FauxFinishClass

Supplies Needed:
*Glossy white CS
*Pigment pads. I use Colorbox pads. For those of you who use Encore or another kind of pad, I will describe the colors.
Asian card
Colorbox parchment (a yellowy beige) base color
topaz (a light brown)
terra cotta (a dark brick red)
celedon (a light blue-green)
Heart card
white pigment pad - base color
Arboretum petal points - Old rose, magenta, and coral.
Robin's Egg - a light blue
*Brayer
*optional - round orange sponge
*spray fixative

Other supplies used to make these particular cards:
*Encore gold metallic pad
*cardboard heart shape
*red cat's eye
*clear UTEE

Stamps used:
Asian card - background stamp from Stamp Out Cute, Writing from OM studio
Heart card - heart from PSX*Sea sponge

INSTRUCTIONS:
   I will start off giving general directions for faux finishing. Then I will give specific directions for each card. The master of this technique is Lynne Mohr. If you would like to see some excellent examples of this technique, you can see these in "Stamp Art" from Sherilyn Miller or Somerset Studio (Sept.-Oct. 1997). Lynne has a shop in my area, but does not teach classes :o(
   First of all, choose a base color. This color will need to be a full size pigment ink pad. After this you can use cat's eyes, option pads, or petal points. Your base color should be light - I haven't experimented with a lot of color combinations so I pretty much use parchment or white.
   Brayer on your base color on glossy white CS. Don't worry - this does not have to be perfect - you just want to apply the ink all over the card.
   For the next steps, you want to start applying color with a sea sponge. I cut up a large sea sponge and used a different piece for each color. Start with a medium shade and move to the darker colors. When you apply the color, decide how much of that shade you want. Keep pouncing with the sea sponge to even out the color or you can brayer it to smooth it out and blend the colors. The round sponge will also soften the marks made by the sea sponge to create a smoother look. As you move to the darker colors, you will apply less ink. You don't want to overpower the lighter colors - just give a suggestion of these darker areas. One of your colors should be a high contrast color (Asian card - celedon), (heart card - Robin's egg). Also, with the darker colors, I only use the sea sponge.
   If you don't like what you're getting, you can always add some more of the lighter color or your first medium shade. This is a very forgiving technique - you can always add more color or wipe off areas as you're working.
   Set this aside to dry a little. When it's dry, the colors will dull.
   When it's almost dry, you can add veins. I use my high contrast color for this. Fold a piece of CS in half. Pick up color on the fold. Apply in a wiggly line. Soften the line with the sea sponge.
   Now you can stamp directly on the background with pigment or dye ink. This is a nice background for detailed stamps like Magenta's.
   Spray with fixative to seal when dry. Or when color is still wet, emboss with clear ink and powder.

The Asian Card:
   I brayered ink from the Colorbox parchment pad on white glossy CS. Then I applied Topaz ink sparingly to the entire card.
   To create two different colored area, I used a torn piece of paper as a mask. Keep both parts of the torn paper. I covered the left hand area with the mask. Then applied more topaz ink to the right side with the sea sponge. I kept pouncing with sea sponge until I got the desired shade. Then I added Terra Cotta with the sea sponge - not nearly as much as the topaz. Then I added the celedon for some contrast. At the edge of the mask, I applied a little grey-blue for shading and went over that with the round orange sponge.
   For the left side of the card, I used the other part of torn paper mask. This side was parchment with just a little topaz. I stamped the background stamp from Stamp Out Cute using gold Encore pigment ink. I think the Encore is a little brighter than the Colorbox gold. Then I stamped the calligraphy stamp.
   After this was dry and sprayed with fixative, I trimmed it and attached it to gold CS. The border was stamped in gold with a Judikins Q-bit.

The Heart Card:
   My base color for this card was white. I brayered this on white glossy CS.
   Then I applied color using the petal points. I started with Old Rose, then added some of the coral, then a little of the magenta. I added Robin's egg as a contrast color.
   No veining was added to this card, because I knew I wanted to emboss it.
   I then stamped the PSX heart on the background with black pigment ink.
   I embossed all over with clear EP - two coats.
   The heart was a precut cardboard piece (from Suze, I think). I applied red pigment ink and coated with UTEE. In the last layer of UTEE, I sprinkled beadazzles (also Suze).

If you have any questions about this technique, please ask away.