Wednesday, September 30, 2015

It's All About the Ombre

I worked on another Ombre card today in between my puppy girl, Holly, wanting to be on my lap for some snuggles and trying to get some of the mess off my desk.  I completely failed at the latter. Plus, I got some new white paper to photograph my cards on and it is much whiter than what I had before so that means fewer edits.  What I had before was from when I had a portrait studio and it was a much softer white to go with skin tones for high key photos. 

While this card front is ready, I haven't actually attached it to a card base yet. When I do, it'll likely be on Whisper White or Bazzill Card Shoppe Marshmallow.   Either of those work well with the not so stark white of my watercolor paper.  


I have a little trouble getting good pictures that accurately portray everything on the cards, but I did my best to get some closer shots and if I tell you what is there, you might just be able to see it. *Ü*


For this card, I started with a panel of Canson Water Color Paper.  When I was in class last week and the early part of this week, I played with some of my reinkers with some Perfect Pearls Solution mixed in.  I love the soft shimmer this gives to your paper, even with the water mixed in. My best guess is that the colors I used here are Bermuda Bay, Wild Wasabi and Tempting Turquoise.   You can make your Perfect Pearls Mist using a Mister Bottle with some Perfect Pearls Pigment Powder or you can just buy the ready made spray.  Another product you can use to achieve some sparkle and shimmer is Tsukineko Sheer Shimmer Spray.  These both use water in the spray, so you can't get too heavy handed with it.  It works best if you spray a light layer and then go back with another coat or two depending on your personal taste.   I love shimmer and sparkle so for me, it's usually three coats but it took me a while to go easier and in layers so my paper didn't warp too badly.  Next I embossed that using a We R Memory Keepers embossing folded in an arrow design.  I also used the Sheer Shimmer Spray after I cut this panel using the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles.  This size is the 2nd to largest frame.



The Scalloped Rectangle started as Soft Sky paper from Stampin' Up.  Using the Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool, I blended in SU! Bermuda Bay going in a circular motion and not paying too much attention to the center panel since I knew I was going to be covering it up.  I wanted the edges of this panel to be the dark part of the color.  The ink blending tool lets you do that without too heavy a concentration of whatever ink pad you are using.  It's a good idea to get a package of foam replacement pads and just have one for each color family of inks that you have.    There are so many blues that I have one for dark blues like navy, one for ocean blues and a 3rd one for light blues.  So far this is working for me.

Next I used Distress Marker in Peacock Feathers (with some Shabby Shutters for the leaves and stems) to watercolor my heat set Persian Motifs image.   Because my watercolor paper is not bright white, I use Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Powder.  You could also use any color you desire to be included in your final card front.  I haven't tried gold or silver yet, but it's on my to do list! Heat setting your image with embossing powder makes water coloring incredibly easy.  For the first layer of color on the flower, I used my water brush, but the 2nd and 3rd layers were blended using my Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Pen. That was another technique they used in my online card class.  Once I had the image colored in, I die cut it with the matching die.  This stamp set has three sizes and shapes of floral images and some separate leaves so you can build a scene if you like.

I like to attach the flowers with a small bit of foam adhesive in the center of the biggest part of the flower and then I used Ranger Multi-Medium Matte on all the other parts of the flower to stick them down. That makes it look a bit raised up/bigger in the center so it seems a little more realistic and dimensional.  If I don't have smaller squares on hand, I just cut a big one in half or in quarters.


This butterfly die is one made by Impression Obsession and is a two piece die set. None of the stores I am affiliated with carry this die.  It was purchased at this year's local CK Scrapbook Convention.  Mine has a 3-inch wing span if you want to compare the sizes. 

I cut the butterfly's body with some paper scraps and the wings from vellum. Bazzill makes a really nice 40# vellum.  I like to use an adhesive down just the center of the body to attach the vellum layer.  I used Ranger Multi Medium Matte and it dried clear with no traces of adhesive showing either through the vellum or oozing out from the sides of the body.  I tried a different liquid adhesive first and that one was not very successful.  Once I had that adhered, I used my Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush Pen on the vellum layer and the base layer where the cut outs are.  If you haven't tried that product, I highly recommend it.  It's made by Zig and has a real brush tip just like the Zig Clean Color Markers.  I also use a dimensional adhesive to attach the butterfly to the panel in just the front center of the body.  This gives it a bit of lift up front in a natural looking way.  Next I put a little bit of Multi Medium Matte on each end of the wing and at the "tail" of the body.  I never attach the wings all the way to the body because I want to make it seem as if it just landed on the flower.  Even though it goes down in the mail, it pops back up a bit when the recipient opens it so it keeps that effect.  


Now I confess, I had to put my ink pad carousel on the card for a few minutes to get the flower stuck down because watercolor paper is so thick and heavy that it kept wanting to pop off.  That did the trick for me.  It was the heaviest thing in my line of sight so I figured it would work.  I added just a few Peacock colored sequins from the Rhythm & Blues Collection for the final touch. 

I also want to say that the Ranger Multi Medium Matte is incredible stuff.  It really does dry to a matte finish and becomes virtually invisible.  I could not understand why everyone loved that stuff so much when I started making cards. I mean, its only glue after all (LOL).  Well I have used it on some difficult to adhere things with fantastic results but the clincher here for me was the way it disappeared under the vellum when it dried.  I'm totally sold.  Thankfully, I have a couple of bottles on hand since they are not very big.  I'm always surprised at how little it takes for great sticking power.  Its also great to use for sequins or other embellishments you might want to add to your projects.  You do need to give it a minute to dry.  After that, you are good to go.  Do yourself a favor though and get some Fineline Applicator Tips.  These caps will fit right on your Ranger Glossy Accents and Ranger Multi Medium Matte and have a built in Cap/Wire system to keep it from clogging.  I have the 18 gauge and the 20 gauge but I find the 20 gauge is too small for me.  

I hope you enjoyed this card.  I'll be back soon with another project.  

3 comments:

  1. Dropped in seeing your card thumbnail at a Challenge . I love the beautiful shimmer you were able to achieve and the colors are so soothing and free flowing...a stunning creation
    Cheers
    Dr Sonia

    ReplyDelete
  2. So bright and colourful. The background is awesome. Love your card. Thanks so much for playing along Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge.
    Gayatri

    ReplyDelete

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