TOTW #5-"Dab it, Dab it Good!" (Think DEVO)

Hello, my painty friends! Onward and upward with the world of Ranger Adirondack(r) Acrylic Paint Dabbers and some fun ways to work with them. Here's a picture of Minnie...I've not yet shown a picture of her, but doesn't she look like a Holstein? The background is painted Watermelon (Brights), and what is better to do with a dabber shaped in a circle? Make circles!!! "Load" the dabber with paint and then just press...don't worry if the circles are not exact...they're not supposed to be! Again, I've used Maya Road Chipboard Book and Letters. They've been painted with Pitch Black and the spots were from Teresa Collin's foam stamps from Junkitz loaded with Snow Cap White. See how great it works and pops? I absolutely love using the Black and White dabbers because of the contrast it provides. I also like to cut out the detail of at least one image, as the background really allows the image to stand out!


This next page is really one of my favorites, as it shows how great the paint dabbers are with any type of stamps, whether clear, foam or rubber! I worked with Stream as the background, highlighted with

Brights Pool and edged with Lights Aqua...can't beat it. The "window" is created with Maya Road's Foundations chipboard and the flowers from Technique Tuesday. When working with a detailed stamp, dab on the paint, then just lightly swipe to evenly distribute the paint on the stamp so it's not blobby...some images have been loaded with one color and edged with darker tones...it all works!

Last, but not least for the evening are the cats...the best! These are FUN stamps from Movable Parts...there's a head, body, tail, legs...you use them in different ways and can have the front or back of a cat in unlimited numbers of positions. I loaded the "Minnie" cat with White, then created her moo-ey splotches in Pitch Black. Don't worry about messing up the dabber...it's okay! You can just dab or wipe it off. For the "Oliver" cat, I used Pebble, then swiped with the matching tones of Mushroom and Lake Mist. I love this one so much because not a picture was used, but it's still a "picture" of two of the cats!

This weekend is going to be busy. I'm have fun with my friend Kris Hoffer at her store Rubberbuggy and help her with demos to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of her store. She's also going to have the wonderfully talented MaryJo McGraw there! I also have a bunch of stained glass frames to do! So much to do, not enough time, but still aways fun!

Have a wonderful Friday! Robin

TOTW #4: A little Dab'll do ya!

Okay, so now I'm doing acronyms...going to hell in a handbasket...TOTW= Technique of the Week!

As you can tell, there's a lot of animal themes in my work at times...when you don't have kids, this is the closest thing, I guess. I'm going to do a few posts on Ranger's Adirondack(r) Acrylic Paint Dabbers. They are truly the bomb. I've never really been a great painter with the bottles, brushes, the dreaded water jar of brushes, etc., so this is a dream for me.

The paint is similar, but not the same as other Acrylic Paints...there's something special with the formulation that allows it to go through the dabber. Now...what's a dabber? If you push down on a new dabber, you'll feel there's a button thingie...this is the valve that, when depressed, allows the paint to flow, but when not depressed, stops the paint from dripping out all over the place. Coooool, huh!? When using them for the first time, prime the dabbers (a.k.a. get the paint going). Don't hammer....no hammers allowed! When you turn the bottle over, give it a little squeeze and PRESS down...no hammering...think about it-when "hammering" away, all you're doing is making it "open/close/open/close/open/close"...if the dabber had a voice it would be saying, "Make up your mind!?!?!? Do you want the paint to come out or not!?" Since we want the paint to come out, a constant press...and voila!-it'll be on the Craft Sheet in no time and you'll be good to go.

Now, if you've not used the dabbers in a while, do not despair. Sometimes people think they are "dry", but they're not...the paint on the dabber just has to "rewet" again so the foamwill let more paint from the bottle to come through. There are a few ways to do this: keep the dabbers stored upside down, or spritz some water on the Craft Sheet and rub the dabber across the water. As the paint "rejuvenates", when the valve is depressed it will again allow for paint to flow! Be patient, it works! Well, enough of that...check out Ranger's website for more info...there's lotsa good stuff on it!

As for my "Meowy" book, I made this at a Simply Cropping weekend in Absecon last year with Jen Starr and her friends. I had never been to one and she talked me into it. I was at a bit of a loss as to what to bring, so I decided to JUST concentrate on the book and to learn what to do with the dabbers. The chipboard book is from an awesome company, Maya Road. Because I had so much lumpy stuff on each page, I cut off the binding and punched holes into it and used binder rings to keep it together. I made the cover to look like my cat Minnie, my "Holstein" cat. I first dabbed the whole thing with Snow Cap White, then used a paint brush and painted the detail with Pitch Black. The chipboard letters are also from Maya Road. I dabbed them with Brights Raspberry, Sunshine Yellow, Pool and Sunset Orange (for those that don't know the Coordinating Colors, click here!) The diamond pattern is one of Teresa Collins' Foam Stamps she did with Junkitz, but any stamp will work. I stamped in the corresponding Lights colors (Pink Sherbet, Lemonade, Aqua and Peach Bellini). I love the look of this, simple but effective. The color does the talkin'!

The first page of the book was of my Pearly girl. I used Lettuce for the background then did a dry swipe with the coordinating colors (Willow and Citrus), creating a sanded or worn effect.

The dotted circle stamps are from Art Gone Wild and the alphabet from Club Scrap. These are rubber stamps, but look how great they stamped!!! I dab first, then just lightly "swipe" across the stamp to evenly distribute the paint. I don't want to much or it will "mush" the detail of the stamp image.

The nested flowers are again from Maya Road and were painted with various colors of the dabbers (for the teeny weeny flower centers, I held the chipboard with tweezers). When dry, I nested the pieces together and used Glossy Accents as an adhesive...it's the BEST! My trick: use your finger to evenly place a light coat on the back, so when you place it down, it won't squish out from underneath...I guarantee you'll be happy with the results!

I know I'm giving lots of info, but I always think knowledge is power. I want everyone to have a great result with these paints, as I do every time. I love this book and everyone enjoys looking at it (or at least that's what they tell me!). I'll post some more pages tomorrow with additional tips and techniques.

Enjoy the Day...Paint Away!

R.