/Cubes, 3-D	Sizzix Little Sizzles - 6" x 13" Mat Board Pack	Derwent 24 INKTENSE COLORED PENCILS
Ranger Archival Ink Pad JET BLACK	Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD FRAYED BURLAP	Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD ANTIQUE LINEN	Stampendous AGED IVORY Embossing Enamel	Ranger CLEAR EMBOSS IT DABBER
Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE	Sizzix CUTTING PAD XL Pair	Ranger Inkssentials US HEAT IT CRAFT TOOL	Ranger Inkssentials EUROPEAN HEAT IT CRAFT TOOL	Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET
Ranger Inkssentials WONDER TAPE 1/8""	Ranger Large 2 oz MISTER BOTTLE	Ranger Inkssentials INK BLENDING TOOL

InLinkz.com

And:
Stampendous: Frantage Flowers, Say It Today