Faux Mother-of-Pearl Stenciling

Hi everyone.  This is Faux Mother-of-Pearl through a stencil.  I do love the FMOP technique (video tutorial HERE) and it looks awesome using a stencil.

I used the misti to line up my card front (regular card stock) with the stencil (Rays Layering Stencil - Tim Holtz).  That way I could take off the stencil to clean after adding the pearl resist and it would be easy to place it into the same position for adding ink.

Used Frost White (Tsukinecko) acrylic pearl paint for my Faux Mother-of-Pearl look.  It's the most wonderful shimmery pearl ink. 

After the pearl paint is dry, I blended colours of Distress Inks over top (Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Ripe Persimmon).  Once the sponging had dried, I used a paper towel to gently buff over the stencil and remove any ink that was sitting on top of the pearl resist.  Finished the card by stamping a sentiment (Sunny Skies - Lawn Fawn - retired) in black with clear embossing.

Close-up - this shows the shimmer from the frost paint better, but it is even more shimmery in real life ...

Stamps:  Sunny Skies - retired (Lawn Fawn)

Paper:   White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Distress Inks: Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Ripe Persimmon (Tim Holtz); Black (Memento)
Accessories:   Frost White Pearl Paint (Tsukineko), cling wrap, Rays Layering Stencil (Tim Holtz), sponges

Ink Blending with Warm Colours

Hi everyone.  Playing along with Gina K's videos again.  This time it is ink blending in warm colours with silhouettes.  I have done this before, but it's always nice to play along, especially when I get to use my favourite colours (pink and orange!).

I had a die-cut stitched square of white card stock in my stash from an earlier project.  I ink blended Picked Raspberry, Abandoned coral, Mustard seed on a bit of a slant.  I then inlayed the square into my card front and stamped a leafy sprig and sentiment in black.  Easy, peasy card that has a lot of impact from a small square of colour.

Close-up ...

I'm entering the above card into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes with optional Spots and/or Stripes.  As you can see, no option used this time. :)

Here's a second card with ink blending of warm colours --- this time Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon, Spiced Marmalade.

Made the second card with a slight difference.  This time I added a Faux Mother-of-Pearl finish to my white card stock before ink blending.  Once I was finish adding ink, I wiped away any excess from the resist of pearl acrylic paint before making my card.  Used this as a background for a large die-cut flower-filled heart.  Popped up the heart for more dimension and also popped up the white heat embossed black sentiment banner.

The close-up shows more detail of the faux mother-of-pearl finish ...

Products
Nature's Gift (Penny Black)
Eloquence (Penny Black)
Hey Love (Simon Says Stamp)
Many Everyday Messages (Hero Arts)

Thanks for stopping by!

Card #1 - Friends for Life
Stamps:  Nature's Gift (Penny Black); Eloquence (Penny Black)
Paper:  White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink: Distress Inks:  Picked Raspberry, Abandoned Coral, Mustard Seed (Tim Holtz); Black (Memento)
Accessories & Tools: Ink blending tools

Card #2 - Sending Love
Stamps:  Many Everyday Messages (Hero Arts)
Paper:  White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.); Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Distress Inks:  Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon, Spiced Marmalade (Tim Holtz); Versamark
Accessories & Tools: Pearl (Frost White) acrylic paint (Tsukineko); Ink blending tools; Hey Love die (Simon Says Stamp), white embossing powder, heat tool

Challenges:
Penny Black Saturday Challenge June - Anything Goes

More Faux Mother-of-Pearl

Hi everyone.  Just a reminder that we are already have way through January.  That means there's just over a week to play along with our CAS Mix Up January Challenge - Cling Wrap, being hosted by our talented Design Team member, Nancy Littrell.

I used the Faux Mother-of-Pearl technique again today.  Check out my video tutorial HERE.

This time I used it with a stencil.  Taped my stencil over my regular card stock, added the frost paint with a piece of scrunched cling wrap and then let it dry.  I washed off my stencil and once everything was dry, I placed it back over top and sponged on distress inks.  Starting off with the lightest colour on the outside of the flower I used Spiced Marmalade, overlapping slightly with Abandoned Coral as I moved towards the center.  I carried the Coral to the very center because I used Picked Raspberry over top and I didn't want the center to be completely pink ... I wanted a bit of orange tone as well.

Heated embossed a black sentiment banner with white and attached it to the bottom of my panel.

Here's a close-up of the card and close-up of the faux mother-of-pearl effect ...

