Group of Cardmakers - Stencilling with Mica Powders

Hi everybody.  I'm back again with this month's technique over at the Group of Cardmakers, and this time it is using Mica Powders with Stencils.  For this card I have used one of a set of mica powders which I bought recently, and a set of stamps, stencils and a die from a recent Indigoblu magazine called Mixed Media Special 10.  I used one of the four stencils that came with it and also a snowflake corner stamp, and a large sentiment die, all being used for the first time.  

I started with the snowflake stencil and with the intention of using a 5" x 7" card I made it just a little bit smaller..in the end I decided to do a 6" square card instead so cut it down.  I had to use the stencil twice as they are quite small stencils, and I chose a light blue mica powder.  The snowflakes on the stencil are fairly small and I had a bit of trouble getting a good coverage with the Versamark Pad that I have, so in the end I used my Versamark Pen and just rather laboriously went over at one to get a good impression.  It did work better and I was fairly pleased with the result.  I brushed on the mica quite carefully so as not to smudge the image, but it did smudge a bit but not too badly.  I did think that these would not work with a spritz of water to set them as I assumed they would not have the binding agent but it did seem to work and when putting the card together and handling the piece quite a lot it didn't seem to transfer onto my hands or the card so that's good.

I continued with the stamping onto the white base card using the corner snowflake stamp and heat embossed it with WOW Metallic Silver Embossing Powder using my stamp positioner by twisting the card to get the same position in each of the corners.  On the second corner I had a bit of a problem in that when I heat embossed I must have overheated the powder and it went dull.  I decided to ink and heat over the top for a second time and it worked well, so on the first and then the subsequent other two corners I did the process twice to match...a bit laborious but it worked.

I then cut a silver mat to place beneath the snowflakes, and I cut the sentiment from the silver too and I put the card together.  I did wish that I had used a darker blue as I think it would have had more impact but never mind it does look quite pretty if a little pale, but not as pale as it looks in the photo..the light was very poor when I took it.

This second card I feel has been more successful and I used darker shades for a more colourful look using a set of stencils from Crafter's Companion called Love Hearts which has three stencils..a background heart covered stencil, a border and a heart filled heart.  I also used a new unbranded set of stemmed hearts and a new sentiment.  Everything on the card is being used for the first time.

I cut a scallop edged heart using a snippet of white card, with a set by Nellie Snellen..absolutely ancient but I still love it, and it was a bit larger than the heart stencil that I used so left a white border.  My first go was not successful leaving the stencil in place when adding the mica powders as when I removed it it was a bit smudgy so obviously there had been some creeping of the powders under the stencil.  I decided to cut away the scalloped edge and turn the heart over.  I also used a ball tool to round the more blunt edges on the reverse.  This time when I had added the Versamark I lift the stencil away all went well.  I decided on this one to add some WOW Clear Gloss EP over the top and heat set it which worked well.. I did use a softer brush to add the powders which helped I think to stop any movement of the Versamark and gave it a crisper look.  I cut the stemmed hearts and the sentiment from snippets of white card and decided to cut an extra white sentiment so I could double it up to give it more substance.  

To finish I used a 5" x 7" white card and I embossed the heart border down the centre of the card and then put the stencil in place and added colour using first Picked Raspberry DI and then to make them a little redder I used Candied Apple DI.  I then fixed the heart with the stemmed hearts attached behind it at an angle over the border stencilling, and then added the sentiment over the bottom of the heart, and to make it stand out more I added some Wink of Stella.

I am entering this anniversary card into the following challenges:

Stencil Fun Challenge - Nov. '25 Anything Goes/Golden Days.

Snippets Playground Challenge - No. 520 Where we use up our snippets of paper and card etc.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 837 Focal Sentiment/Anything Goes.

NBUS Challenge - No. 80 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

I do hope you will visit us over at the Group of Cardmakers and we do have Robyn as a guest this time and you will be able to see the beautiful cards made by her and the rest of the team.  We do also have a Linky so if you make any cards you can display them there so we can all enjoy seeing what you've made.  There are also a couple of videos to watch too.  Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon. 

