Ideas/Hints for Using Glossy Cardstock

Written/Compiled by Wendy Kerr

Bold, bright colors look awesome when stamped on this card stock! The colors come out even brighter on glossy and it makes a card look a little more professionally done.

Cut your glossy cardstock sheets in half and then in half again. Layer this onto the folded card of your choice. This will make you glossy cardstock last longer.

Brayering: Glossy card stock is great for backgrounds and wonderful for using your brayer. Ink your brayer by running it over a multicolor dye then roll onto your glossy cardstock a few times. Repeated rolling blends the colors. Try using “sunset” colors for sunset backgrounds for scenic stamping, etc. *If you find that you get "lines" or "spaces" when brayering - lightly spritz with water THEN brayer over again. Be sure to do this while you ink is still moist.

Sample by Wendy Kerr

Stamp by Stampendous

After finishing your piece, you can now stamp your image with a VersaMark inkpad. Using a soft paint brush add mica pigment powders (Pearl Ex, Powdered Pearls, etc) Let dry for a few minutes and gently wipe cardstock with a soft tissue.

Stamps by PSX and Hero Arts

Pigment powdered used: Gold, Sparkle Gold and Blue

VersaMark Resist Technique: Stamp image onto glossy cardstock a VersaMark inkpad. Heat cardstock with an embossing heat gun to set your ink. Brayer color over the image. The VersaMark areas will resist the ink.

Sample by Wendy Kerr

Stamp by All Night Media

Soot Stamping Technique: Turn the flame of an oil lamp up and wave the card front over the top . . . Where the black smoke is. (Be sure to get the kind of oil that is NOT smokeless. (Another option to “soot” you cardstock is to use tiki torches, just be very careful not to burn your fingers.) Soot will begin to form on the glossy surface. When your cardstock piece is covered in soot, take a clean rubber stamp and stamp into the soot. The stamp will remove the soot from the surface. After done stamping, seal your cardstock with a fixative spray (like Krylon Art Fixative Spray.)  Try brayering ink onto your cardstock THEN doing the soot technique for a fun twist.

Stamp by Stamps Galore

Joseph's Coat Technique:  Stamp images all over your cardstock with clear embossing ink and clear embossing powder. Melt the embossing powder with a heat tool.

Brayer with dye inks. Wipe off the excess ink that beads on the embossing with a paper towel.

Samples by Wendy Kerr

Stamp by Stampabilities

All stamps by Stampabilities

The Heated Pearls Technique: Brayer your cardstock with DARK or RICH colors (OR use a dark colored glossy cardstock.) You will need Pearl Ex (or other mica pigment powders), white glue (such as Elmer's or Aileen Tacky Glue), a stipple brush, and your heat gun.

Put a blob of glue in the middle of a piece. Spread it all over the piece with the stipple brush. Be sure to cover it completely. Sprinkle some Pearl Ex (you can use two complimentary colors of PE) on top of the stippled glue, working the PE into the glue with the stipple brush.

When done, put the brush into water, so the glue won't dry up on the brush. Next take your heat gun and start running it over the glue/PE mixture. Watch it bubble up! Let dry.

Sample by Wendy Kerr

Brayered glossy with purple dye ink. Used Gold and Red Russet Pearl Ex

Crayon Resist: Stamp your design onto glossy card stock using dye ink.

Then use a crayon to mark areas where you want to highlight (the white card stock will show through.) Be sure to apply heavy lines so they will show up well on the finished piece.

Then just use your selected inks to apply ink with sponge or brayer. Allow ink to dry. Using a piece of tissue, gently rub over the areas where you applied the crayon. This will remove the ink and create the resist look.

Samples by Cyndi Evans
 

Click here for more examples of this technique

Shaving Cream Technique: Place your cardstock in a cookie sheet (to aid in the clean up!) glossy side up. I found it easier to cut your cardstock sheet into 1/4 (5-1/2" x 4-1/4" (standard card sized.)) 

Put a GOOD amount of shaving cream onto your cookie sheet or pie plate. Next, put a few colors of dye inks into the shaving cream. I like using just two colors, you can use more if you like. With a pencil, your finger or non-brush end of a paintbrush - swirl your inks. Don't mix TOO much.

Place the glossy side of your cardstock down onto the shaving cream. SMUSH it down to make sure it gets even coverage. Gently "peel" the cardstock off of the shaving cream. With a squeegee or a paper towel, remove the shaving cream from your cardstock. After it is all gone, you can lightly buff your cardstock with a tissue or soft cloth. For complete, step by step, directions with pictures - please click here.

