I created this card using Brushos, Brusho SprinkleIT, Lavinia stamps, and VersaFine Clair ink.
I recently watched a video where Tracy Dutton, Lavinia Stamps, created a beautiful card with Brushos, VersaFine Clair Ink, and her amazing stamps. I was given Amazon gift certificates at Christmas and hadn’t tried Brushos or the ink, so I decided to check them out.
Colourcraft Brusho Crystal Colour: These are transparent, highly pigmented watercolor powders. When you add water to them, the crystals explode into vivid colors. I didn’t take the covers off the containers when I received them. The powder is really fine, and I knew I’d get it all over. Instead, I used a plastic push pin to poke a hole in each cover, then left one in each of the container covers.
When I was searching for information on Brushos, I went to the Colourcraft website where I found several videos:
https://www.colourcraftltd.com/brusho/brusho-youtube-videos
VersaFine Clair Inks: I love these inks! The fairies and the skeleton tree stamps had previously been used, but cleaned well. The rest of the Lavinia stamps were new. I first applied the color Cheerful, from the VersaFine Clair inks, onto a Lavinia stamp and wiped off that color; then applied Nocturne (which is basically black) to it. The idea being that if I put a lighter color on the stamp first, then the darker color wouldn’t stain as much. After I stamped the image, I used a baby wipe to clean the stamp and then ran water over it at the sink. It was incredibly easy to stamp a solid image with this ink, the detail was excellent, and it cleaned off easily. The new stamps cleaned up slightly better versus the ones that had already been used…but I’m probably the only one who would notice that.
(Random Tip: Place a kitchen colander under stamps while you’re washing them over the sink. That way, they can’t accidentally go down the drain.)
I wanted to see how these inks did on other things, too…
I tried a couple different brands of (new) clear stamps, just in case the Lavinia Stamps had been kissed by fairies before they left England, and that’s why they cleaned up so well. Again, I used Cheerful first; then Nocturne, and the ink cleaned off easily on those, too.
Next, I tried a new rubber stamp. I repeated the process with Cheerful first, and the rubber stamp cleaned up really well. I tried applying Nocturne without first putting on Cheerful. It didn’t wipe off-I cleaned it with Staz-On and the ink didn’t come off completely.
I wanted to see how Copics worked with these inks. The ink smeared. I’ll stick to using Memento inks-these are excellent to use with Copics.
I learned…with distress inks/oxides, I can either tell what color it is by just looking at it or by looking at the color chart-if I look back at something I did earlier. With Brushos, I need to write down the colors that I use at the time I make a card because I didn’t think to do it this time. I couldn’t remember or tell by just looking at it.
Materials Used:
- Strathmore Watercolor Paper, Cold Press, 140 lb.
- Core’dinations Cardstock Base, Hydrangea
- Lavinia Stamps: Fairy Foragers (set of four mini fairies), Once Upon A Dream, Skeleton Tree, Celestial Tree, Unicorn 2, Secret Garden, and Climbing Ivy. (Tracey Lavinia Dutton is the artist of the Lavinia stamps.)
- Colourcraft Brusho Crystal Colour
- Colourcraft Brusho SprinkleIT, Iridescent Flash
- Tsukineko VersaFine Clair, Nocturne
- Tsukineko VersaFine Clair, Cheerful
- Stardust Gelly Roll Pen, Sakura, Clear
- Fiskars Procision Rotary Bypass Trimmer (12”)
- Ranger Mister and Mini Mister
- Martha Stewart Scoring Pad; Fiskars Dual-Tip Embossing Stylus
- Tim Holtz Tonic Stamp Platform
- Baby Wipes/Paper Towels
Have a wonderful day!!! Thanks for stopping by my website!
Diane