Stencilling with Mica Powders

This month, the Group of Cardmakers are experimenting with stencilling with mica powders.  Some of them will work without a binding agent.  Others need something like Heat & Stick powder to get them to adhere.  I tried both.

First of all, with the binding agent, in this case SU Heat & Stick powder.  

I pressed Versamark ink through my holly stencil, removed the stencil, then sprinkled the card panel with Heat & Stick, and used a heat tool to melt powder.  I washed and dried the stencil, placed it back over the image, and brushed green Pearl-Ex over it.  I die cut the best section of it with a label die.  I had some green glitter cs that matched the Pearl-Ex really well so cut the next size up of the label die set and bordered it with that and then put it on a dry embossed background.  Added a sentiment on a banner and red gemstones for the berries.

I then used a different holly stencil on black cs but with Perfect Pearls which work without a binding agent.

Like the first card, I pressed Versamark over the stencil, washed and dried the stencil, replaced it over the image, and brushed green Perfect Pearls over it.  A Swiffer cloth removes any excess.  Trimmed the panel with another label die and popped it up on fun foam on a panel embossed with another holly embossing folder.  I used a Lavinia stick-on sentiment on this one.  And again red gemstones for berries.

There is quite a difference between the two in terms of texture.  The use of Heat & Stick results in a noticeably textured finish whereas the mica powders that don't require Heat & Stick have a very flat, very smooth, and more pearlescent finish.

I went on to make a third card.  This one uses Heat & Stick and LuminArte mica powder on black cs. 

I kept the whole panel as a background and bordered it with silver glitter cs.  I die cut a Star of David out of the same silver glitter cs and also out of scrap cs and glued them together for more dimension.  Added it to the background, along with a strip of fancy ribbon that has six-pointed stars to tie in with the Star of David.  I put the Happy Hanukkah sentiment inside as I didn't want the front to be more cluttered.

I find the black background on the above Hanukkah card a bit heavy so I made one more with the same stencil on a white cs.  Again it uses the Heat and Stick, this time with a lighter blue mica powder made by Arteza.

I trimmed it down to a square, topped it with a die cut menorah in silver and gold glitter cs, and a small sentiment heat embossed in silver.  It's on a white shimmer card base. 

I think I have a strong preference for doing this on a white background rather than a black one.  Please let me know in the comments which you prefer! 

We'd love to see anything you might make using stencilling with mica powders.  Let us know if you have any hints for us.  There are more examples and more detailed instructions over at Group of Cardmakers. 

 

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown sentiments
Ink - Versamark, Memento Cottage Ivy
Paper - white and black cs, silver glitter cs, green glitter cs, gold glitter cs, white shimmer cs
Size - A2, last one 4.75" square
Accessories - SU Heat & Stick powder, green Pearl Ex powder, green Perfect Pearls powder, Dutch Iris LuminArte mica powder, pale blue Arteza mica powder, Penny Black holly stencil, SSS Holiday greenery stencil. Spellbinders label dies, sentiment banner die, Sizzix holly embossing folders, fun foam, red gemstones, SSS Star of David die, silver ribbon, Neat and Tangled star stencil, Spellbinders rectangle and square dies, silver embossing powder, PTI menorah die

Grey Day Cards

We just had two glorious days of sunshine and warm weather and now it's gone back to chilly and grey.  Not at all appealing for gardening so here are two Christmas cards instead!

Jingle Belles want to see us use our holiday leftovers and Cardz 4 Guyz wants to see embossing (wet or dry).  In this card, I used a wet embossed background and a bunch of leftover bits of die cut greenery and a couple of leftover die cut snowflakes on a scrap of corrugated cardboard.

I roughly painted some gesso over the cardboard. I stencilled tiny snowflakes on the cardbase with embossing paste.

The leftover bits of greenery were die cut from a piece of cs smooshed with green inks.  I embellished them with tiny red pearls. I added a couple of leftover die cut snowflakes and a small sentiment.

The next card could also go to Cardz 4 Guyz as it has a dry embossed background.

I created a dry embossed background panel.  Then I die cut the snowflakes, coated them with glue, then dabbed on bits of the Blue Ice gilding flakes, tamped them down, and brushed on a blue metallic pigment powder in the empty spaces. I burnished them and then added them to a snowflake embossed background. For the sentiment die, I added glue and the same pigment powder to a piece of scrap cs and when dry, die cut it.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Ink - various green Distress inks
Paper - white cs, corrugated cardboard
Size - 6x3.25" slimline
Accessories - gesso, Tattered Lace Noel die, TH greenery dies, Cheery Lynn snowflake dies, Memory Box tiny snowflakes stencil, Dreamweaver embossing paste, tiny red stick-on pearls

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix snowflake dies, Cosmic Shimmer Blue Ice gilding flakes, Dreamweaver Metallic FX Navajo Sky pigment powder, Nuvo Glue Pen, Tim Holtz sentiment die