Technique of the Week: Rainbow Beam Blending

This technique is from Laura Bassen, and it makes a quick, easy and beautiful background. 

You will use Distress blending for this technique, but you will do it through a stencil. This makes the blending so much easier. You don't have to be as careful because you will not get the splotches that you sometimes might get with regular blending.

First I die cut a panel from Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock, using the Lawn Fawn LF768 Stitched Rectangle Stackables die. I used the largest one that gives me a panel approximately 5" x 3.75".

I taped the panel to my craft sheet, and then taped down a Magenta stencil (TM-147 Stained Glass) centered on the panel. I then got two pieces of Post-it tape to use as masking.

Starting at the left bottom corner of the panel with the stencil over it, I put the two pieces of tape close together and then wider apart going up to the top right. This creates a long triangular shape like a beam of light.

To do the blending, I used three colors of Distress ink (Wilted Violet, Peacock Feathers, and Twisted Citron). I started with Twisted Citron, and working from the bottom to the top, I applied the color with a mini blending tool. This goes very fast, since you don't have to worry so much about building up your color.

I then moved the pieces of tape, allowing part of the initial color to show and some white area. I applied the next color, Peacock Feathers, and quickly blended it into the partial line of Twisted Citron that was showing. I worked across the entire card this way, moving the tape and randomly choosing another of the three colors to blend with.

When I removed the tape and the stencil at the end, the results were striking. You can do this technique with lots of different stencils and colors of ink to create a unique one layer card.

To finish the card, I stamped Happy Birthday, using Magenta's beautiful birthday stamp 07.305.G and Versamark Ink. I thought this looked like a birthday card, and this stamp fit in the opening of the Stained Glass stencil perfectly. I embossed the image with Judikins White Diamond embossing powder.

I matted the panel on So Silk Shocking Green cardstock, which goes very well with Twisted Citron Distress ink. I scattered a few sequins, and it was finished! This technique was easy and fast to do, and I hope you will give it a try. You can see more of the step by step photos on my Backporch blog here.

Other Art 'n Soul news:

Come in to Art 'n Soul this weekend and take a fabulous class with Vesta Able! Vesta will be here all weekend for 3 amazing classes! Scroll down for complete info; we still have a few spots left! When Terry Medaris was here, he had wonderful things to say about Vesta and her talent and creativity. We are so lucky to be able to have Vesta here to teach. 

Five new Nuance colors are coming soon from Magenta.  These colors are in production and they will be out very soon, and they are perfect for Fall! We will be the first store to receive these, so if you want them (and you are going to want them) be sure to put in a paid pink sheet order to reserve your set.

We got our Ranger order, and the new Distress Crayon sets are here! Beautiful colors! We also have Yupo paper and lots of the new alcohol ink colors. If you have not used alcohol ink and Yupo paper, we would love to show it to you. You can make the most beautiful backgrounds. We are also all stocked up on the new and beautiful Enamel Accents from Ranger.

Sets 4 and 5 Distress Crayons

New colors of Alcohol Ink and Yupo paper

Enamel Accents from Ranger

Technique of the Week: Use Those Napkins

How many of you have a stash of some beautiful napkins that you have collected over the years to use with various techniques for your cards?  I know I have a stack of them that I just can part with.  I was recently watching a video by Els of Elizabeth Crafts.  She suggested using the Elizabeth Crafts Silk Microfine Glitter on napkins so I thought I’d give it a try.

I went through my stash of napkins and found one that would work well on a 5 ½” square card.  I separated the three layers of the napkin and cut one square of the napkin for my card.  I cut a piece of white card stock to about 7” x 7” and used a glue stick to cover it with glue. 

I adhered the napkin layer to the piece of cardstock and smoothed it out so there were no wrinkles in the napkin. 

I cut several strips of wide Scor-Tape and placed it over the napkin, covering the entire surface. 

I used a bone folder to smooth it out and ensure it was firmly adhered to the napkin.  I removed the top layer of the Scor-Tape and placed the piece on some wax paper (you could also use a coffee filter.) 

