Hello everyone! The weather is cooling quickly and I can spot snow on the mountain tops. My daughter and grandson from Alberta were visiting me in British Columbia last week for Canadian Thanksgiving. They arrived back home to a winter wonderland! Time to get cracking on more Christmas cards! I have another set of twelve cards featuring Simon Says Stamp's Slimline Scene Builder but, this time, working with Simon's dye inks. I will also highlight a fun embossing technique to create snow. To see the cards using this stamp set with a print making technique, click here.
The Background
The cards were made in assembly line fashion. Twelve panels were die cut from the small stitched die in Pinkfresh Studio's Slim Stitched Rectangles (I used the panels leftover from making frames in the Printmaking post ... click here). The sky stamp was lined up on a panel in a stamping platform making sure there was room for the ground stamp. Four panels were stamped with each of the following Simon Says Stamp Dye Inks; Sea Glass, Soft Navy, Maliblue and Wisteria (Hybrid Ink). The lighter inks were stamped twice while the darker ones were stamped three to four times. Dye inks can appear splotchy at first. With time, the tone will even out and lighten slightly.
Special Embossing Technique
To create the snowy drift, the ground panel was lined up in the stamping platform and inked with Versamark. All the panels were embossed with white embossing powder. Working on three or four panels at a time, the embossed areas were glazed. I used Glossy Accents and Nuvo Crystal Glaze... not at the same time! LOL! Both products work well with this technique. White embossing powder was applied to the wet glaze and then heat set.
Tip ... When heat setting, ensure the heat tool is hot. It may take several seconds for the embossing powder to come to the melting point. Keep the heat tool moving. The glaze will bubble but will settle as it cools leaving an amazing texture.
The panels should be left to dry over night. When dry, the embossed texture will be solid.
The Elements
The lights were stamped first. Line them up on the panel by overlaying the large tree stamp. The lights were inked with Distress Oxide inks; Picked Raspberry, Festive Berries, Fossilized Amber and Wilted Violet. The stamped lights on the darker panels will appear faint ... for now! Let the panels completely dry before embossing the tree in white.
The Sentiments
For the lighter panels, the sentiment was stamped directly on the panel with Versafine ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. Sentiment strips were created for the dark panels. Again, the sentiments was stamped with Versafine and clear embossed. The sentiments and foam were die cut with Simon Says Stamp's Sentiment Label die set, stacked and adhered to the panel.
Card Assembly
The panels were mounted on white sheet foam. Using the largest die in Pinkfresh Studio's Slim Stitched Rectangles, card stock was die cut. The card stock matched the background dye ink. The foam backed panels were mounted on the card stock and adhered to card bases measuring 3 3/4" by 8 3/4". Nuvo Glitter Drops, White Blizzard, was applied to the lights. When working on the darker panels, I kept a a lighter panel side-by-side to help me map out the lights! When dry, the glitter drops are clear and enhance the colour.