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Failure is an Option


I felt pretty good about my studio endeavors recently.  Bumbling along, working intuitively had been paying off.  My work ethic has been good and I’m putting in about 25 hours per week on my art.  Then yesterday, I had this seemingly brilliant idea to go to Michaels and buy some new stamps.  The rubber stamps weren’t marked down like I thought they would be so I was on to other things.  I checked out clear stamps and acrylic blocks but that was pricier than my budget.   Then I gravitated over to stamping embellishments and found some walnut ink sprays.  I have worked a lot previously with walnut ink in the manner of watercolor with my mixed media work and thought the sprays would be convenient for ATCs.  I did buy an almost filigreed design of a tree that is quite delicate.  I thought I followed the directions the way they were presented.  I stamped with the special quick dry ink called Versa, and then sprayed on the walnut ink.  I was left with a tar-like color and the stamp ink never resisted the water-based ink so the image was lost.  Not one to give up easily I did three more, all to no avail.  I was left with a brownish inky mess on my little ATCs that had started out as wonderful collages. Now, I’m wondering what the lessons in yesterday’s foibles are.  I’ve tried googling the walnut ink sprays but haven’t found any additional directions to what I already have.  I feel a little hesitant to return to the studio to face yesterday’s mess.  I’ve already thrown away the four ATCs and created one new one that roughly does what I wanted, sans walnut ink.  I enjoy my intuitive style and fast pace of working but I am still mystified by what I did wrong with the inks. Maybe today I’ll try a hardier style of stamp that isn’t filigree-styled or return to my mandala paintings.  When all else fails, experimentation is a great option. This art card, which I call, “In the Pink,” uses some experimentation.  I have been playing around with overlaid transparencies for a while and this is one of my first times of using that media with collage.  I also used die-cuts, shaped scissors and stamping. In addition, I tried glue dots for the first time. 

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  1. Tracey FKJanuary 4, 2012 at 1:23 PM

    This is my first visit from over at CED and I have spent way too much time checking out your blog and all your lovely lovely work... no help on any sort of stamping questions sadly, but looking forward to following your work....xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stephanie BirdJanuary 4, 2012 at 1:27 PM

    Tracey:

    Thanks so much for stopping over from CED! I appreciate the compliment--love that year-long project. Also, I seem to have figured out the resist/walnut ink issue today in the studio--yeeeeaaaahhhh!

    ReplyDelete

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