Mix up Your Matting

For this week’s technique I decided to try a different way of matting my finished product. Changing up your matting and layouts has been the subject on several blogs recently and I’ve been anxious to give it a try.

To start, I selected my stamps and a rectangular die. I used the tulip stamp from the Penny Black set, “Flower Gala” (#40-437), the sentiment “I treasure your friendship” from the Penny Black set “Special Thoughts” (#30-338) and rectangular die from the Spellbinders A2 Matting Basics A set.

To get started I cut a piece of Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper to 4” x 5 ¼”. I put it in my Mini MISTI and then centered my sentiment in the middle of the paper. Before stamping I also decided which rectangle die I was going to use to cut my design by placing it on the paper over the sentiment. After I was happy with the layout, I removed the die and then inked my sentiment with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink. I stamped the sentiment and then embossed it with Judikins Clear Detail Embossing Powder.

Next I put my tulip stamp on an acrylic block and inked it with Versafine Spanish Moss ink. 

I stamped the image repeatedly around the outside edge of the card, reinking in between each stamping. I then embossed the images with Judikins Clear Detail Embossing Powder. The Versafine ink stays wet long enough to allow you to stamp all the images and then apply your embossing powder. You could stamp a few images, heat emboss and then do more stamping, if you prefer.

I decided to “paint” my image using Distress Markers but you can also use Tombow Markers. This is very similar to the painting technique Dianne used last week which you can read about on her blog here. Like Dianne, I tested my colors on a piece of scrap watercolor paper until I found the colors I wanted. For the leaves and stems I used Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn. For the tulips I used Carved Pumpkin, Ripe Persimmon, Candied Apple, Festive Berries, Squeezed Lemonade, Abandoned Coral and Worn Lipstick. I encourage you to try your favorite colors, especially since flowers come in every color of the rainbow.

This is one of my favorite techniques for coloring cards and when using this technique, I also like to use water mixed with Perfect Pearls, rather than regular water, for blending. It just adds a bit of extra shimmer. I just pour some from my spray bottle into a small bowl. I also have another small bowl of regular water that I use to rinse my brush.
 

I started with the leaves and colored them with the Twisted Citron and added a bit of Mowed Lawn for shading. I dipped a small watercolor brush into my Perfect Pearl water and blended. If the color was too light, I scribbled some color onto my craft mat, picked it up with my brush and added it to the leaf. (Note: Once you have added water to part of your image, don’t touch your marker back to that part of your paper.) I also rinsed my brush in the regular water each time before dipping it into the Perfect Pearl Water to avoid contaminating with colors. 
 

I worked my way around the card until all the leaves were complete. You want to color and paint one leaf at a time so the markers stay wet long enough to be blendable.
 

I used the same process for the tulips, using one or two colors for each blossom and then blending.

As with the leaves, I did one flower at a time so the ink from the marker still blended well.

When you hold the card panel up to the light you can see the shimmer created by the Perfect Pearl water.

When I finished the flowers, I splattered the card panel lightly with gold paint from an Art Quest palette and then set it aside to dry.

To assemble the card, I adhered a piece of So Silk Beauty Pink, cut to 4 ¼” x 5 ½” to the front of an A2 card. When my card panel was dry I centered the small rectangle die on the card panel and taped it in place before running it through my Big Shot.

I also cut a piece of fun foam with the same die. I adhered the outside portion of the card panel to the front of my card. Before adhering the border to the front of your card, make sure you have the panel right side up.

I trimmed the fun foam so it was just slightly smaller than the cut out of the card panel. I adhered that to the front of the card.

Next cut another piece of So Silk Beauty Pink so it is just a tiny bit larger than the center of your card panel. You only want to see a tiny, tiny bit of the pink. Adhere the center of the card panel to the So Silk paper and adhere that to your fun foam. To finish the card I added a few iridescent sequins. I also like to put a drop of glossy accents or a drop of Pico Shimmer in the center of my sequins.

I’ve made another version of this card without the center mat and I was surprised at what a difference adding the mat to the center of the card made to the finished look. This technique also works well with large stamps that cover the entire card panel, and dies of any shape. I hope you give it a try.