Temporary Tattoos…

hi ya!

having a good summer so far?

enjoying the SUN and the HEAT?

are you showing a bit more skin?

want to bLinG-uP that exposed epidermis?

how about a tattoo?

not a permanent one – not a REAL commitment, just a temporary one for a little fun. Clearsnap has introduced ColorBox Temporary Tattoo Inkpads. they come in 3 colors: Storm {blue}, Spicy {Red} and Shadow {black}. i was anxious to pair these inks with stencils from The Crafter’s Workshop. i thought it would be a great match. an easy way to create a pretty tattoo to enjoy for awhile, then wash away with a little soap and water.

i’d had this idea in mind for a time, but hadn’t tried it out yet. i needed a volunteer! enter my neice Talia. Talia came down to visit us this weekend and as luck would have it, i received a nice, big box of TCW’s latest and greatest! OMGOODNESS! you will NOT believe all the fabulous brand spanking new designs! they are shipping to stores now, so prepare to be WOWED! you can check out the styles here: NEW SUMMER 2014 RELEASES – all the new designs are on the front page. one of the new designs immediately caught my eye as i knew it would work beautifully as a tattoo – TCW499 Koi Pond…

the stencil actually has 3 beautifully executed koi on it along with sets of lily pads. i used the 6 X 6 size for this project, but it is also available in 12 X 12. the hardest part of this project was finding tape that stuck to the skin that didn’t REALLY stick. painters tape didn’t work at all, so i tried some first aid tape, it seemed to work ok. but i would experiment on yourself with the tape before you tried it on a child. ouchless bandaids would probably work well too. the stencil needs to be held in place securely, especially if it is to be wrapped around an arm. don’t worry if the center of the stencil doesn’t lay flat. as long as it is held in place at the outer edges, you can gently hold the center sections in place while you ink. the ColorBox Stylus & Tips certainly makes this process easier – just dab in the ink, then dab on the skin. but you could use a makeup sponge or other small craft sponge if you didn’t have a stylus on hand. you do want to dab – not rub at the ink. you are less likely to get ink up under the stencil if you just dab the colors on.

for this particular design, i started with the Scarlet ink at the center, then shaded with the Storm ink…

you could add more detail using a sharpie or permanent marker – but i would recommend that for adults only as it will take more that soap and water to wash that off! the ColorBox Temporary Tattoo Ink is a FABULOUS alternative to paint, especially for kids. kids LOVE to have their faces, arms, etc painted, but 5 minutes later the paint has dried and their skin is getting itchy and they want to start rubbing and scratching at it. you don’t get any of that with the Temporary Tattoo Ink – it just feels like skin, like when you get your hand stamped. and speaking of stamps, you can also TOTALLY use these inks with stamps. in fact, Clearsnap makes several lines of stamps to go with the inks: My First ColorBox Mini Stamps, ColorBox Souvenir Stamps and if you are into sports, there is also a NCAA licensed line of stamps and more.

ColorBox Temporary Tattoo Inks are also available in a multitude of school colors, so if you want to go beyond the basic red, blue and black, check out the school colors. also think of suggesting these inks and stencils in place of using paint at your next school function! quick, easy, less mess and the kids won’t be itching, scratching and transferring paint to their clothes.

for a henna style tattoo, select a design from among the VAST variety of TCW stencils, then pair with the Texas Tattoo Inkpad – the burnt orange color should be just about right!

enjoy the rest of your summer — it’s going QUICK!