I was playing around with bleaching paper with stamps and decided to see what would happen if I chalked the bleached areas. I was very pleased with the results. This technique turns a plain piece of cardstock into a pretty patterned paper, using any stamp image you like.

Supplies
Piece of cardstock, dark colors work best. In my example I am using red by The Paper Co.
Chalk
Bleach Pen
Stamp of your choice
Flat bottom glass plate
Heating Tool
Soft clean cloths.

1. Squeeze some bleach from the Clorox Bleach Pen on to the bottom of the plate and swirl it around to cover the bottom. You want a very thin layer. Do not use regular bleach as it is too watery. The bleach in the pen is thick and has more substance to it.

2. LIGHTLY dab your stamp on to the plate, picking up a very thin layer of bleach. DO NOT gob it on as it will squish out from under your stamp when you put it on the paper and smudge your image.

3. LIGHTLY touch your paper with the stamp just to wet the paper with the bleach and then lift the stamp straight up. Be very careful not to let the stamp slide as the bleach is slippery.

4. Continue to cover your paper with your bleach images. They will get lighter as they dry. You will also note, as seen in this picture, that some areas will be whiter than others. This is fine as it gives the paper a true hand made look. You don't want perfection in this type of technique. It simply means that some areas received more bleach than others.

5. Let the paper completely air dry or you can help it along with your heating tool. Just make sure it is perfectly dry before continuing on to the next step. Also, while the paper is drying, be sure to wash off all bleach from your plate and stamps.

6. I wanted my smaller flowers more defined, so I tried to stay within the flower as much as possible and when I was finished chalking them, I used a wide paint brush and brushed them very well to get off excess chalk. I would advise that once you use a paint brush for chalks, keep the brush just for that purpose. If you still want more chalk off that has gone outside the flower, use a chalk eraser, continuing to brush the flower after erasing the areas you don't want chalk on.

7. After finishing the small defined flowers, chalk in the large flowers with another color. On these flowers I wasn't as careful as I liked the look of the chalk all over the flower and my next step would soften the look.

8. After all the flowers are chalked, take a clean soft cloth and start rubbing all over the paper. What this does is blend and distribute the chalk all over the paper and soften all the excess chalk outside the bleached areas. Don't worry, you will not be able to rub off the chalk that is on the bleached areas. Continue to rub all over the paper until you are satisfied with the look and there are no harsh chalky lines anywhere.

9. This is your finished paper.

The possibilities are endless with this technique. You can personalize your cardstock anyway you want. You can even write on the cardstock with the bleach pen and chalk in the writing. Have fun!!!

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