Produced in Jacksonville, Florida  

Creation Date – April 2017

Artist – Johanna Lawson

Technique – oxide inks, embossing two ways

This month’s batch was born out of the need to try and test a new product – Tim Holtz’s Oxide Inks.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am a member of a challenge art group at a nearby craft store, A Small Cleverness. Through this group, I am exposed to new art techniques and products. Each month, we are given some sort of product to turn into our own unique art piece. Yes, you guessed it, this month we were given Ranger Ink’s new oxide inks by Tim Holtz.

Before this month, I had never worked with these oxide inks. So, what did I do??? I headed to Pinterest and youtube of course. I quickly found a video of a demo showing Tim Holtz using the product at Creativation. Check it out here. After watching the demo, I decided I wanted to do a little experimenting! I started by getting out the magazine pages I started back in February when I was practicing my monoprinting. After stenciling, stamping, and splashing the ink around a bit, I discovered a few techniques I might want to use on the cards for this batch.

But I still wanted to experiment further. I wanted to see how the inks would look on white, craft (brown), and black paper. According to the demo video, Holtz claimed that the oxide inks would remain opaque even on black and craft paper – I wanted to see for myself. I began by cutting squares of each type of paper. I would use these squares for my experimentations…

Before I started working with the oxide inks, I decided I would stamp big, bold letters and numbers onto the square papers. I then used clear and black embossing powder to act as a resist when I began using the inks – meaning the areas that were embossed would resist the ink. I thought the bold print would create a nice contrast to the spontaneous and chaotic background.

Now… the oxide inks! Using a craft mat/sheet, I started by spreading the inks directly onto the mat. I sprayed the inks with a little bit of water and then got to work. It was really a trial and error process. I found that using the lightest ink first, in my case “Cracked Pistachio,” and then working my way to the darker colors like “Wilted Violet” and “Faded Jeans” enabled me to have a little more control over the layers. It is important to make sure you dry your paper in between the colors to really get the layers to show. Also, if I really wanted the lighter colors to show up on the craft and black paper, I found that very little water should be used.

After lots of playing, I had a batch that I was really starting to appreciate. But I felt like they needed a little more depth. Then it hit me – embossing two ways! I ran each square through my Cuttlebug using my embossing folders. I chose a “ruler” embossing folder for the letters and a “circular” embossing folder (one of my favorites!) for the numbers.

Again, to add depth and a little more emphasis, I used Brilliance “Graphite Black” to distress to various areas on the square.

Now I felt like I was finally finished – they turned out pretty grungy and awesome! Check out the entire batch:

These cards, along with all other batches, will be sold in June 2017 at the Riverside Arts Market.

Other great news…

You may have been wondering why the March and April batch blogs were posted in May. Well, small • batch • cards welcomed our newest little Lawson – Juno Katherine!

We had to take a short break to prepare for her arrival, and then, of course, there was quite the transition in welcoming her home. Juno is happy and healthy! She is sure to be helping me out at my booth at the Riverside Arts Market come June or July.