Ink Lift Floral - Water Lifting Technique

A trio of cards using the retired To A Wild Rose stamp set and water to lift colour.
The blue one is Misty Moonlight ink on Boho Blue Luster Speciality Paper
The other two cards have a base of gesso

I thought I'd go back to an old favourite of mine - colour lifting.  

If you've been around forever, like me, you'll remember heat embossing a design and then carefully applying bleach with an old paintbrush to lift the colour ... all while trying to ignore the horrible smell of the bleach and wearing old clothes in case of accidents!  But I did love the results of that technique!  I used to use bleach to paint little scenes for Christmas cards!

I have tried lifting the colour with water in the past, using coloured cardstock.  However, the coloured cardstock isn't designed to handle water and I haven't been keen on the results.  

But I've been experimenting again and am really happy with the results of two of my experiments: the first was using Luster Speciality Paper and the second was using a variety of cardstocks coated with gesso that I coloured with several drops of reinker.

The monochromatic approach gave a muted but elegant look to the project
Label is cut with die from the Delicate Forest die set (162679)

The tools and products I used for this project

A.  Water ink lift technique on Luster Speciality Paper 

For the blue card above, I used the Stampin' Up Luster Speciality Paper (151746).  The pack contains two 12" x 12" sheets each of the 2023-2025 In Colours and I chose to work with the Boho Blue.

The Luster paper has a coating which means that it can handle the water.  It does also mean, however, that ink tends to sit on top and needs patience or a heat tool to dry sufficiently.  I had so much fun I really thought it was worth it!  Depending upon how much water has been applied, the paper may warp a little - just pop it under something heavy for a while to help flatten it again.

1. Apply a coat of ink all over the luster paper. 
   TIP: choose a shade that will provide sufficient contrast to the paper colour either in a similar colour for a monochromatic project or a different colour.
   
   
2. Dry the ink thoroughly with a heat tool (or wait until it's dry)
   
   
3. Use Stazon Jet Black ink (or alternative permanent, water-proof ink) to stamp the image. 
   TIP:  It's best to use a stamping platform because I have found that I always need to stamp the image at least 2 or 3 times to get an image that's dark enough. 
   TIP: The chosen image should have clear lines and be suitable for colouring. 
    
4. Dry the ink thoroughly with a heat tool (or wait until it's dry)
   
   
5. Use a brush to paint water onto the image, a section at time, and then blot with a clean piece of paper towel.  This will lift the ink from that area.  Repeat until you're satisfied with the amount of ink that's lifted.  You could use a Water Painter (151298) but I find this gives me less control than I like.
   TIP: Unless you want to transfer ink from one place to another, rinse the brush before each water application.
   TIP: To avoid accidents and finger prints, use a piece of paper towel to hold your project and under your working hand.  Moisture from your hands will also lift the ink.
   TIP:  for the more advanced or adventurous - try leaving some shadows (eg under petals) by varying the amount of ink that you lift and/or transferring some of the ink 

The Boho Blue Luster paper before and after adding the layer of  Misty Moonlight ink.

The work in progress, painting with water and then blotting to lift the ink

B.  Water ink lift technique on cardstock "altered" with coloured gesso (or uncoloured)

For this card I used some drops of Crushed Curry reinker in white gesso for the undercoat
The top coat is Blackberry Bliss ink

1. Transfer some white gesso to a small container - I find a little goes a long way and probably used about a dessertspoonful. 
   
   
2. Add some colour - I used ink from my reinker botte, adding a few drops at a time.  Alternatively, you could use a little acrylic paint.  Mix well.
   
   
3. Evenly paint the surface of your choice with the coloured gesso.  I've used Basic White cardstock (159228), Basic White Thick cardstock (159230) and Watercolour paper (149612) but you could try other surfaces too: eg cardboard, wood ...
   
   
4. Allow the gesso to thoroughly dry.  Since I'm impatient, I used a heat tool to help it along!
   
   
5. Follow steps 1 - 5 from the Luster Paper instructions above.

This is the work in progress, having done one application of lifting to each petal without rinsing my brush.  This gave me a softer ink layer which made it easier to leave a few soft shadows

I used the same gesso mix on Basic White cardstock with a top coat of Pretty Peacock ink

I softened the ink on the flower, as above, by starting with one application of lifting one petal at a time but without rinsing my brush.  Then I worked each petal until I was satisfied with the result.

I used the same gesso mix on Basic White Thick cardstock.  When dry, I sponged with Wild Wheat ink adding Early Espresso ink towards the centre. I stamped the flowers using the masking technique.  I also added some Memento Tuxedo Black ink below the flowers.

Thank you for visiting.  If you have any queries or comments, I'd love to hear from you!

'Til next time ....

Stephanie Fischer

The Crafty Thinker