I made a second card with the same technique.  This time making a small green faux mother-of-pearl panel for the background and watercolouring a rose (NBUS stamp), which is fussy cut and popped on top.  The Faux Mother-of-Pearl finish doesn't show on the full size card photo, so I have included a close-up as well.

The flower spray is heat embossed in silver and then watercoloured with distress inks:  Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, and Abandoned Coral.

You can see the shimmer from the frost paint in the photo below.

The front of the card above says "dear friend" and inside it says "Happiest of Birthdays to You".  So since it's a birthday card and has watercolouring with the flowers and leaves, I'm also adding this to CAS Watercolour January Challenge - Birthday.

I hope you'll come play along with us at CAS Mix Up.  Check out the challenge blog to see the reminder cards from our wonderful Guest Designer Christine, and the rest of the Design Team.

There's a few techniques that you can use with cling wrap that are so fun.  Hope to see you in the gallery!

Card 1:
Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  White (Neenah 110 lb. card stock)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Spiced Marmalade, Abandoned Coral, Picked Raspberry (Tim Holtz); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Large Flower stencil (Hero Arts), white frost acrylic paint (Tsukineko), cling wrap, sponges, white embossing powder, heat tool

Card 2:
Stamps: Birthday Blooms (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Mixed Media paper (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series); White (Neenah 110 lb. card stock); Black card stock (SU!)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Abandoned Coral, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint (Tim Holtz); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  white frost acrylic paint (Tsukineko), cling wrap, sponge, silver embossing embossing powder, heat tool, paint brush


Challenges:
CAS Mix Up January Challenge - Cling Wrap
CAS Watercolour January Challenge - Birthday

Faux Mother-of-Pearl

Hi everyone.  Today I'm sharing two cards made from one panel with faux mother-of-pearl technique.  I have a video on this fun and easy technique --- click HERE to watch it on YouTube.

I haven't used this technique for a while, but since CAS Mix Up January Challenge is Cling Wrap, I just had to make some as cling wrap is used to add the glossy resist part of the technique.

Basically I poured a couple drops of frost acrylic paint on my craft mat and then picked up the paint with a scrunched up piece of cling wrap.  I pounced the wrap onto my mat to make sure the paint was distributed and I wouldn't end up with globs of paint in my background.  Then I randomly, and lightly pounced my card panel, just leaving a little bit of the gloss, but with still lots of white space.  Once dry, I sponged over top with distress inks, then took a dry paper towel to remove any ink that was sitting on top of the frost paint.

For the first card (above), I heat embossed Altenew peony and leaf images in white and then watercoloured with the same distress inks used for my background.  I layered the ink several times to create depth of colour, then fussy-cut.  I cut out the middle of my panel to create a frame, stamped a sentiment inside the frame with Delicata silver ink, and then popped up the frame, adding a peony and leaf sprig on top.

Here's a close-up.  You can see the shimmer from the bits of frost paint.

I'm adding the card above to the Just Us Girls Challenge #422 - Anything Goes and also at Altenew's January Inspiration Challenge.

  

For my second card, I used the cut-out from the center of the card above, added a simple white die-cut which has the leaves shaped with a stylus and mat, and stamped the sentiment in Delicata silver.  The faux mother-of-pearl panel is popped up for added dimension.

Here's a close-up.

I'm adding this second card to the current Time Out Challenge #100 - We challenge you to be ... Thankful!  Congrats to the Design Team at Time Out for hitting this wonderful milestone!!

This card will be heading to a stamping friend.  I am so thankful for all the wonderful crafters I have met since starting my blog ... and thankful to call many of them my friend!

Stamps:  Peony Scrolls (Altenew); eloquence (Penny Black); Thank you sentiment - A Little Sentimental (Clearly Besotted)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series); White (Neenah 110 lb. card stock)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn (Tim Holtz); Delicata silver (Tsukineko)
Accessories & Tools:  Frost White paint (Tsukineko), cling wrap, sponges, Stitched rectangle die (Lil' Inkers), Lavish Branch die (Memory Box), white embossing powder, heat tool

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up January Challenge - Cling Wrap
Just Us Girls #422 - Anything Goes
Altenew's January 2018 Inspiration Challenge
Time Out #100 Challenge - Thankful

Faux Mother-of-Pearl Stenciling

Today's card is a reminder of the CAS Mix Up December Challenge - Sponging.  We are already half way through the month of December and have wonderful entries into the challenge.  Come join us!

I'm sharing a card using sponging with the Faux Mother-of-Pearl technique.  Click here to see my video tutorial on this fun and easy technique.