Watercoloured Background and Stampscape Stamps

Hi all.  I made this masculine card using a watercolour set by Koh-i-Nor which are nice and compact and have the paints in circular layers which screw together and have a screw on lid on the top and are great to travel with and fit easily in a small bag.  I also invested in a set of mop type brushes which I got on-line and which come to a lovely point, and I have to say they are great and at a good price too.  I decided to use a 5" x 7" card so cut the piece of card a little smaller thinking to use it as a portrait shape but it didn't quite work out that way as the top half went a bit wrong so I cut it down and it has ended up as a landscape card.

I started with a green mixed with some grey to darken it and I first spritzed the card at the bottom and added the paint, moving the wet paint around a bit and mopping it up where it ran too much.  I wanted to try and get a misty look, and after fiddling with it a bit more and adding an even darker green at the bottom I was pleased with the look.  I got out some Stampscape trees which came in a set with a larger tree and a group of smaller distant trees, a cabin with trees and some foreground rocks and reeds and also a dappled water stamp.  I only used the large tree stamp varying the height of each tree and taking it down beyond the bottom of the background so that they didn't end up too large, and I also added a group of three ducks which were bought separately but make a change from flying birds.  I used a Versafine Olympia Green for the stamping including the sentiment which I heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I did add some blue at the top, well watered down and in the end after cutting it down a lot I added a bit more green which was left on the brush just to blend it all in. 

At one point I nearly ditched it but once cut down and added to the card with the layers I think it looks OK, and I think to a certain extent I did manage to get the misty look.  Thank you for joining me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - Nov. '25 Anything Christmas/Anything Goes.

Stamping Sensations Challenge - Nov. '25 Christmas/Anything Goes.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 836 Christmas Cards/Anything Goes.

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge - No. 506 Make Your Mark.

Simply Clean & Simple Challenge - Nov. '25 Anything Goes/Holidays/Winter.

Mixed Media Birthday

Hi everybody.  I have a feminine card today featuring a bit of mixed media using another piece of the napkin I used for this card here, and also using a heart stencil with texture paste, and some stamps from a set which came with a Phil Martin Box Kit 12 which came out a while ago but which I am only just using for the first time.  I also used three Distress Inks - Blueprint Sketch, Worn Lipstick and Hickory Smoke.

I started by laying some pink ink down onto a piece of acrylic and spritzed it with water before pressing it onto the card in the areas where I wanted it in a sort of triangle over the righthand corner of a piece of white card cut to fit a 6" square card.  I did this several times and then I cut a piece of the napkin which has the flowers in a border using just one quarter of it so it fitted into the same corner, and actually it was a bit too long and I cut the extreme left flower off and added it in towards the top righthand side as that area was a bit thinner and adding it there filled it out a bit.  I used some Mod Podge glue on the back of the piece and then more over the front to make sure the edges were firmly glued down.  I perhaps went rather mad and used more glue than necessary to take it over the edges, and in a certain light you can see it even though it has a matte finish.  I then decided to use the little heart stencil bought from The Range a long while ago, and which came in a pack with several other heart patterned stencils.  I spread the Titanium coloured paste over the area covered by the napkin and after it was dry I got out the Phil Martin stamps featuring postmarks, a couple of different splatts and a piece of music using the three colours mentioned above.  The Worn Lipstick is a cube and is beginning to dry up, and the Hickory Smoke is rather a pale grey so that doesn't show all that much but I did it in my stamp positioner and inked and stamped several times, but I think maybe it could have been a little bit darker.  I decided to add the two butterfly images which were on the napkin too and then finished by adding a sentiment using the blue ink and heat embossed it with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.

Thank you for dropping by to see me today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge - No 836 Christmas Cards/Anything Goes.

Stencil Fun Challenge - Nov. '25 Anything Goes/Golden Days.

WeLove2Create Challenge - No. 11 Anything Goes.

Triple B Challenge - Nov. '25 Using one, two or all three of Birds, Butterflies or Blooms.

NBUS Challenge - No. 80 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

Jaguar in the Jungle

Hi everybody.  I have a masculine card today featuring an 3D embossing folder from Made to Surprise called Leafy Background and a stamp from a Creative Stamping Magazine which I think is a Cheetah but as you would not find one in the jungle then I'm calling it a Jaguar..just a bit of artistic licence..lol.  This is the first time I've used this stamp.

