Acorn Caps - Part 2 by Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Inkling

A while back I posted a photo of some acorn caps I’d collected. I used pigment ink pads and treated the caps as ink applicators, experimenting with both the bottom edge and the domed top.

The bottom edges create rings in varying sizes, #3 in the photo above.

The tops presented a bit of a challenge. If I inked only the tip it gave me a few tiny dots, #5 in the photo; when I inked the entire cap and rolled it onto cardstock I got a bull’s eye effect with the darkest dots at the center, #4 in the photo.

#1 shows what happens if the inked cap is ‘walked’ in a side-to-side manner along the cardstock; #2 shows a stamp and drag effect.

The photos below show stamped and/or stamped and dragged effects (in black) combined with effects created by using clean acorn caps on a gold pigment ink pad to create reverse circles.

In an upcoming tutorial I’ll show what happens when the acorn caps took on a whole new look thanks to Magic Stamp blocks!

YOUR TURN:
*If you live where it’s fall and there are oak tress nearby, leave the nuts to the squirrels and take home some acorn caps to use for your own stamping and gel prints.

*I used only pigment inks. I did not get good results with dye ink pads. Substitute paint rolled onto a plate or palette if you prefer.

SUPPLIES:

• Pigment ink pads
• Acorn caps
• Cardstock
• Optional: Clear, gold or black embossing powder and heat tool