Top Scrapbook Ideas - Tested Tip--Bleach Stamping

Tested Tip--Bleach Stamping

Written by Diane Pottle

I tried the technique of bleach stamping on cardstock as described by Carole House on Scrap-e-pedia.com

Following Carole's directions, I got into my grubbies. Since I have a reputation among my family as being challenged in the pouring department, I knew this was necessary for me. I already have outfits with bleach spots on them and did not want to add to my collection. I covered my work space with a paper bag and worked in a well ventilated area.

Bleach Stamp Pad I used one of the variations that Carole listed near the end of the article and used a folded paper towel pad for my stamping. It worked out well, but did eventually rip. During my stamping, I went through two paper towel pads. I was using the store brand. You might have better luck with a name brand. When I go through the checkout, I'm like the store brand poster child. It wasn't a pain to change the paper towel, just make sure you do when it starts wearing thin or you may end up with extra fibers on your project. I put the folded paper towel in a disposable plastic container and poured a small amount of bleach into the container. It is important not to pour in too much bleach. As Carole said, "...saturate...not soak."

Click "Next>>" link below for page 2 - First Try.

I practiced on paper bag scraps to get the technique down. I used a foam leaf stamp first. I held it down for about 10 seconds. I was surprised--hey the paper just looks wet! But give it about two minutes to get the full effect (or at least it seemed that long as I waited). I then tried it on green cardstock. You can make a nice patterned background this way. It does have a mess up factor, so do this as a first step -- not as a finishing accent. I did get a few pin prick sized bleach spots elsewhere on the cardstock, but it didn't detract from my design.

Next, I tried making a title with foam letter stamps from Making Memories, the font style was named stencil. As a side note, I have to say I love these stamps! They are double sided--always a bonus when you can get more bang for the buck. The stencil font has the positive and negative of the design on each side. Some in this series have uppercase on one side with lowercase on the other. One note of caution--you need to check how the side you are using needs to be oriented when stamping the paper. The side facing up that you are looking at on many of the letters will be reversed--which for some reason confuses me on certain letters like E.

The title came out fine--again some pin prick bleach spots. Although you could stamp directly onto the background paper for your layout title, I wouldn't. Again due to the goof factor, I would stamp onto a paper that you can then cut apart and add the letters individually onto your background. This also allows you to make multi-colored letters, if you chose.

Click "Next>>" link below for page 3 - Detail Bleach Stamping.

Next I tried using a red rubber quote stamp. Carole used a quote stamp on one of her accents and it looked great. I just could not get my attempts to come out. The first tries were big bleach blobs. I needed to blot first on scrap paper, but it still did not come out well--either too much bleach resulting in fuzzy letters or too little bleach with letters or parts of letters missing.

It is possible that a felt pad may work better for this type of stamping.

Then I tried some freestyle bleaching techniques. I used a Q-tip to make a curvy line. This was fun. I needed to reapply bleach to the tip, but it was easy to see where to start back up because of the wet paper look. I also tried some fine work with a toothpick. That was a little tedious--not worth it for me, but you may have the patience or some cool idea.

Click "Next>>" link below for page 4 - The Scorecard.

The bleach work on all the projects came out a bit mottled-inconsistent. I liked the look, but it may not be what you're looking for. Overall, this was fun and something different. I will keep it mind for a special project, a change when in a rut, but I won't be using it on a regular basis.

The Scorecard : 1 = lowest -- 5 = highest

Frugality Factor -- 5 out of 5 You probably have everything you need already, and it comes out well

Klutz Calculation -- 3 out of 5 Can't undo mistakes---but if you have a steady hand & practice you should be alright

Minute Measure -- 5 out of 5 Quick especially if you have your ideas planned--set up and clean may take longer than your actual project--and they don't take that long

Sources Cardstock: Paperbilities. Leaf stamp: jr. Chunky Stamp by Duncan Enterprises. Christmas sentiment stamp: Joyous Christmas by Hero Arts. Alphabet Stamps: stencil Making Memories.