A Year of Card Techniques ~ October Blog Hop ~ Black Magic or Joseph's Coat

Welcome to

It is month ten of our year long journey to explore different techniques.This month we are experimenting with some ink and embossing techniques called "Joseph's Coat" or "Black Magic Technique". Either way you called it, it is a simple but very effective technique. It is a bit messy at some time, but hey we love being messy once in a while right?

I haven't tried doing my own videos yet (which will be hilarious and chaotic I am sure ;-) and might happen one of these days) but for now, here are some really good examples to explain the technique:

Black Magic Technique
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeWSlk6gDeg&index=10&list=PLs5r50_JvYWia4z4ZUKGLUzXLr1CBiWe2

Joseph's Coat (two different ways)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufB0401pSgY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjSDg8lyo1A

Oh and remember, it's not to late to hop along and comment on each blog to be entered into out prize drawing. If you missed any of the previous months, you can click on the month to be taken directly to the start of that month's hop.

January February March April May June July August September

Now let's start with the projects and what I came up with. Having a very busy month and another one coming up, I thought I make a few simple cards this time. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing bad about simple. Sometimes less is more anyway, right?


I started with the "Black Magic" and I have to say this is really an awesome

technique. I used plain black cardstock and white pigment ink from Close to My Heart. I recently saw a comparison of different white pigment inks, sadly they didn't included our CTMH one. I have to say SU and CTMH both are of the same good and vibrant intensity while some of the other one the market don't show to good on black.

So why do you have to use pigment ink and what is the difference to regular ink? Pigment ink is a very thick ink that tends to dry very slow. The ink stays on the surface of your paper and doesn't "sink" in. This makes it ideal for stamping on darker papers. Due to the thickness of the ink, it is good to use stamps that are not too detailed, because they might not show as good as they do with regular inks.

I stamped a flower design in white ink on my black cardstock and let it dry over night. This way I was sure the ink would not smudge. The next day I grabbed some coloring pencils and started coloring in the leaves and flowers. I used different shades of green, yellow-orange and pink. It is amazing how these colors pop up. I didn't want to take away form the coloring, so I simply stamped my phrases with watermark ink and used white embossing powder to make it shine. A few sequins, pears and rhinestones and I called these two done. Really simple technique, but I think awesome results. What's your take on it?

Next I tried the "Joseph's Coat"....black inky fingers here I come... I cut two pieces of white cardstock to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".

For the first one I used a couple of Ranger Distress inks in fall colors and sponged them on the cardstock. I wasn't to careful blending them, since most of the piece will be later covered in black anyway. For the second piece I used shimmer paint and water. I carefully placed three stripes of gold, green and red on my cardstock. I tried to blend the lines between each color just a bit and let it dry. 

Next I used some fall stamps, leaves, dots and acorns and watermark ink. I stamped the images randomly on the papers and covered them with clear embossing powder. Once heated and set, the areas with the clear embossed images will no longer take on ink! I started sponging brown in on the one piece, but it didn't make the leaves pop as much as

I wanted them to stand out....so I took my black ink pad and rubbed it all over both pieces. I then carefully removed some of the ink with a paper towel. 

The shimmer ink piece need a little longer to dry with the black ink on it due to the paint underneath. Once dry I was able to clean off the acorns and leaves. Don't these colors pop out? The only really hard part of these technique is to get the black ink of your fingers LOL...

Well, you can see the finished cards and I hope this will inspire you too to try something new with your inks and embossing powder. Have fun been messy and don't forget to leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.

Up next are the wonderful creations of Debbie!

Keep on crafting and don't forget to comment!

Have a wonderful day

Claudia

Here's today's line-up in case you get lost along the way

Theresa ~ http://scrapsbygracie.blogspot.com

Claudia...Your are here!

Debbie ~ http://pawstoscrap.blogspot.com 

Lisa ~ http://lisaslittlerascals.blogspot.com

Kim ~ http://katydidcards.com
Jearise ~ http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com