Saturday, August 23, 2014

The Magic...and Mystery...and Frustration...of Bister

bister

   [bistər]








or bistre
noun
  1. a yellowish-brown to dark-brown pigment made from the soot of burned wood
  2. any of various colors in this range


http://ibrakeforstamps.com/bister.aspx


I saw all the fascinating bister cards on Pinterest and had to have it for myself.  It's a tricky product, but I've learned some things:  First, "less is more!"   Secondly, the cardstock you use has to handle water; I used 140 lb. watercolor paper which didn't take a good stamp impression afterwards, and I used 90 lb. watercolor paper, which wrinkled but worked okay, and I settled on Ranger's Specialty Stamping Paper.  It works great with the bister, but stamping requires an ink that does well on a non-porous surface.   Here are the results of my bister work last night and this morning:

(Click on the photos to enlarge them.)







Specialty Stamping Paper .. CASE of Ank de Back card on Pinterest . Dragonfly colored with alcohol markers
      
              

90 lb. watercolor paper smooth side
Specialty Stamping Paper ...flowers bleached and colored with  Blendabilities







6 comments:

Scrumplescrunch said...

OMG Evelyn,
I am salivating over these cards you have made with this product, which will never see the light of day here in NZ. Wonderful effects and so much movement obtained in the design. Keep working with it I want to see more!
Smiles:)
Sue

Tish said...

Fantastic. I knew you would do it!!! Yes--less is more on this product. It is amazing how when it is spritzed, that it flows like it does. I did it only once so far and will try more later.
I like how in the video that she took the brush and sort of pressed it on the card to get it back to normal and not warped. I bet this will be the next big product here. Great job on these cards. Thanks for showing the steps, too. That means I am on the right track.
Tish

Leslie Miller said...

These backgrounds are gorgeous -- all of them! I especially love the blues. Looks like it's destined to turn out differently every time. I think you're going to have a lot of fun with this and I'm certainly going to enjoy seeing what you create!

Take care and STAY POSITIVE! Trena said...

Very pretty!

Mag het een onsje minder zijn, said...

Gorgeous !
The Stampinback stamping paper used on the YouTube video is also available at IBFS.
Sometimes I even stamp the paper before using the Bister.
I will make a second Bister video soon to demonstrate a new way to maken Bister backgrounds.

Cynthia Schelzig said...

ohhh this looks like you had fun with this stuff. I have some but have not yet had time to play with it. These cards look FAB!!! Hope all is well with you and yours. Vacation time is over:( so maybe I can get some blogging in or atleast keep up with my favorites now.