Most of the time, I use Faux Mother-of-Pearl as a background, and sometimes I use it to die-cut embellishments.  This is my first time using it through a stencil.  I'm so happy with how it turned out.  I used a beautiful flower stencil that was a gift from my dear friend Bonnie.

I placed the stencil over my card front, taping it down to hold everything in place.  A piece of scrunched up cling wrap was pounced it into a small drop of frost pearl paint.  It's important to pounce several times to get the paint worked into your cling wrap.  This makes sure you don't end up with big globs of paint.  I lightly dabbed it randomly over the stencil, removed the stencil, and cleaned off the excess paint right away.  Once dry, placed the stencil back over top of my card front and sponged on three colours of distress inks (Wilted Violet, Shabby Shutters, and Peeled Paint).  I added a simple stamped sentiment and a popped up stitched, die-cut frame.

The Faux Mother-of-Pearl gives such lovely sparkle to the flower.

My CAS Mix Up card has stamping, sponging, Faux Mother-of-Pearl technique, stenciling, and die-cuts.

Click HERE to check out the beautiful reminder cards from our design team.

The challenge is open until Dec. 24th so there's still lots of time to play along.  Hope to see you in the gallery! :)



Stamps:  Sentiment - Where the Heart is (Simon Says)
Paper:  White (Neenah 110 lb. card stock)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Wilted Violet, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint (Tim Holtz); Black (Memento)
Accessories & Tools:  Lovely Large Flower stencil (Studio 490 - Wendy Vecchi), cling wrap, Frost White Paint (Tsukineko), sponges, Stitched Rectangular Frame dies (Lil' Inkers)

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up December Challenge - Sponging

Faux Mother of Pearl Birthdays

Hi everyone.  Today I'm playing along with Time Out Challenge #47 - Birthdays with an optional Technique Twist of sponging.  It's always great to have birthday cards on hand ... and I love to sponge, so this is a perfect challenge for me. :)

Today I made three versions of my card.  I started by using the Faux Mother of Pearl technique (click HERE to see my video tutorial).  I sponged on bright yellow and bright green over top of the pearl resist.  Love these colours together ... so fun! :)  I used the same sentiment for all three cards,  and also used the same splatter background for the first two.

I'm also using a new-to-me two part butterfly die that I got for Christmas.  I didn't realize until I cut my first butterfly that it doesn't cut all the way through.  Instead it leaves the body attached and the wings are loose so you can pull them forward to add dimension.  So cool!  I used as it was intended for the first card, with the butterfly partially cut from the card front and faux mother of pearl panel in behind (also partially die-cut).  And I used it as a regular die for the second card (just cutting to detach into a separate die-cut butterfly).  And since I had a little bit of my faux mother of pearl card leftover, I created a third card using a small panel.  I used a smaller die-cut butterfly to better balance the design ... the large butterfly used on the first two cards was too big.

Here's the other two versions ...

Stamps:  Mix Mash (Happy Little Stampers), Gorgeous Grunge (SU!)
Paper:  White (Neenah)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Squeezed Lemonade and Twisted Citron (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  Frosted White Acrylic Paint (Tsukineko), cling wrap, sponges; Butterfly dies:  Asti Butterfly Wings, Willoughby Butterfly Wings, Moonlight Butterfly, Kaleidoscope Butterfly (all butterfly dies are Memory Box)

Challenges:
Time Out #47 - Birthdays with optional sponging

Starry, Starry Night

Hi everyone.  It's the start of the Happy Little Stampers December Christmas challenge ...

This challenge is sponsored by

I started by making my tree.  I used the Faux Mother of Pearl technique, using gold resist for a different look.  Click HERE to see my video tutorial for Faux Mother of Pearl on YouTube.

I sponged two shades of green distress inks and die-cut the stitched tree.  Then I tore two pieces of white card stock for my snow banks ... love the look.

I used Delicata Gold ink to stamp the starry background and sentiment.  LOVE this gold ink ... it's such a beautiful colour and it really shines even though it's not embossed.

Simple, easy and quick CAS card that was fun to make.

This month we're happy to have the very creative Doni (Lime Green Giggles) as our Guest Designer.  Welcome to the team Doni!!

Click HERE to see Doni's Star card, along with the cards from the rest of our very talented Design Team.  And come join in the challenge with your "star" Christmas card.

This will be my last Design Team card for this challenge.  I'm stepping down at the end of the year from both the Christmas and Sketch challenges at HLS.  I have really enjoyed my time on these teams.  I will be continuing to run the HLS CAS Challenge, and will be a member of the HLS Mixed Media team for next year. :)

I'm entering this card into ATS&M #173 - Holiday ... and my second entry into Sparkle Christmas #52 - Anything Goes.

