"Painting" embossed images with condensed milk

[Barbara Hass]

Kate and Barbara were at it again today! We are stamping maniacs!

We decided to try a technique featured in "The Rubber Stamper"
(April/May 2003), which involved painting an embossed image with
sweetened condensed milk and using a heat gun to carmelize the milk. It
gives a lovely effect, and of course no two images are exactly the same.
Your colors are limited to something that goes with
cream/brown/yellow/rust, though! You can see all of our experiments in
a picture named "Milk_images" at:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/drbarb03/album?.dir=2d50&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

Stamp an image and emboss it. Then use a paintbrush to paint the inside
of the image with condensed milk. Finally, heat the milk until it
starts to carmelize. Tips we learned:

1) Paint a thin layer. If it's too thick, it just bubbles really thick
like the butterfly in the upper left corner of the picture on the above
web page. The "thick" effect might be good for certain uses or
backgrounds, but we didn't like it so much inside the image. All detail
was lost.
2) Let the milk dry a little before applying heat.
3) Heat slowly. As soon as the milk starts to bubble up, pull away the
heat and let the bubbles settle back down. Then heat again. Pull away.
Repeat until you get the desired level of browning.
4) Directed heat can be used for a shading effect, such as the row of
pumpkins seen on our picture, where I made the top half of the image
darker than the bottom.

[Liz]

Those look really great but will they not eventually go off & begin to
smell or grow mold?

Do you use the condensed milk straight from the can or do you water it
down a little?

Liz

www.cornishheritagefarms.com

[Barbara Hass]

Liz wrote:
> Those look really great but will they not eventually go off & begin to
> smell or grow mold?
>

Since the heat cooks it real good, I think it's now essentially like an
enamel of sorts. It's pretty dry, and molds like moisture. All I know
is the card featured in Rubber Stamper must've lasted at least a couple
of months, from the submitter to the magazine which photographed it.
Guess we'll let you know :-)

> Do you use the condensed milk straight from the can or do you water it
> down a little?

We used it straight from the can. In fact, when I started to open the
can, enough leaked out onto the lid that we were able to just dip the
brush in the bit on the lid without even fully opening the can. As I
said, it really only takes a very thin layer. I'll have to use the rest
of the milk for brownies or something :-)

Barbara

[Liz]

Thanks. Next time I make caramel shortbread I'll clean out the can with
a paintbrush. My kids will think have I really lost it! :)
Liz
www.cornishheritagefarms.com

[Kwiter]

I think the sugar acts as a natural preservative.

[luna...@gmail.com]

That technique is gorgeous, thanks for sharing. I wonder what would
happen if you put food coloring in the condensed milk. I may have to
try that soon. If I do, I'll post here. I'm brand new to this group,
and I'm really glad that I came when the group is having a huge
upswing. :)

Kristina

[emma J]

Oh my god! condensed milk, I have never heard of this before! please explain
the technique plus any other unusual ones you may have.
I'd like to ask about stamping with bleach. Does this ruin your stamps &
must I use special coloured paper / card or will any quality do?
Many thanks,,,, M

=^..^=
meow!

[Barbara Hass]

First the condensed milk, then I'll answer your bleach question:

Here in the U.S., it's called "sweetened condensed milk." The
'sweetened' is important because the sugar carmelizes to give you the
effect. Info on the product:
http://www.verybestbaking.com/products/carnation/sweet/default.aspx

Stamp an image and emboss it. Then use a paintbrush to paint the inside
of the image with condensed milk. Finally, heat the milk until it
starts to carmelize. Tips we learned:

1) Paint a thin layer. If it's too thick, it just bubbles really thick
like the butterfly in the upper left corner of the picture on the above
web page. The "thick" effect might be good for certain uses or
backgrounds, but we didn't like it so much inside the image. All detail
was lost.
2) Let the milk dry a little before applying heat.
3) Heat slowly. As soon as the milk starts to bubble up, pull away the
heat and let the bubbles settle back down. Then heat again. Pull away.
Repeat until you get the desired level of browning.
4) Directed heat can be used for a shading effect, such as the row of
pumpkins seen on our picture, where I made the top half of the image
darker than the bottom.

Stamping with bleach - I've never actually used the bleach on a stamp.
What I have done is stamp an image, emboss it, and then use a watercolor
brush to paint the image (the embossing helps you "stay inside the
lines"), using the bleach as "paint." Other effects can be created by
spritzing bleach onto a colored image or paper and then letting it dry
(great for creating cool backgrounds).

Hope this helps,
Barbara

[Pat Kight]

Barbara Hass wrote:

> emma J wrote:
>
>> Oh my god! condensed milk, I have never heard of this before! please
>> explain
>> the technique plus any other unusual ones you may have.
>> I'd like to ask about stamping with bleach. Does this ruin your stamps &
>> must I use special coloured paper / card or will any quality do?

(snip)

> Stamping with bleach - I've never actually used the bleach on a stamp.
> What I have done is stamp an image, emboss it, and then use a watercolor
> brush to paint the image (the embossing helps you "stay inside the
> lines"), using the bleach as "paint." Other effects can be created by
> spritzing bleach onto a colored image or paper and then letting it dry
> (great for creating cool backgrounds).

I've stamped directly with bleach, using a folded paper towel as an "ink
pad". I rinse my stamps thoroughly the instant I'm done stamping, and
they've shown no ill effects.

Bleach is most impressive on dark, non-glossy paper. What's interesting to
me is the way different black papers take the bleach; depending on how
they're made, the image comes out anything from pure white to reddish to
greenish.

Because bleach is very liquid, it will pool and puddle a bit, so fine
detail stamps don't work with this technique. Blocky ones do, and produce
an effect that reminds me of batik.

--
Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org

[Tom and Karen Brooks]

I've sometimes used my liquid dishwasher detergent (I use Cascade) instead
of bleach. Since it's thicker it's easier to keep on a stamp. The
detergent has a lot of bleach in it, and creates an interesting effect. I
also immediately clean off my stamps.

--

Karen R. Brooks
"Pat Kight" <kig...@peak.org> wrote in message
news:7rGdnXJLi6p...@scnresearch.com...