Happy New Year!! Well, I guess we’re already 5 days into it! I’m very lucky because my birthday is tomorrow!! When I was a kid and was so disappointed when Christmas was over (and I still am now!), I would always say, “well, at least my birthday is coming up!”. It is a nice little bright spot in the post-holiday-nose-back-to-the-grindstone feeling. My husband is going to make me German chocolate cake, which he has been doing since we started dating almost 23 years ago! So now I guess you think I’m pretty old… I’m turning 41. Yes, we got married young!!
Anyway, onto the card this week. I got this very cool ultra-thick clear embossing powder for Christmas. Rather than a fine powder, it’s pretty chunky, so it goes on thick. Kind of like granulated sugar instead of powdered sugar. You have to be careful when you heat it because the air from the heat tool tends to blow it off the paper – it doesn’t stick as well to the Versamark. You’ll notice that I used Tim Holtz embossing ink for this card instead of Versamark. I did a little experiment with the ultra-thick powder… the Tim Holtz ink held onto it better than Versamark. I really love the look it gives – it creates a very thick texture. I used it on white paper so that the stamp would appear white. Another helpful tip…. start with your heat tool very high so that it melts the powder a little bit, then get closer with the heat tool. This high-low process takes longer, but it really helps with the powder flying off the paper.
Another new technique I used was one that I saw Jennifer Mcguire use – distress ink + water + liquid pearls, painted on with a brush. I used this technique on the butterfly and it looks beautiful – it’s hard to see the pearly shine in the picture. You should try it to see for yourself!
Enjoy and have a great week!
SONGS: Tried to be True and Shame on You by the Indigo Girls.
Is the video blocked in your country due to music rights? You can see an audio-swapped version here.
Supplies:
- Hero Arts Flourish Background Stamp
- Hero Arts Traditional Butterfly Stamp
- Stampin’ Up! Whisper White and Basic Black Cardstock
- Papertrey Ink White Cardstock
- Ranger Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel
- Tim Holtz Embossing Ink
- Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Bundled Sage and Dusty Concord
- Versamark Dazzle Ink
- Stampin’ Up! Basic Black Ink
- Stampin’ Up! Black Embossing Powder
- Ranger Liquid Pearls, Silver and Buttercup
- 1/8″ Black Satin Ribbon
- Stampin’ Up! Mini Glue Dot
Thanks for visiting my video blog! I post a new video every Wednesday and sometimes an extra when I have time.
This is beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing and the “how-to”. Happy Birthday!
Wow, impressive!!! I have no idea where you find all that cool stuff, or even know how to use it. Love it!!!
Hope you have a wonderful birthday. German Chocolate is my favorite. Your card is beautiful….as usual. You do such great videos.
I’m not a card maker, but my friends are. I love watching you make cards. It doesn’t inspire me to make them, but I love receiving them. Keep up the good work!
May God bless you on your birthday.
This is just beautiful! I’m thrilled that I actually have all the materials needed to try this technique …. can’t wait to give it a try. Thanks for this great video!
I am an SU demo but watching your cards and checking out your blog inspired me to check out a couple distress ink pads! I love your cards and videos.
I hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Happy Birthday Darlene, hope you had a wonderful birthday
Darlene,
Thanks for the explanation of why you used the different embossing ink, I was about to ask you if there was a reason to use each.
As always, very pretty card and inspiring videos! Thanks for sharing!
That is a great video. I loved how you used water, distress ink and a paint brush. Thanks for sharing
Hi, I love this card and will give it a try at home with my perfect pearls! Just actually wondering what the tool is called that you stamp the distressing ink onto the white card with after you’ve embossed the background stamp? Is it a wood mounted sponge? Thank you
Hi Renee – it is an ink blending applicator. I posted a tutorial on how to use it HERE.