Getting Messy: Resist Stamping

All this month on the blog, we have been sharing evidence of how much we love to get a little messy on our layouts. As for me, "messy" is an adjective that I embrace wholeheartedly, in all of its forms. At times, though, even a little disorder can stand to be balanced with a sense of order, and that is just what I did on this layout, incorporating a simple design and a few layers with a technique that illuminates order within disorder -- resist stamping. 

I started by reaching for this month's exclusive stamp set, which includes four individual retro images enclosed in squares. The stamp featuring the girl playing with sand was quite fitting for a layout about an impromptu morning visit to the beach. 

Using watermark ink, I repeatedly stamped the image on a rectangular piece of cardstock. Watermark ink is pretty much invisible, so while I tried my best to line up the images, I didn't worry too much about it. I filled as much of the page as I could -- about four blocks down and five across. 

I then sprinkled clear embossing powder over the stamped images, shaking off the excess powder and returning it to the bottle.  Using a heat tool, I applied heat. At this point, the images started to make themselves visible, taking on a raised or embossed texture. 

I tilted the paper at an angle and misted the left side of it with a few sprays of yellow, and then focused a few more sprays at the top of the paper, allowing the color to drip from the top to the bottom so that the intensity of the color varied slightly. I repeated this on the right side with blue mist. With a paper towel in hand, I dabbed away lightly at the misted cardstock, and in the process, the "resist" effect emerged, revealing the stamped and embossed images. 

I love the effect! It definitely makes getting a little messy worth it.