I actually made this background quite a while ago and had done nothing with it except to cut the circular aperture, and I thought it would work well for this masculine make.  I embossed the leaves onto a piece of blue card and decided to use some green acrylic paint over all the leaves as this would cover the blue background better being more opaque than inks.  It did take a while and not something I would do often but I thought it worked well.  I then stamped the big cat onto a piece of white card using Versafine Majestic Blue ink and then found a small 'Happy Birthday' to add beneath which would allow it to fit within the aperture, doing them together in my stamp positioner, and then heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I finished by adding this behind the aperture and then glued the leafy background onto a 6" square white card...a quick and easy make in the end.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

We Love Stamping Challenge - Nov. '25 Anything Christmas/Anything Goes.

Stamping Sensations Challenge - Nov. '25 Christmas/Anything Goes.

Girlz Makes Guyz Cards Challenge - No. 33 Birthday for a Man.

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Masculine.

Crafty Animals Challenge - No. 100 Anything Goes with an Animal.

NBUS Challenge - No. 80 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.

Anniversary Card using New Technique

Hi everyone.  I have a CAS anniversary card to show today using a technique which isn't totally new but involves using a paper napkin which I have seen others doing but have never tried myself.  Whilst away on holiday in September I saw this set of napkins and had been thinking about giving this a try so I bought them.  I was hoping that it would be an all over floral but it was more on each of the corners but it has worked OK for this heart shaped aperture.  I have also used a Leonie Pujol Embossing Folder called Dotty Heart and a Sweet Dixie set of Heart Dies.

I'm not sure why the photo looks so dark as the uncropped original was much brighter.  I started with the piece of white card just a little smaller than the 6" square card and die cut the heart from it just a bit above the centre, and I then used the embossing folder on it...I had to extend it a bit but it worked OK.  I cut just one quarter section of the napkin and took off the backing using just the patterned layer and I placed it behind the aperture to work out how to see the best of the pattern.  I wanted to stick it to the base card and as the pattern was all along the edge I didn't have a lot of leeway when glueing it down so I decided to cut the napkin using the next size larger heart close to the edge to get as much of the pattern as possible.  I laid it behind the aperture and made sure that I had equal edges and I pencilled a line on the base card around the napkin heart before moving it to add the glue to the card using Mod Podge with a brush.  I then placed it down getting it as flat as possible and added some more of the glue to the surface of the napkin which gives it more strength.  It did have one or two smallish wrinkles but luckily when dry they had smoothed out.  I finished the card by sticking the embossed top layer down and I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of white card using Versafine Majestic Blue ink and heat embossed with WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder and cut it into a banner.  I was going to add some colour onto the embossing but decided to leave it white as I think sometimes less is more.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.  

I am entering the following challenges:

Allsorts Challenge - No. 835 Autumn Colours/Anything Goes.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Triple B Challenge - Nov. '25 Birds, Butterflies and Blooms using 1, 2 or all 3 on your card.

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Anything Goes/Pumpkins or the colour Orange.

Group of Cardmakers - Textured Tissue Paper with Dry Embossing

Hi everybody.  This month's technique that we are trying over at the Group of Cardmakers is using watercoloured tissue paper added to card and dry embossed before adding colour to the raised areas of the embossing.  For my card I used a Crafter's Companion embossing folder called Touch of Winter.  I don't have very many 3D embossing folders and those I do have have varied heights of embossing which means when you ink them it only inks bits and not all of the image which I felt didn't look quite right so I used an ordinary one.  I also used a Sue Wilson die called Noel Star..one which I have had for a long time, and a set of little stars cutting three of the smallest size.. I bought these from The Range a good few years ago but they make an appearance on cards most years.