Bubble Background Technique: Place 3-4 Tablespoons of dish washing soap and a cup of tap water in a large bowl. Add 10-15 drops of dye from a refill bottle. Use a whisk to create froth and pour this mixture onto a cookie tray. Using a drinking straw, blow lightly while stirring the mixture so that you form slightly larger bubbles.

You do NOT want huge bubbles as you won't be able to fit them on a standard size card front. Then lightly place a sheet of Glossy Card stock onto the bubbles without actually dropping it into the solution. Remove paper and place right side up on paper towels and allow to dry. For more versatility select other colors besides blue or send the card stock back through a second time but this time select a different color from the first.

Salt Backgrounds Technique: Brayer color onto the glossy card stock using any dye ink pad and then mist with water spritzer. Sprinkle on salt. (Sea salt or any large crystal salt works best). Let dry.  When dry, gentry brush the off  the salt. The salt will "remove" or lighten the dye ink and you'll have a beautiful one-of-a-kind background for your stamped artwork.

Kooshball Background: Tap a Koosh Ball onto an ink pad, then tap it on the glossy card stock however you want. You can keep adding color until you get it the way you like it. Rinse and shake off water before using another color.

Wax Paper Resist Backgrounds: Take a piece of wax paper (the same size as your cardstock) and crumple it up. Place wax paper and set between the glossy sides of two pieces of glossy cardstock. Take an iron at medium heat and iron over the cardstock for between 10 and 30 seconds. Sponge or brayer dye ink over cardstock.

Bleeding Tissue Paper: Lay your white glossy cardstock face up and spray with water. Randomly tear tissue paper in the colors you want and place on wet cardstock. Place another sheet of white glossy cardstock face down on top of the tissue (this way you can make two sheets of background paper at one time). Lay a phonebook or other heavy object on top of these sheets and let sit so the wet paper won't curl. When dry, peel off the tissue and reveal your beautiful background that you can use to stamp on, emboss on, use for layering or whatever you'd like.

Sample by Betty McCommon

Rubber Stamps by The Angel Company

Rubber Cement Resist Technique: Start with glossy cardstock. Pick out 3 colors of dye ink.  Drizzle rubber cement directly on the cardstock (do this in a well-ventilated area).  Let dry.  Using your brayer, apply your first ink color (start with lightest color).  Let dry.  Drizzle more rubber cement on your cardstock.  Let dry.  Use your brayer and apply your second ink color.  Let dry.  Drizzle one more layer of rubber cement.  Let dry.  Apply last ink color.  When dried, peel off the rubber cement. This gives the resist look.

Marbled Chalk Background: Put about an inch of water into a pan slightly bigger than your card, with a knife, scrape chalk dust of several colors onto the surface of the water. Lower the paper flat onto the surface of the water to pick up the color, immediately lifting the card back out of the water. Allow to dry flat. If your paper develops puckers, it can be ironed to flatten it back out.

Iridescent Backgrounds: use two or three colors of Pearlescent Acrylic paint. Using an eye dropper add a few drops of one color onto cardstock. Put on a loose fitting glove (like the ones we use for cleaning.) Starting with your darkest color put a few drops of paint, randomly, onto your cardstock. With your gloved hand swirl the paint all over the surface of the card, then lightly tap the paint with your finger tips (of your gloved hand.) Once your paint is dry, repeat the same process with lighter color(s).

**Try mixing clear paint with pearl ex*

Mother of Pearl Technique: Brayer dye inks onto glossy. Crumple a piece of wax paper to crinkle it. Leave it bunched up and dip it into white Lumiere paint OR a white iridescent paint. Dab it onto your cardstock. Use paint sparingly – you don’t want to paint to excessively drip off your waxed paper. Let dry. Brayer dye inks onto cardstock.

Drunken Chalks Technique (Courtesy Cyndi Evans)

3 chalk inkpads (I use cateyes from ClearSnap)
White glossy cardstock
Gold pigment inkpad
rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle I use a fine mist bottle

Starting with the lightest shade of chalk inkpad tap around the white glossy cardstock leaving some of the white showing. Continue along with all colors. Cover the entire cardstock with the gold pigment ink. Holding the card upright spray w/ the alcohol and tilt it around to get the alcohol to run around the card. When it looks good to you -- lay it flat to dry. I make like 15 of these in one sitting. Not one is identical to the others. I like that. After it is dry, stamp your image (s) with a stazon inkpad.

For more examples, please click here

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