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Friday, January 14, 2011

Ranger Tech. Calendar - Q & A

Well I didn't have time earlier this week to write all this up so here goes...  Lots of questions about the calendar/techniques so far.  I *think* I answered everything but if you have a different question, please feel free to e-mail me or post it here.  I'm always happy to help when I can!

Calendar General Questions:

Q - Where can I find 2012 calendar pages to make gifts for next Christmas?   

A -  The post called - Calendar Prep had a few links to places that have mini or other sized calendar pages.  The last two links have multiple years of calendars ava. which should be just what you're looking for.

Q - Where did I get my chipboard I am using for my calendar?  How thick is the chipboard?

A - I am recycling boxes from things like cereal, cracker boxes, etc.  I do know that Hobby Lobby sells packages of sheet chipboard. The last time I bought some it was around $5.00 for 20 sheets.  They also have coupons frequently that you could use as well.  Not sure about Jo-Ann's or Michaels.  I've never seen any there but that might just be our store. 

As far as thickness... I'm not exactly sure.  It's not super thin but it's not real thick either.  Grab a box of cereal and that's similar to what I'm using ;)

Q - What size is my finished calendar?

A - Each page size is 4x6 but finished hanging size is going to be roughly 9.5 x 6.  I say roughly because I'm not sure which wire binding ring I'm going to use once it's finished...it could add 1-2" to the 8" open page size.

January - Alcohol Ink - Groovy Inks Technique

Q - What type of hair spray did you use?

A - I used Suave pump style hair spray but I think most any brand will work.  I say use what you have ;)

Q - I tried dry it with my embossing gun and it smelled funny.  What did I do wrong?

A - You need to let the hair spray dry naturally or you will get nasty fumes from the hair spray.  It doesn't take too long to dry and I'm sure it's much safer that way too ;)

Q - Did you mount the glossy cardstock to the cardboard before or after the inking?  What do you use to adhere it?

A - I mounted it to the chipboard after it dried as I have all the months so far.  I use my ATG gun adhesive...I just make sure I get the adhesive right to the very edges so it's secure.

February - Embossing Powders - Gradient Embossing

Q - Is Georgia Pacific a special cardstock for this technique?  I live in Canada and have never heard of it.

A - Nope, Georgia Pacific isnt' anything special.  GP is the manufacture of plain white cardstock that is ava. at Wal-Mart and office supply stores.  It's fairly inexpensive and readily ava. here in the states.  I'm not sure if it's ava. in other countries ~ sorry.

March - Adirondack Dye Inks - Watercolor Tiles

Q - I don't know what a shadow stamp is. I am going to have to do some research, because I am sure I need more stamps!


A - A shadow stamp isn't as popular as it was a few years ago so that's probably why you haven't heard of it.  It's basically a flat stamp in a geometric shape - most commonly squares or rectangles with various decorative edges.  You use this type of stamp with a lighter shade of ink for a background then stamp the main image over the inky "shadow" with a darker ink.  It's a really cool look but for some reason fell out of favor.  I guess it's just one of those cycle things.  It will probably be back in style in a couple years.

Q - I don't like how my blocks turned out.  They aren't dark enough.  Is there something I can do to fix it?

A - YES!!  You can fix your tiles !!  After your first layer of ink is dry stamp over them with another color of ink...the combination of the inks will add more depth and highlights to the original tile.  Works like a charm...I did that with a couple of mine ;)

April - Distress Inks - Wax Paper Resist

Q - What type of wax paper did you use?  Is this the food type of wax paper?  Is this regular wax paper?  Is this baking wax paper?

A - Yes to all of these.  I used a generic wax paper that I bought at the grocery store.  Nothing special to it.

May - Liquid Pearls - LP Resist

Q - Is Liquid Pearls the same as Dimensional Pearls?  Will Dimensional Pearls work with this technique?  Can I use Dim Pearls in place of LP's?

A - Yes, LP and DP are basically the same.  I think now that LP's have been reformulated they may have a bit more shimmer and are a little different consistency than DP's are now but they will work the same. 

Yes, you can use either Liquid Pearls or Dimensional Pearls for this technique.

Q - Are LP an acrylic paint?

A - Yes I believe they are similar to acrylic paint so you could use acrylic paint instead of LP's.

Q - I noticed you used rubber stamps with this technique. Will the LP hurt my clear stamps?

A - No, LP won't harm your stamps...rubber or clear.  You could even use the foam type of stamps if you wanted to.  You just have to be sure that you wash the paints off immediately after you use them.  If you wait to clean the paint off you'll have to scrape it off with your finger nail or use a toothbrush to get it off your stamps and out of the crevices. 

June - Adirondack Color Wash - Stamped Labels

Q - What size are the labels you used for this technique?

A - The package says 1/2 x 3/4" or 1.27 x 1.9 cm. 

Q - How did you keep the inks from turning to mud?

A - You have to work quickly when you're working with multiple colors of Color Wash on something like this which is why there are no photos of the labels between the stamped and drying stages.   Here's how I do it...

Temporarily tape the paper to your craft mat.  This will prevent the paper from curling.  If the paper is allowed to curl while you are applying the inks it will speed the "mud" process by mixing the inks as the paper rolls. 

Have your bottles ready to go (lids off, shaken if nec.).

Quickly spray just one or two squirts of Color Wash of each color.

If lighter colors are desired or if you want the colors to mix a bit mist with 2-3 pumps of water.

Immediately after you mist with water blot the excess moisture/ink from the paper with a dry cloth or paper towel.  This will prevent the inks from over blending or running together to make mud. 

Heat to dry.

The key is speed...you've got to work fast once the inks are on the paper.

General Question -

Q - How do I get notifications of new posts in my e-mail?

A - If you become a follower it will show up when you sign into blogger - Right hand column under "Ink Stained Friends"  I think this may allow you to get e-mails too but I'm not sure.

OR

You could subscribe to the blog - in the left hand column under "E-Mail Me" there is a section where you can subscribe to posts, comments or both. 

OR

If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page it says "Subscribe to Posts" (Atom).  I'm not exactly sure what this is...but it's another way to subscribe.

Hope these help and again, if I forgot something or you have a different question, jlmk :)

2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all these questions. Your the best. I love your ideas. Loving my calendar so far.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Roni for answering all of these questions! Mine was about the 'shadow stamp' and I'm really going to go look for some now. It can't be that difficult...I HOPE! I'm working on my calendar and loving it.

    You Rock!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your thoughts and comments!