Rubout Technique

I am a bit biased about this next paper artist, mostly because we happen to be genetically connected. My daughter Elizabeth has the surprising ability to create without any restraints. Which is only one of the reasons why she is often discovering new techniques. As a card designer for Dreamweaver during her teenage years, Elizabeth was often given a task to create something specific and in her easy laid back approach to the projects at hand she would often discover some fun twist that would take her down a creative back alley searching for her muse. Anyway that's what it seemed like to me...this is interpreted as her taking the project in a different direction with a minor "slip up" and in the process of trying to get back on track creating a totally new technique. How often do each of us "mess up" and in the journey to salvage our creations do we come up with something totally inspired? The saying "Necessity is the mother of invention" is Elizabeth's mantra. The card pictured here is one of her innovative approaches to working with the Memories Mists, both the regular and Vivid lines. The Vivids are a highly pigmented type of spray, and the colors are fairly electric, almost florescent. First she blended these two types of sprays onto glossy cardstock to create a background, by spraying two or three layers of color on top of each other. While these sprays were still wet... she moved the color like a faux finish artist, by wadding up either a soft rag or a dry paper towel she would blend the colors together before they dried completely. After waiting a few minutes to let the piece cure a bit she would then place the stencil where she wanted it. Next she used a soft cloth to rub the ink out of the stencil openings. This process rubs down one color and leaves the first layer of color that was sprayed onto the glossy paper showing through. She discovered that if she waited too long and the background dried too much she would need to dampen her cloth with "Windex" or rubbing alcohol. Just damp though, because too much wetness would cause the paper to deteriorate and she would lose the layered color effects. Recently I decided to teach her technique and when I asked her what she would like to recommend to people trying these techniques for the first time, she said that the hardest thing for her was learning to keep the tools clean. The next time she went to use the sprays the atomizers had plugged up, the Vivid sprays are great because they are highly pigmented, but that also means you have to clean them afterwards with really hot water so you can use them again successfully. I have to admit that keeping my tools and work area clean is a bit of a struggle for me as well, I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree after all. lol! Although stenciling happens to be my passion and not hers, I am inspired by her creative endeavors time after time.