Technique of the Week: Easy Inlay by Dianne Johnson

I got the idea for this technique from Jennifer McGuire's blog. She's always thinking up easier ways to do complicated things, and we like that!

I thought it would be fun to show this technique using Yupo paper and alcohol ink. I wanted to show how you can die-cut Yupo paper with beautiful results.

For this technique I chose a Poppy die 1840 Gentle Leaf Collage, and the Magenta stamp 07.928.I With Sympathy. 

I applied alcohol ink to a piece of Yupo paper, using the same technique shown here. I wanted to show that you can also die cut the Yupo paper, although it can't be torn. For this piece I used some of my favorite new colors of alcohol ink, Amethyst, Limeade, Valencia, and Turquoise.

In planning my design, first I cut the die out of white paper and placed the Yupo paper colored with alcohol inks behind it. It was pretty, but I wanted the colors of the alcohol ink piece to show up more, and I needed more space for my sentiment.

I put the die onto another piece of white cardstock onto my cutting plates and placed the sentiment where I wanted it. I moved the die around until I thought there would be plenty of room for both; then removed the stamp before running the die through with the white cardstock.

I then arranged my die on the Yupo paper. My goal was for the die to cut through the Yupo paper, but for all the pieces to remain in the paper.

I looked carefully at the back of the Yupo paper, with the die still stuck to the other side. It looked like it all cut through.
Leaving the cut pieces in the Yupo paper, I then carefully placed the front of the white cut out onto the back of the Yupo paper so that they matched up perfectly.

Working on the back of the white die cut piece that is lined up on the Yupo paper, I adhered scor tape to the entire area of the die cut opening.

The effect of this is that there will be adhesive facing through all of the holes in the front of the die cut opening.

Once the back was completely covered, I flipped it over to the front, and the die is still attached to it.

I poked a sharp tool through all of the holes in the back of the die to ensure that the Yupo paper would release from the die.
As I peeled the die carefully away from the Yupo paper, it revealed that the die cut pieces were still in place, and this is what you want. If any pieces fall out (two of mine did), place them back in their spaces. I pressed the colored Yupo side very firmly.

Since I put adhesive on the back of the white panel that is positioned right behind the Yupo panel, all of the die cut pieces in the Yupo panel stuck to that adhesive. The Yupo pieces only stuck where there was adhesive facing through the die cut.

I carefully peeled the Yupo panel off of the white panel underneath, and the die cut pieces of Yupo paper stayed behind, stuck to the adhesive. If any of them tried to peel up with the Yupo panel, I pressed them down with my sharp tool, so that they all stayed behind, stuck to the scor tape.

The white panel has the Yupo pieces beautifully inlaid into the die cut holes, and I have a beautiful Yupo panel that I can use on another card.

I placed the panel into my MISTI to stamp the sentiment, but first I wanted to stamp it onto a piece of grid paper to ensure that it was perfectly straight. After I did all of this work, I didn't want any mistakes at the end.

With the first stamping, the sentiment did not stamp all the way. It took a number of stampings to get it all stamped and I found myself wishing I had used the Creative Corners for the MISTI. Sometimes when you stamp close to the edges some stamps do not stamp well there.

Although I finally got the sentiment stamped correctly, I got a little smudge in the upper right hand corner. I used a Mono Sand eraser to take that out, with no damage to the cardstock. We do sell these erasers at the shop and I highly recommend getting one for your kit.

I hope you will give this technique a try! It's much easier to do it than explain it! It really is much easier than trying to individually place each die cut piece by hand.

To see step by step photos of this technique, please go to my Backporch blog here.

WHAT'S NEW AT ART 'N SOUL:

The second set of Distress Oxide colors are scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday, July 19. We have been taking pre-orders, and they are selling very quickly. Call us to make a paid order and reserve yours.

Ranger has told us that the new Tim Holtz Stamp Platform will start being shipped as soon as they receive them, and they expect them any day. We are taking paid pre-orders for these Platforms, and they are selling very quickly. If you want one, call or come by to reserve yours.

We just received a shipment from our distributor, with lots of things, including scor tape, specialty Deco foils, Nuvo drops, Mono Sand erasers, alcohol inks, Yupo paper and much more!

Pam has scheduled the newest mini class! 
Sunday, July 30^th, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. "MINI CLASS - CHRISTMAS IN JULY” – Pam Nelson $5 cash or store credit

by Pam Nelson

Do you want to get an early start on your holiday cards? Drop by the store any time between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to make this fun card featuring a new die from Memory Box’s holiday release. Pam will show you how to use two colors of glitter to make a shiny, yet easy, card. Please bring your double sided adhesive and fine tip glue applicator, if you have them.

We will be opening the Memory Box/Poppy catalog in conjunction with this class! The newest collection from Memory Box and Poppy is Holiday and Christmas, and there are some beautiful new dies that you are going to love!

