Whitewashed Peonies

Welcome to a new week! I cannot believe we’re heading into February in a little over a week, can you?

I saw a very fun technique the other day, and I just had to try it out. It’s a new twist on an older technique, called “Whitewashing.”

Isn’t that gorgeous?

First, I stamped the peony image from the Prized Peony Stamp Set several times around the edges of a 3-3/4″ x 5″ piece of Coastal Cabana Cardstock using Pacific Point Classic Ink. I tried first with Bermuda Bay ink, but it wasn’t quite dark enough for me. I really like the Pacific Point/Coastal Cabana combination, don’t you?

Next, I used a Blender Pen to add White Craft Ink to the peonies. You can dip your blender pen into the White Craft pad, but I don’t really like to do that. Instead, I squirted about 10 drops of White Craft Refill into a palette and picked it up from there. You can also pat the stamp pad on one of our acrylic blocks and use that as a palette.

I’m sure there’s an artistic way to do this, but I read Tom Sawyer when I was younger, and I don’t remember him using a special whitewashing technique. I took my cue from Tom and just had fun coloring the peonies with white ink. I didn’t try to make shadows darker or highlight any areas. I simply colored like a preschooler. I was a little worried that the Blender Pen would smear the lines of my inked image. I have used a Blender Pen to pull color from an outline into the image. But I’m guessing since the Blender Pen was covered in craft (or pigment) ink, the image was protected by the white ink. Or maybe it did pull some in, but you just don’t notice it because it’s on Coastal Cabana Cardstock. Either way – just relax and have fun.

Be patient. This process is very simple, but it doesn’t look really great until the white ink dries and lightens a bit. But that’s it! It’s such a very easy technique, but looks very striking. It’s a great technique for beginners, because the results are fabulous and it’s almost impossible to mess up.

After the white ink was dry (and, remember – craft ink takes a little longer to dry than our Classic dye – or water based – inks. You can speed it up with your Heat Tool!), I stamped the sentiment in the center using Pacific Point ink. I love this sentiment from the Prized Peony Stamp Set, because it can be used for so many situations. It’s perfect for anyone going through a tough time of any kind.

I layered the stamped panel to a 4″ x 5-1/4″ Pacific Point layer, then to a Coastal Cabana card base. I think this card qualifies as a #simplestamping card. I used no dies, no special paper, no embellishments (although I may go back and add some). There are only two colors of ink and two colors of card stock with one stamp set and one tool.

This also looks beautiful with the Calming Camellia Stamp Set that you can get as a Host Benefit for a $300 workshop/order during Sale-a-bration. You can have fun crafting with friends and earn fun rewards. Of course, parties can be online or in person. If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, feel free to leave me a comment and I’ll get back with you. (You can also place your own order of $300 or more to earn the set.)

What stamp set do you have that would work with this technique? You can use darker paper with dark ink for this as well. I’ll post one of those on my Stamping with Buffy Facebook Page when I finish it. Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy. Have a lovely day and a fabulous week!

(Note: I couldn’t find the image/information for the White Craft Pad in my program. The number for the White Craft Pad is 147277,  and it costs $9.50. The refill is listed below.)

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