Something new to play with

This week at the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, Rosi has chosen a technique I hadn't seen before, the eraser technique. Fortunately, she provided links with the instructions, here is my favourite.

I had two goes at this, as you can see.

I started with pounding the graphite dust through the Claritystamp leafy swirl stencil. This gave quite a delicate grey pattern.

I then stamped, using black archival ink. I used the Claritystamp Merry Christmas, and this holly swirl that I haven't got the brand for. The latter is a secondhand stamp, and not in the best of condition, so probably not the best choice for this project. Thank goodness I used the stamp platform, but I still had to use a black pen to sharpen the line.

I used a pencil eraser to remove the graphite from within the stamped images. Maybe it was my eraser, or because the graphite was too pale, or I'm not very thorough, but it didn't create much of a contrast.

I sealed the card with hairspray to hold the graphite; until that point I had been a bit paranoid about fingerprints and smudges, it's a messy technique in that sense, not in the way I like!!! I edged with the black ink pad.

This is the finished card, mounted onto a 6x6 card blank.

It's delicate and pretty, although I think needs a touch of colour, and doesn't really show the eraser aspect of the technique.


So, I had another go.

This time, I masked the card with tape. I was able to rub the graphite in, rather than just dab it on, so got a darker colour (although the camera angle doesn't show it below).

I stamped some Claritystamp snowflakes while the mask was still in place.

When I removed them, I got a much better contrast. Unfortunately, some of the masking tape took the top layer off the card on one side. I hate it when that happens!!!

I carried on regardless, and erased the graphite from within the snowflakes. This time I did get a better contrast.

I stamped a sentiment (also Claritystamp) in the centre. To deal with the tear, I trimmed back to the outside of the graphite area, then mounted onto another, larger piece of card, which I edged with the black ink. I sealed with hairspray before mounting. This then went onto a 6x6 card blank.

This one worked better from a technique point of view, but isn't so pretty. Maybe I needed more snowflakes!!

I'm also not sure about the lack of colour - although there's no reason not to use colour with this technique.

So, that's my experience trying out the technique. Let's see what you come up with! You have until Friday 31st May to have a play and join in with the 52CCT.