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Bleaching Black Backgrounds

By Missy Cahoon
Off Road Inksters
Intermediate Scramping Team Designer 

Black backgrounds produce dramatic results when utilizing bleach techniques.  There are a simple few tips and tricks to stamping with bleach. When making a bleach pad, remember that bleach loses its effectiveness after prolonged exposure to air.  After about 15 minutes, the bleach will begin to lend weaker results.  Also, depending on the brand of cardstock used, bleaching will produce various results. Some blacks will bleach to a gray, others to brown and still others to a cream color.  In addition, bleaching does not work well on cardstocks having a coating as they resist the chemicals.

Supplies

Luscious Leaves Stamp Set (TAC)
Alphabet Stamps (Wordsworth)
Mossy Green Dye Ink Pad
Black 12” x12” Cardstock
Mossy Green Cardstock
Vanilla Cardstock
Brown Cardstock
Black Cardstock
Date Stamp (Office Supply Store)
Bleach (Clorox)
Fun Fur Fiber (Lion Brand)
Leaf & Heart buttons (Unknown)
6”x8” Piece of white felt (Unknown)
Hermafix tabs (TAC)
Embroidery Floss (DMC)
Embroidery Needle (DMC)
Paper Cutter (Fiskars 12” ~ *TAC)
 

Instructions

1. Create a bleach stamp pad by folding a piece of white felt and placing on bleach safe plate. Pour enough bleach onto felt so that it’s damp. (Note: you want to be able to “ink” your stamp, but not with so much bleach that it pools on top of the felt).
2. Stamp the Luscious Leaves images using the bleach pad and stamp onto the 12”x12” Black cardstock creating the background. Cut Vanilla Cardstock 7”x8-½”. Stamp with the luscious leaves stamp set in mossy green stamp pad. Fold bottom right hand corner up and glue on leaf button.
3. Double mat first photo with vanilla cardstock leaving ¼ inch border. Then mat again in mossy green cardstock leaving another ¼ inch border. Fold corner over and glue heart button threaded with cream DMC floss. Then attach to the vanilla stamped background.
4. Double mat second photo with black cardstock leaving ¼ inch border and mat again in brown cardstock leaving another ¼ inch border.
5. Cut brown cardstock 6½” X 1¾”. Using bleach pad, stamp a title with the alphabet letters. Stitch around outline of title with DMC floss. Mat with mossy cardstock leaving ½ inch border.
6. Cut 1”X 3” tag from brown cardstock. Stamp with one of the leaves using bleach pad.
7. Cut black tag ¾” X 1¾”. Stamp the date in bleach onto a piece of black cardstock from scraps.
8. Wrap 12”x12” Bleached background with fiber both horizontally and vertically. Wrap the right side of vertical picture with fiber.
9. Position journaling behind vanilla mat and make a pull tag.  See photo for reference.
10. Assemble page using Hermafix Tabs.

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