So February being just around the corner and Valentines Day being the big event for the month and all, I created a set of 6 quirky valentines cards focusing on 4 elements - Metal, Stamping, Die-cuts and Embossing. Here is a quick overall snapshot of all.
Now I am going to show you each of the cards all up close and personal and write a little description of how I included the stamps, metal, die-cuts and embossing powder in these quirky little Valentines Cards.
METAL: Brads and Lab tubes. To make the bottles look like a lab set, I shaped black craft wire into a system of lab tubes and raised the bottles/beakers on foam tape.
DIE CUTS / EMBOSSING POWDER: Tim Holtz Apothecary Bottles die-cut out of Ranger Shrink Plastic, Heat-Shrunk and dipped in melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel). Provocraft Books and Apple Die
STAMPS: Santoro Gorjuss New Heights Stamp (I drew in a different face though).I shadow stamped the blue-printy image from the Tim Holtz Steampunk Collection so that I had faint formula-esque background.
METAL: Junkyard Findings Jeans Plate and Metal Brads
DIE-CUT: Tim Holtz Fanciful Flight (Bottom wing)
EMBOSSING POWDER: I mixed a bit of iridescent glitter into some UTEE that I ground up finer in an old coffee Grinder and made sparkly embossing powder. I coated the wings in that and het set.
STAMPING: Wood grain stamp from Heidi Swapp, Cartographer from (Prima??), various other Map stamps.
METAL: I made some metal embellishments by twisting thick gauge wire into shapes and hammering it flat (cos I’m wild like that!). I made all the grungy scratches with ridged flat-pliers.
DIE-CUTS: the “Wild Thang” sentiment was cut from the Tim Holtz Chip Block Strip-Die, the little heart die-cuts were from the Sizzix Movers and Shapers.
EMBOSSING POWDER: the background is actually an embossing folder from the Provocraft line which I inked up with a pigment based dye-pad (CHISWICK), I then ran that through the Cuttlebug and then coated it in Ranger Fine Embossing powder so that it stuck to the inked debossed bits and heat-set. I also stamped the border of the card with one of the branches and fossil leaves stamp set from Inkadinkado. I stamped the teeny hearts with a music score stamp that I got ages ago and dont know who makes it.
METAL: Pen Nib Tim Holtz Alterations
DIE-CUT: Tiny Heart Sizzix Movers & Shapers, Bottles (not technically a die-cut as much as it was a fussy-cut.
EMBOSSING POWDER: I used a Ranger Embossing pen to selectively mark and fill-in the areas that I wanted to be all glossy and glass-like on the bottles, I then coated that in UTEE ( I LOVE UTEE), the bottles started to look glass-like after about 3 coats of UTEE. You have to do this on low heat though to get it to look glassy but without it bubbling and burning.
STAMPING: the “letters” are all stamped in various background text stamps. The Bottles were all stamps as well.
METAL: I shaped pink craft wire into the Love Sentiment. Metal Brad on the banner.
DIE-CUT: the hot-air Balloons are cut from X-CUT Build-a-scene Hot Air Balloons and the teeny balloons are actually ornament dies from provocraft.
EMBOSSING POWDER: I made some homemade pearly coloured embossing powders by mixing in crushed eyeshadow (YUP, that’s right eyeshadow!!!) into UTEE. I used an embossing pen from Ranger to fill in the sections of the balloon and used the homemade Pearly EP to add colour to the little balloon. I stamped the background card with the swirl set from Chiswick and used clear EP to create a tone-on-tone effect.
STAMPING: I first stamped the “sky” background with the swirl from Chiswick in watermark ink on stamping paper. It created a nice resist. I then stamped all over that with the Hot-Air Balloon stamp (from Inkadinkado I think, the set with the blimp etc). I added more blue tones to the sky with distress ink in Broken China, Milled Lavender and Tumbled Glass. The Swirl on the background card that I mentioned above is stamped in Clear Embossing Ink.
METAL: Brads DIE-CUT: Ornate Label 2-die-for, the “hide” die is a self-design and cut with my plotter.
EMBOSSING POWDER: I covered the entire hide in embossing ink using the Ranger Emboss It Dauber. I coated it in Fine Clear Embossing Powder and then did an Iron-off technique to take the glossiness down a tad. I made the hide look like leather this way
STAMPING: I stamped the heart in a zebra pattern (cant really see it behind the jute bow there in this picture). I did the ol’ ink up your embossing folder stamping trick again to create the black and white zebra pattern. I also stamped random leaf, twig and and map designs on the background card.
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