Looking Back at A Smooched Card

When Smooch Paints first came out I was asked to demonstrate how to use them at a stamp convention.  I had to do a lot of experimenting with them and find out how they would work on different types of paper - both glossy and matte.   In that process I learned quite a bit about them. 

Here are some things I learned:

1. Smooch paints have a lovely shimmer

2. Smooch paints dry quickly on card stock

3. Smooch paints are opaque in nature

4. You can use Smooch paints on matte and glossy card stock, acetate, and metal.  

5. However, because are a "paint" they do not dry quickly on acetate or metal.  Thin coats will dry the best.  You can apply a thin coat and let it dry or use a heat tool to dry it. Then apply another thin coat and let it dry.  If you use too many coats or apply it thickly on acetate or metal it will not dry well.

6. When you mix Smooch paints with water the pigment in the paint separates. However, it is an interesting look.  But if you wanted the color to remain the same and just be less opaque you will be disappointed. 

7. You can  apply Smooch paints directly to rubber and then stamp.  However, you must clean your stamp immediately or it will dry on the stamp and be very difficult to remove. 

I saw Pat Huntoon at that stamp show and she asked me to write tutorials using these versatile products.  So somewhere in the archives of of the Technique Junkie newsletters are several tutorials using these products. Some were written by me and some by other folks.

Applying the Smooch paint directly to rubber is the technique I used to create this card. The rose is from Inkadinkadoo. The other stamps are from Stampin' Up!.

You have to sort of think in reverse when you apply inks or paint to a rubber stamp in order to stamp the image you wish to have.  Whatever ink you have on the top of the stamp is what is going to show.  So I painted the rose with a red Smooch paint, and then I applied the green paints (I used two colors) to the stem and the leaves.  I quickly "huffed" on the ink and stamped the image on black glossy card stock.  I did the same thing again and stamped the rose a second time.  Then I trimmed and mounted it on layers of card stock.  I used a large background stamp and inked it with an Opalite ink pad on matte black card stock.   I applied Smooch paints in two thin layers of color to the metal buckle.  Because the brush tip is really a type of flexible silicone and not bristles, you have excellent control over where the ink will be applied.  Then I stamped and punched out a greeting and layered it with another punched out piece of card stock.  I applied the ribbon and metal buckle embellishment -- and Ta-Da! I am done.

This would be a lovely wedding card or a move to new job, or a move to another part of our country, and so on.  You could change the stamped greeting to Happy Birthday, etc.

Have a inky week!