Here is a technique from the SU blog:

Swirly, Super-Cool Rainbow Background Technique

Hurray! We’re in the middle of our regional season! Don’t know what a regional is? Well, it’s an exciting event—when Stampin’ Up! comes to you for a day filled with fun, learning, and stamping. To find out if we are coming to a city near you, e-mail a demo in your area for more information. (You may not be able to make it for spring regionals, but we start touring again in the fall. Stay tuned for those dates and details.)

I love regional season because that means I always learn a cool, new technique. Carrie Cudney is using this technique in her presentation. I don’t know what its official name is—but we are calling it the swirly, super-cool rainbow background technique.

I was happy when I saw this because I’ve been wanting to do something rainbow-y for St. Patrick’s Day— but wanted to veer away from the cartoon perfection of what we traditionally see on St. Paddy’s Day. When I saw this idea, I couldn’t resist trying it for myself! It was perfect for what I had in mind.

You will need:

• Watercolor Paper
• Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Pumpkin Pie, and Rich Razzleberry Stampin’ Write Markers
• Aqua Painter
• Color Spritzer Tool
• water

Here’s how you do it:

Scribble a concentrated amount of ink at the top of a piece of Watercolor Paper. Make it good and juicy. Then wet it underneath with an Aqua Painter—this gets the juices flowing. Then hold your paper sideways and squirt it with water using either a spray bottle or a Stampin’ Spritzer. (I prefer the spritzer because I can control the stream of water better.) The water should pool down the paper making an awesome, washed, rainbow-y look.

That’s if you’re Carrie and you’re a super-stamper. If you’re me, it didn’t quite work the first time—or the second, or . . . well, the third either. Here are my attempts:

Nailed it!

Nailed it!

Nailed it!

Nailed it! (This time I tried it with Glossy White Cardstock instead of Watercolor Paper.)

Abysmal! I made the hugest mess! (I should have taken a picture of my hands. It was hilarious.)

I felt a little discouraged, but then I started looking at some of my apparent failures and realized that parts of them still looked cool. So while I couldn’t make them work for a full card, I could create a tag.

I used the Big Shot and one of the Apothecary Accents labels. (I just cut off the round tab on one end.) I was pretty tickled with how they turned out . . . so much so that I created a little St. Patrick ’s Day treat bag using my favorite tag.

I inked the “Lucky” image on the Lucky Day Stamp Set using a Gumball Green Stampin’ Write Marker, used my handy-dandy Stamp-a-ma-jig for placement, and added a cute little shamrock using a punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack. Then I tied on the tag using Gumball Green 3/8″ Stitched Satin Ribbon. I absolutely loved how it turned out.

And because I can’t leave well enough alone, I wanted to make one more cute little rainbow project (since I was already covered in ink)!

This technique is crazy-fun (and much easier, in my opinion). Take a Window Sheet, scribble on it with Stampin’ Write Markers, spray it with rubbing alcohol, then lay a sheet of Watercolor Paper on top. Hold it down until it soaks up all of the delightful swirls of color and voilà! I stamped the umbrella from our Rain or Shine Stamp Set and used all three sizes of our Rhinestone Basic Jewels to create rain.

Please don’t let my failures deter you. I still had a blast creating these projects—and sometimes it just feels so artsy to be covered in ink!

Happy St. Paddy’s!  (excerpt from Andrea W. – Demonstrator Training coordinator)

Hugs!

~ Gail