I sprinkled Elizabeth Craft Cool Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter over the entire surface and spread it around with my finger to ensure it was covered.  I tapped off the excess glitter and returned it to the jar. 

I used the cover sheet from the Scor-Tape to burnish the glitter, pushing it into the adhesive.  You can also use a bone folder for this. 

The more you burnish the glitter, the greater the shine. 

Elizabeth Craft Silk Microfine Glitter comes in number of colors to include Warm and Cool Diamond.  The Cool Diamond that I used on this project has a slightly blue tone to it and works well on projects with blues, purples, etc.  The Warm Diamond glitter has a slight rose tone to it and works well on reds, oranges, etc.

I trimmed the napkin down to the size I wanted for my finished card.  This particular napkin had a natural edge on it that I trimmed around. 

I mounted the napkin on a piece of 5” square Glamour Green So Silk paper.  I then adhered the piece to a square of 5 ¼” square Fashion Purple So Silk paper and lastly adhered them to a 5 ½” square card.  I used the new Grape Soda Enamel Accents in the corners. For the sentiment I cut a tag using the second smallest die from the MFT Die-Namics Stitched Traditional Tag Stax (MFT-525) and stamped it with a sentiment from the Penny Black Special Thoughts stamp set (#30-338).  I shaded it slightly with Distress Twisted Citron.  I cut a piece of foam tape slight smaller than the tag and adhered it to the back of the sentiment.  I adhered it to the front of the card and added a couple of highlights with Pink Gumball Enamel Accents. 

This was a fairly quick and easy card and provides another way to use up those beautiful napkins.  You can see the card at Art ‘n Soul and I hope you will give it a try.

Technique of the Week: Bling it Up with Ranger Enamel Accents

We recently got in some new Enamel Accents from Ranger. I absolutely love how they look on a card, and Ranger has come out with so many beautiful colors!

New Ranger Enamel Accents and Dylusions Acrylic Paint

Since I am so in love with anything sparkly or shiny though, I kind of wanted some bling on my accents. Enter Warm Diamond ultra fine glitter, from Elizabeth Crafts.

I made two cards, one pink and red, and one blue and green. To make these, I first used Nuance powdered color (by Magenta) on watercolor paper to color the backgrounds. For the pink and red card I used Red, Scarlet, Hot Pink and Raspberry Nuance; for the blue and green and, I used Yellow, Turquoise, Cerulean Blue and Royal Blue. Credit goes to Marj Marion for inspiration on the design of these cards.

When the Nuance panels were dry, I stamped the Magenta Multilingual Happy Birthday stamp (C07.907.L) on each of them using Versamark ink. I embossed the sentiment with Judikins White Diamond embossing powder.



I cut the Nuance colored pieces out with one of the Die-Namics MFT-847 Inside/Out Stitched Rectangles. I cut a piece of white fun foam to pop the panels up, and adhered it to the back of the panel.

I then cut out a piece of white cardstock for each card, using the Lawn Fawn LF768 Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables die. Using the largest die in this set, I was able to cut out a stitched panel that measures 5" x 3.75".

I adhered the white pieces to matting panels that measure 5.25" x 4", and the matting panels were adhered to the base cards. The matting panels I chose to match the colors in the Nuance were So Silk Glamour Green and So Silk Beauty Pink. The Nuance panels were then placed in the center of the base panels.

Once the cards were put together, I applied some Ranger Enamel dots to the front of the cards, squeezing the enamel out slowly and carefully to form round dots.  For the pink/red card I used Pink Gumball, Classic Cherry and Wild Orchid; for the blue/green card, I used Electric Lime, Caribbean Coast, and Blue Ribbon.



While the dots were still wet, I liberally sprinkled Elizabeth Crafts ultra fine Warm Diamond glitter on top of them and let it sit there until they had dried.



Once the dots dried, I rubbed them to brighten the glitter. The glitter did alter the look of the dots somewhat, but I like how they look.

I love the extra sparkle this technique adds, and I hope you give it a try!


You can see more pictures of this process on my Backporch blog here.