Background Tutorial: Stamp with Gesso

Hey everyone;

I thought I'd share another mixed media tutorial

with y'all today.

Today we are stamping with Gesso and then adding various coloring mediums

to create backgrounds for cards, tags, ATCS, Journal pages and more.

Now I am using tags in my samples but you can use any size piece of card stock.

Supplies:

Manila Tags

Gesso

Background stamps

Piece of foam (I use a cosmetic sponge)

Coloring Mediums (ie Distress Inks, Stains, Mists etc)

Spray bottle with water

Heatgun (can air dry just takes longer)

Take some Gesso onto your foam piece

Cover the stamp with the gesso by dabbing it on.

You could use a paintbrush or dip the stamp in the paint but in my opinion using the foam gives better / even coverage and uses less paint.

Stamp onto the tag. 

Add more Gesso and stamp as needed until the tag is covered with images.

Air dry or use your heat gun.

Take some Distress inks and rub onto a non stick sheet.

Mist with water.

Drag your tag through repeatedly until you are happy with the color coverage.

Dry.

Here is one tag, after the first 2 colors I went back and added some Fired Brick as well.

Another sample with different inks.

I pulled out some REALLY REALLY old ink pads from

Nick Bantock.

These ink pads are so dry that I rubbed directly onto the paper, barely got any color, and blended with a baby wipe.

The wipe reactivated the ink enough that I was able to get

so fantastic color coverage.

This one is done by misting with Dylusions and spreading the color with a wet paintbrush.

This one is done using Distress Stains.

The three Distress Inks for this tag.

Here are a bunch of these tags ready to be used.

These are ready to be embellished and further stamped on (use Solvent or Archival ink) to become finished pieces.

I can't wait to see what you do with this.

If you try PLEASE send me a link so I can see what you create :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!