Thanks so much for dropping by for a visit!

Stamps:  Stars (Big Bold Birthday from Happy Little Stampers); Sentiment (Mixed Christmas Sentiments from Happy Little Stampers)

Paper:  White (Neenah)
Ink:  Delicata Gold (Tsukineko); Distress Inks:  Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  Inka Gold wax, water mister, saran wrap, sponges, Holly Jolly Tree die (Lil' Inkers)

Challenges:

HLS December Christmas Challenge - Star
ATS&M #173 - Holiday
Sparkle Christmas #52 - Anything Goes

Blue Blooms

Hi everyone.  It's the start of a new challenge at Addicted to CAS.

This challenge is being hosted by the super talented Joanna (Harty by Heart) ... and she'll have us all feeling "BLUE" this week. :)

This challenge is sponsored by

I'm still having fun experimenting with both my watercolour sprays and my Zig watercolour pens. :)

This time I made the background using the Faux Mother-of-Pearl technique (click link to see video).  But instead of sponging with waterbased inks after sponging on the frost resist paint, I used my watercolour sprays to add colour.  I sprayed several times, blotting in-between with paper towel until I got the depth of colour I was happy with.  By that time, the card stock was really wet, so I let it dry overnight.  It did warp, but I find if I run it through my Big Shot between two new plates and add a shim, it flattens out really well.  I love the shimmer and shine of the background. Here's a close-up photo so you can see it ...

I stamped my flowers onto mixed media paper in waterproof black (I love working on mixed media paper with the zigs ... or any kind of watercolouring for that matter). The watercolours blend and move so easily as they don't absorb into the paper as fast as w/c paper.  I coloured them with just one shade of turquoise, adding layers to create depth.  Used green for the stems and a little yellow for the flower centers.  I then fussy-cut them and popped them up over my main panel, which was framed with black.  A simple black stamped sentiment and the card was done.

I hope you'll come join us at ATCAS for this fun challenge.  We have Linda (PaperCutting Kind of Day) guest designing for us this month.  Come check out the challenge HERE to see Linda's beautiful "blue" card and the cards from the rest of our wonderfully talented Design Team.  I know you'll be inspired to join in.

I'm going to enter this card into a couple of other challenges:  ATS&M #159 - CAS (second entry) and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes (also second entry). :)

Thanks for dropping by for a visit!

Stamps:  Efflorescence (Penny Black); Where Your Heart Is (Simon Says)

Paper:  White card base and main panel (Neenah); Mixed Media (Strathmore); Black (SU!)
Ink:  Black Archival (Ranger)
Accessories & Tools:  Frost Paint (Tsukineko), saran wrap, Green and Turquoise Watercolour Sprays made from w/c concentrate (Dick Blick)

Challenges:

ATCAS #71 - Blue
ATS&M #159 - CAS
SSS Wednesday - Anything Goes

Faux Mother of Pearl

Hi everyone.  We are already into the second week of the March CAS challenge ... and there are some gorgeous cards in the gallery.  I hope you'll check them out and join in the fun with you CAS Sponged cards!  :)

My card above uses the Faux Mother of Pearl technique.  I have made a youtube video to watch if you're interested in trying this technique.  Basically you randomly pounce a little shimmer paint using a scrunched up piece of cling wrap.  Once dry, you sponge over top with ink ... distress inks and dye inks work best.  The shimmer paint acts as a resist so the ink sits on top of the randomly pounced design --- you just puff it off with a dry paper towel.  Makes for an easy, but beautiful, design that can be used as a background or for die-cutting.  Today I simply punched out four squares from my Faux Mother of Pearl paper and added two-layer butterfly with a scroll die, which I hope looks like a butterfly trail.  :)  A simple sentiment and the card was done.

I hope you'll give this technique a try, or use any sponging technique that you like and join in our fun and easy challenge.  Be sure to keep your card CAS, use some sort of sponging and add to the link at Happy Little Stampers blog.

This is also a reminder of the Mixed Media Card Challenge - Hints of Spring that is running until Mar. 25.   Still lots of time to play! :)

I'll be back next week with a final reminder card for the challenge.  In the meantime, check out the cards below! :)

Butterfly Grid

Stamps:  Bitty Birthday (SU!)

Paper:   White (Neenah); Vellum - 40 lb. (Bazzill)

Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo, Smoky Slate (SU!) 