I started by cutting a piece of white tissue paper about 6" square and smooshed it with Salty Ocean and Dusty Concord Distress Inks laying the ink down and spritzing and then laying the tissue paper over it.  I then very carefully lifted it and dried using my heat tool on the cooler setting.  I repeated this again to darken the colours and then I glued it to a piece of white card using Mod Podge glue.  I then embossed using the embossing folder and I finished by rubbing some Pebeo silver wax over it.  Inevitably there was some which went onto the background and I rubbed it quickly with a piece of tissue in those areas but you can still see it so I just added a bit more sponged on ink in the two colours which did push it into the background a bit.  I did try some metallic paint with a brayer but the paint I have seemed rather thick and difficult to spread and ended up looking overly blobby which is why I decided to use the wax instead.

I die cut the Noel die from a textured less shiny silver card and I cut off the star for this card as the sentiment fitted better without it, and I cut a second from a piece of white card to add behind it to make it stand out more.  I also cut three of the stars and after mounting the embossed background onto a rectangular card I added the sentiment towards the centre surrounded by the three stars.  I'm afraid the silver wax on the background embossing looks a bit dull but it is prettier in real life.

I found that the tissue paper I had was a bit thin and much harder to handle when wet, and I would suggest that if you want to try techniques with tissue you buy some which is termed wet strength which is available on Amazon and I also found a site called Carnival Papers over here in the UK which sells this stronger grade of tissue paper and I'm sure there will be others too.

I do hope you will visit us over at the Group of Cardmakers and see all the beautiful cards made by the rest of the team, and there is a Linky so if you make any cards you can display them there so we can all enjoy seeing what you've done.  There is also a video which Loll has made to demonstrate the technique.

Thank you for visiting me here today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Peace on Earth Challenge - No. 98 Anything Goes.

The 12 Months of Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes Christmas.

Can You Handle The Pressure Challenge - Anything Goes/Pumpkins or the Colour Orange.

Die Cut Divas Challenge - Oct '25 Anything Goes.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Clean and Simple.

Guest Designing for Rudolph Days

Hi everyone.  I was so pleased to be one of the Top Picks over at Rudolph Days and was really happy to be given the opportunity to be a Guest Designer for one of the challenges.  I used three recently acquired sets of dies from Spellbinders.  The first is a Candy Stripes die set by Simon Hurley, and the second is a set of Poinsettia dies by Susan Tierney-Cockburn, and finally a set called Snowcapped Holidays which is a birdhouse to hang from a branch with a couple of birds and it also has some pieces of foliage including a pine branch, leafy branch, couple of holly leaves and a berry branch all of which I am using for the first time.

I started with the background and cut the stripes die into a piece of white card and cut around it to leave a small border.  I then placed a piece of gold card behind it.  I found some pretty pink paper with a gold thread running through it...not easy to see in the photo, which I thought would work but it was very thin, and I found a piece of white vellum and glued the pink paper onto it using some Mod Podge glue which I brushed over the vellum and then gradually smoothed out the paper over the top.  I then cut out the layers of the flower and also cut the three white pieces which layer up to form the centre of the flower, and then five of the smaller leaves to go around the outside which I coloured with a couple of greens and added a bit of yellow to the tips of the centre piece over which I added some Glossy Accents.  I also coloured the other pieces mentioned above to add around the flower, all using my alcohol markers.  I also made the berries purple as I thought they went better with the pink poinsettia.

I finished by layering it up onto a 5" x 7" card and I added a stamped sentiment heat embossed using WOW Rich Gold Metallic Embossing Powder.  I think the paper over the vellum gives the flower more substance but has more flexibility than using card as it is easier to bend to curl the petals and it tends to stay better.  I may well use this again I think.  I do have another pink flower which I cut and I have a piece of red which also has the gold thread, so watch this space.     

The Rudolph Days Challenge runs from the 25th to the end of each month, so still time to add to your stash of cards for this year.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I'll see you again soon.

I am also entering the following challenges:

Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge - No. 98 Anything Goes.

Allsorts Challenge - No. 835 Autumn Colours/Anything Goes.

Die Cut Divas Challenge - Oct. '25 Anything Goes.

Crafter's Cafe Challenge - No. 93 Anything Goes/Christmas.

The Creative Crafters Challenge - No. 93 Anything Goes.

NBUS Challenge - No 79 Where we use our Never Before Used Schtuff.