Infusions Mini-Album–Stencils and Gel Medium

More work on my Infusions experiments today. I wanted to try using Infusions through a stencil – I have seen variable results online and hoped it would work OK!

Great results! I’m really pleased. For this first attempt at this technique, I used Sleight Blue and In the Navy Infusions from set 2, and the stencil I chose was PaperArtsy PS024. I deliberately chose a fairly simple stencil with fairly large areas and not too much fine detail.

To start with, I held the stencil in place over the card and sprinkled on the Infusions. Then I spritzed them well with water, and continued to hold the stencil in place while the crystals reacted with the water, and long enough for the walnut fragments to appear. I then carefully removed the stencil, and immediately placed it face down on another piece of card to get the reverse stencil effect, and not to waste the paint. I did this again to get one more print.

The samples were looking a bit blotchy and I didn’t really like all the white that remained, so I used Iced Spruce and Stormy Sky distress inks to blend the colours better; for the inside part, I used Inkylicious Ink Dusters, and to distress the edges with Black Soot, I used a home-made blending pad. I am pleased with this result – these samples are definitely useable. It worked a lot better than I expected – I thought the wet Infusions would creep under the stencil and make a mess.

Moving on to the second set of samples, I did something similar, but this time, before using the Infusions, I spread some Finnabair 3-D matte gel through the stencil with a palette knife, scraping as much as possible off the surface of the stencil. I then sprinkled on some Sunset Beach Infusions from set 1 and left  it a few minutes to start reacting with the water content of the gel. I found I needed to spritz it with some water to get a good reaction. Once I was satisfied, I removed the stencil, and I found that it left a beautifully clear impression. As before, I turned the stencil over and blotted it off onto three further pieces of card. Each time the image became less distinct and there was more white remaining. For this set, I used PaperArtsy’s stencil PS025.

As before, I added distress inks to soften this white. In the photos below, you can see how I treated each one. Top left is the original with the Infusions and the gel. This was a stark image on a white background, so I added some Abandoned Coral distress ink with an Inkylicious Ink Duster, deliberately creating visible brush strokes in random directions to add a bit of texture, which I think complements the texture of the Infusions on the stencilled motif. I filled the gaps with Spiced Marmalade, blending this more smoothly. I distressed the edges with Vintage Photo, using a hand-made blending tool.

Bottom left is the first blot-off sheet. I added the same Distress Inks, blending them well together and keeping the Abandoned Coral towards the edges, and as before, distressed the edges with Vintage Photo.

Top right is the second blot-off sheet, and you can see how much less of the Infusions there are on the piece. I inked this as before, but kept it lighter.

Bottom right is the third and final blot-off sheet. For this one, I used an Inkylicious Ink Duster to brush Spiced Marmalade all over the reverse stencilled image, and used more of the Abandoned Coral elsewhere. It was edged as before.

I think these are all useable too.

I have been thinking a bit about the sample mini-album I am going to make with all these pieces that I have been producing, and have decided that I have made too many for them all to be included, so I shall keep the best, and use the rest for other projects. I can always add more layers to each one if I want more depth. The Infusions are so versatile and work so well with other materials too.

Note: You will see in the last-but-one photo that I have transferred some of the gel medium into a smaller pot (an old face-cream pot). These mediums are very expensive and if you keep opening the pot and exposing them to the air, they begin to dry out. I have wasted quite a bit in this way in the past, and thought that if I transferred a smaller amount into a different pot, it might all last longer. To stop the surface drying out in the pot, I have covered it with some moistened folded cling-film which I hope will peel off easily, and in the meantime, seal the surface even from the air inside the pot.