Accessories & Tools:   Frost Shimmer Paint (Tsukineko), cling wrap, sponges; Elegant Scrollwork die, Moonlight Butterfly die, Kaleidoscope Butterfly die (all from Memory Box)

____________________

I'm going to share a couple of more Faux Mother of Pearl cards I made while on the Dirty Dozen Design Team at SCS.  These haven't been posted on this blog before, so I'm sharing them today.  They are made from one piece of card stock done with the Faux Mother of Pearl technique.  I cut the piece up to create a background for the first card, and used the leftovers to die-cut the butterfly on the second card.

Flowery Thank You

Stamps:  Short and Sweet (SU!)

Paper:  White (Neenah); Whisper White, Bermuda Bay (SU!)

Ink:  Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, Bermuda Bay (SU!)

Accessories & Tools:  Frost Shimmer Paint (Tsukineko), cling wrap, sponges, Madera Corner die (Memory Box), Hydrangea punch (Martha Stewart), Oval Nestability (Spellbinders), half pearls

Lacey Butterfly

Stamps:  Be Happy Sentiments (Amy R)

Paper:  White (Neenah); Whisper White (SU!)

Ink:  Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, Bermuda Bay (SU!)

Accessories & Tools:  Frost Shimmer Paint (Tsukineko), cling wrap, sponges, Circle Nestability (Spellbinders), Flourish #6 die (Crafty Ann); Moonlight Butterfly and Kaleidoscope Butterfly dies (Memory Box), Scoring Plate; Paper piercing tool, and mat

Challenges:

HLS March CAS Challenge - Sponging

Mixed Media Card Challenge - Hints of Spring

Faux Mother of Pearl Technique (Video)

Hi everyone.  I made a tutorial showing how to make the faux-mother-of-pearl background that is used in this card.  It' my first video that I've done by myself. :)  I used my camera ... and thought the quality would be good, but now that it's uploaded to YouTube (after a lot off stressful moments!!), the quality is not as good as I hoped it would be.

But, it's my first attempt at doing this myself, so I've learned lots, which is always a good thing.  I'm hoping to make more videos and improve as I go :)

I'd love for you to take a look ... click HERE to watch on YouTube ... and thanks so much!

At some point I'll need to learn how to embed the videos so they can be seen on my blog as well .... more to learn :)

ETA:  Sue gave me instructions for embedding my video .... THANK YOU SUE!! :)

ETAA (Edited to Add again!) :)  I had a few questions about the supplies used in my video.  Will make sure to add a product list on any future videos. :)

I used SU! inks here, but distress inks also work really well (I have both).  I'm sure there are other inks that would work, but don't have any personal experience.

The Frost White All Purpose ink is made by Tsukineko.  I buy it on-line from Dharma Trading Company (US).  Their prices and shipping rates are really good (they ship international ... I got mine sent here to Canada).  I'm sure any metallic or pearl finish acrylic paint would work well with this resist technique ... I have also used Lumiere acrylic paint, but Tsukineko is my favorite.

I used jumbo daubers for sponging my ink (also made by Tsukineko).  These sponges work well for me.  I bought them on-line through Amazon.com (US).

Thanks again.

Tone-on-tone Copper Butterfly

Hi everyone.  Yesterday I was experimenting with some metallic paints that I just purchased.  They are made by Tsukineko and are an all-purpose ink that washes up with water, but also forms a resist surface on paper (and fabric).  I poured a few drops on my craft sheet and used a scrunched piece of plastic wrap to pounce the copper onto my white panel.  Once dry, I randomly sponged the panel with deep yellow and orange (faux mother-of-pearl technique).

I die-cut a butterfly from a heated piece of copper and placed on the panel ... yuck!  :)  The colors just didn't work.  The orange was good, but the butterfly has lots of pink as well (no yellow tones), so I sponged over the yellow sections of my panel with pink ink and it turned out really pretty.  It's very close to the color of the butterfly.  In fact, in the photo, they look like they match perfectly.  I love the tone-on-tone of this card.

I kept it very CAS by just adding a stamped sentiment.  The sentiment shows up nicely, but you'll see in the close-up below that the ink doesn't stamp perfectly over the copper portions of the card, so it's a little faded in places - I like how it turned out.

Here's the close-up ...

I'm entering this into the current challenge at CAS-ology #94.

Stamps:  Be Happy Sentiments (Amy R)
Paper:  110 lb. white (Neenah); Whisper white for sponged panel (SU!)
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo (SU!)
Accessories & tools:  Big Shot, Moonlight Butterfly die (Memory Box), Copper metal sheet .005 thickness K&S Precision Metals), mini butane torch, Metallic Copper paint (Tsukineko), sponges, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Challenge:
CAS-ology #94 - Metal