Techniques on Tuesdays: "All I want..."

In this case, all I want is for a technique to go right!

So typically on Tuesdays I try to share helpful little tips and techniques for enhancing your scrapbooking endeavors. What I don't usually share is the epic fail moments that come along in the process of developing these techniques. So in the spirit of "everything that can go wrong, did go wrong" I thought I'd share a little behind the scenes info on the making of this particular layout.

First up, the list numbers.

These look pretty simple right? A little grungeboard + a little ink. Surely an easy way to add numbers to your layout, right? Wrong! I didn't want to "mess" with painting the grungeboard, so I thought I'd color them with pigment ink instead. Well... that definately didn't go as planned. The ink wouldn't dry! And of course I had already adhered the numbers to the layout. In an attempt to get the ink to set, I tried: (1) Setting the ink with a heat gun, (2) blotting the "wet" ink off with a paper towel, and (3) letting it dry overnight. How did I finally end up compensating for this problem? I added Glossy Accents to seal it in. I don't care for the glossy, 3-D look as well as the original ink, but hey, at least it won't leave ink all over everything anymore!

Lesson learned: Colobox metallic pigment inks never dry when applied to Grungeboard.

Second, inky fingerprints

My other problem was that the wet ink got on my fingers and then I accidently left finger prints on the paper! Totally another "ut oh!" moment.

Saving your layout solution: Use a paper towel to rub the ink and blend it into the background papers. i actually ended up "finger painting" on my layout to work additional ink splotches into the layout so it would look intentional. It's a good thing that Basic Grey papers are grungy!

So anyway, if you find a few mishaps occur as you work along, there are always ways to still salvage the layout!

Leave a comment and share what layout mishaps have you encountered and how you "saved" the layout.