For all the news on classes and events at Art 'n Soul, you can link to our latest email newsletter here. There is a link above on this blog for our calendar, or you can link to it here. Come in and see us soon!

Technique of the Week: More Fun With Vellum

This week I’m showing you another fun way to color vellum. With this technique you can make an easy, fast card that has beautiful pops of color. I got this from Jennifer McGuire, and changed it up just a little.

You will need dye based ink, vellum, stamps, Versamark, and white embossing powder. I think White Diamond embossing powder would work very well for this also, but I needed to make some sympathy cards, and I didn’t want them to be too sparkly. I used Distress inks for this because at 60 colors, they have a huge range of colors to choose from, and they worked very well. For stamps I used Magenta Dogwood Branch 0643.P and With Sympathy 07.928.I. 

I took a piece of 48# vellum and cut it to 4” x 6”. I scored it at 5” and made a flap to fasten it around the top of the mat card after I finished coloring and stamping. I used the Distress cubes to add the color, since you can color smaller areas with them. Using the Wilted Violet color first, I rubbed the pad directly onto the vellum.    

I then rubbed the color with a clean cloth until it was no longer shiny and wet. I did this in different sections with each of the three colors.

Making sure the panel was dry, using my new mini MISTI (LOVE), I stamped the Dogwood Branch, and the sentiment onto the now colored vellum with Versamark ink. I embossed the stamping with JudiKins White Opaque embossing powder.

To enhance the Dogwood Branch image, I colored the inside of the dogwood petals with a white Prismacolor pencil. I went over the top of the coloring with a Wink of Stella clear glitter marker for just a touch of shimmer.

I made two more cards in this same way, using the same stamps, but different colors. They were amazingly fast and easy to do.

To finish the cards, I attached the panels to a piece of cardstock cut to 5.25” x 4”.  For the green/blue and the blue/purple ones, I used white as the backing, but for the orange/pink/blue one, I found that a piece of orange Stardream looked the best. I folded the scored flap over the top of the mat and attached it with scor tape. I put a little vellum tape along the sides and bottom of the colored panel. The entire matted pieces were attached to a base cards, which were cut and scored to an A2 size. 

For more step-by step pictures, plus close-up photos of each card, please go to my Backporch blog post here.

In our last order to Penny Black, Susie got a die called "Out to Sea." She recently made a couple of cards, and we wanted to share them with you here. We are taking paid pink sheet orders because everyone who sees these cards in person wants this beautiful die. We have taken some photos of them for you, but you should really see them in person, since the photos don't really do them justice. Many people think that the one that was cut from white is an embossed stamp.

It's not embossed, it's a die! Glossy paper was used, and the color in the background is alcohol ink, as is the color in the foreground of the one below.

Yes, it's one die. We think these cards are beautiful and elegant, and would make great guy cards!

Technique of the Week: White Pencil Shading

Love this technique that I found at Jennifer McGuire's blog. This is a super simple technique that you can do by stamping with white pigment ink (I used Hero Arts White Unicorn ink, and we have this in stock at Art 'n Soul, with more on the way!). You also need a white Prismacolor pencil, and we have these in stock too.

This works best with dark cardstock, but you could use a dark pink and make a nice Mother's Day card. It could also be used for a Birthday, or just "Thinking of You."

For this card I used one of the new Magenta collection stamps Iceland Poppy 14.650.P, and the sentiment is also from Magenta, With Sympathy 07.928.I.

Full instructions for this card, and a few more photos can be found in our weekly newsletter, and also at Dianne's blog "Backporch". You can link to the post here.

If you don't get our weekly newsletter, you can sign up at the shop. If you are not local and wish to get it, you can email us your name and ask to be added to the mailing list. We try to do a new Technique of the Week each week, and we put in lots of other things, such as happenings in the store, and also classes. We won't spam you! We send out our email newsletter each Friday.

You can link to our archived newsletters at the right top of this post, and you can also link to our store calendar and other information.

Come in and see us, we have just gotten in lots of things from Memory Box, Penny Black and Magenta. You know how fast these things go out, so hurry in! All of the new Magenta Nuance colors sold out on the first day. We still have the sets of 15 colors, and you can be sure to get the 5 new colors by ordering them on a paid pink sheet. This is the best way to ensure you get them with the next shipment, which will be soon.

Oh! and Pam opened up a couple of spots in her Nuance'd Die Cuts class, both for this Saturday the 30th and for Wednesday evening, May 4th. Call or come in to sign up, you will be glad you did! You do not have to already own Nuance to take this class, so if you have been wanting to try it out, this is your chance! Here's an example of a card you will make in this class.

Using Nuance, a Magenta stamp and Memory Box die...we think it's stunning!