Faux Patina Technique - Lacy Brocade

Lacy Brocade Faux Patina
with gold embossing
(close-up)

Hi,

Today, another embossing folder from Stampin' Up - Lacy Brocade - and another technique.  (Thanks to Jenny Burnett, Stampin' Up demonstrator, for showing me this one!)  Similar to the one I showed yesterday but inking the card before putting through the Cuttlebug.  I used 2-3 inks on each of the samples shown in the photos and you need to let this dry well before the next stage.  Then, as the previous technique, use Versamark to coat the raised areas of embossing.  In the blue sample I used a pewter embossing powder, and in the other pink/green one I used gold.


Lacy Brocade Faux Patina with pewter embossing










I was pleased with the results and here are some cards using the pieces that I made.



Card using a section of Lacy Brocade
 (blue embossed with pewter)
image as card on left

Card using a section of Lacy Brocade (blue embossed with
pewter), image from Stampin; Up Little Friends
(coloured with
Promarkers

Card using a section of the pink/green
embossed with gold, and chalked image
('Tranquil' from B Line Designs)



I'm sure that I'll be having another go at this.  It looks particularly effective using Lacy Brocade but it's worth experimenting with other folders as well.  Perhaps the Manhattan Flower I used yesterday would also look good using this method - white embossing powder could work well.  That's for another day though!

Bye for now,

Judy x





Manhattan Flower embossing with watercolour technique

Using Stampin' Up pads Regal Rose and Baja Breeze

Just thought I would show you what I have been doing this afternoon!  I made 4 of these but this was probably the best example.  Whilst browsing the web recently I saw this technique (could have been on Splitcoast Stampers?) and wanted to have a go.  The Manhattan Flower embossing folder from Stampin' Up is one of my favourites anyway and it seemed like a different way to use it.

You need watercolour paper* cut to fit in the embossing folder (I actually left it a little longer so that I had some to hold whilst embossing) and then you run it through your machine (mine's a Cuttlebug) - the instructions said to run it through several times which I did.  Then use some temporary adhesive to stick the paper to your work surface to hold it still for the next stage.  Use a brayer and Versamark to ink the raised portions of the image and then sprinkle with clear embossing powder.  Remove any stray powder you can see with a small brush and then heat emboss.  (I found the embossing easier said than done although that could be that the light in the hall at Craft Club was not too good making it difficult to see where it had embossed - I'll have to try it again at home!  I think also that the watercolour paper soaks up the Versamark a bit so, even if you get the embossing powder on quickly, it doesn't seem to 'take' properly on all the raised areas.  It's worth trying to emboss twice perhaps?)

Anyway, next wet the paper and use watercolours, dye ink pads, etc, to add colour to the roses.  I used the ink pads by pressing the closed lid which gets a small amount of ink on the inside which you can paint with.  If the raised areas have all embossed OK you could just paint over the whole flower in one go but I did each petal individually, using more ink in the centre, and fading out by adding more water to the outer sections.  The instructions said to wet the paper again by misting to blend the colours but this didn't seem to make much difference! - but it did allow me to drop some colour into the background.

I was fairly pleased with the finished result although I would have been happier if I could have got the embossing to work all over.  Will probably have another go at some time, trying different colours - it might be worth experimenting with watercolour pencils.

*I used two different types of watercolour paper - a cheap one from The Works and a more expensive artists' one.  Overall I think the cheaper one gave the best results and is the one in the photo above.

Enjoy your Easter weekend!

Judy x

PROMARKER STORAGE SOLUTION

Really excited about this (perhaps that makes me a bit sad!) so thought I ought to share it with anyone who's interested!  I've 'acquired' so many Promarkers, and recently (well yesterday!) Flexmarkers as well, I desperately needed to sort out some sort of storage for them.  I had started off by using a plastic tub/tray which fits in the Ikea units that I have in my craft room and, for a while, this worked OK.  When I bought a set of 'skin' colours, I put these in a smaller plastic container which I stored on top of the other pens in the tub.  This was OK but as I got more pens, it was difficult to find the colour I wanted to use as there were a couple of layers and they were hidden by the others.  I transferred them all to the lid of a 12" x  12" plastic storage box and this was OK for a while. Then I recently fell for the new Spring limited edition set of Promarkers (which I got at a good price with free P&P) which made my collection too large to continue to store as I had been doing.

Well, I looked on the internet and saw lots of different suggestions, the best one being a large metal case intended for storing CDs, but this was another expense (on top of all the other craft stuff I've been buying - don't tell my husband!) so I needed to think again.  I wanted something that would store them neatly but that I could transport to where I wanted to do my colouring - usually downstairs in front of the TV in the evenings! - but also if I was taking them out with me to a crafting session somewhere.  I wanted each pen to be easy to get out and put away without being too fiddly (eg fitting into an elastic loop) and easy to see what colour I wanted at a glance.  The Flexmarkers that I bought (Set 1 & Set 2 - again at a very good half price down at Martin's Paper Unit in his closing down sale) were just what I had been looking for - some lovely pastel shades and the 'brush-type' nib on them works excellently in colouring smaller areas accurately.  These needed to be stored alongside the Promarkers, if necessary with them, but ideally separated a bit so I could grab them easily.

SUDDENLY a Eureka moment!  In the corner of my craft room on the floor I noticed a container that I had bought several years ago but hadn't really ever used properly.  This could be my storage solution!  It has lots of pockets both round the outside and inside and might work.  It also has a sort of turntable base so you can spin it around to access things easily and it has a couple of handles so that it can be picked up and carried around. 

I got all the pens out (current count around 70!) and tried them in the pockets.  There was room for all of them round the outside of the container with space to spare, so I got some small round stickers and coloured them in with the Promarker colours (Flexmarkers are already supplied with these - not sure why Promarkers aren't!).  I stuck these on the ends of the pens and then sorted them into colour families to put into the pockets around the outside and, very conveniently, the Flexmarkers fitted into the pockets above so I could sort the pastel shades into colours next to their matching Promarkers.  The Blender pens slotted into a couple of the elastic loops around the top, as did the fine nibs & caps.  Great!

Promarker Storage

Then I thought, what about the middle of the container.  There are another load of pockets around the inner edges, plus space in the middle for more!  I took my waterbased markers (Tombow and Marvy Le Plume - remember those?!) from their home in another Ikea tray and put those in the inner pockets, and there was also space for my two waterbrushes.  - AND still more space left! - so I  added my tin of Inktense pencils and another pack of watercolour pencils and tucked these into the centre section.

Promarker Storage showing inside

I gave it a try last night and I LOVE IT!  It sat next to me on a laptop tray on the settee and I was able to see all the colours at a glance and to get them in & out of the pockets easily.  PROBLEM SOLVED AND AT NO EXTRA COST!

NOTE: For anyone interested in the container - the label says 'Scrappin' Sweet Nothings' but I'm not sure if it's still available.  I ordered it online from a company called 'Your Touch of Craft' but I think they don't exist any more.  Good luck with finding one if you love it as much as I do!!