Saturday, February 6, 2016

Saturday Step by Step - Spectacular Card

Hi everyone and welcome! It's Jenny here with the step by step I promised on Wednesday. To refresh your memory here's the finished card;


Looks complicated? Actually it's not - and there are plenty of opportunities to correct mistakes as we go along! (always helpful eh?!) Grab a cuppa and let's get started...


Cut a strip of card 9.5cm by 20.5cm (roughly 3.75 inches by 8 inches) and cover in white gesso (this matters so don't skip it.)


Spread embossing paste through the Vintage Quilt stencil concentrating on the top left and bottom right hand corners. Don't panic if it's not perfect - that's fine for this!


Pour white embossing powder over the wet paste and when dry heat set.


Did you know you can use your alcohol inks for more than just metal?! They work brilliantly on top of a gesso'd background as this prevents them from sinking into your card immediately on impact. Spray a little water over the embossed areas of the card. Then splatter Butterscotch alcohol ink using a small paint brush. You can drip the ink directly onto the card but I found I had more control using a brush, starting with a few drips and adding more as required. Blot off the excess ink and water with tissue before moving on. You'll find this will lighten everything too, so don't be scared when using darker/bolder colours.


With the first layer dry spray a new layer of water and drip on Meadow ink, repeating the process of dabbing and drying as above. Drying as you go prevents the inks from blending into a brown puddle.


I repeated the process with Mountain Rose ink (water, splatter, pat dry).


The beauty of adding a little at a time and blotting as you go is that you can always add more if the colour isn't intense enough. You'll see here I went back to the Meadow ink.


Finally I splattered Mushroom ink over the water/embossed areas to add that touch of 'vintage'. Set your base layer aside to dry completely.


Stamp flower heads onto card using Jet Black Archival Ink. Originally I stamped two flowers but as you'll have seen I ended up making three to balance the final design.


Use a mini blending tool to apply Tea Rose Archival Ink to the flowers, starting and concentrating on the centres before working outwards.


Cut out the flowers, then apply embossing ink, Frosted Crystal embossing powder and heat set. The trick with this stuff is to under heat it as it reaches melting point super quick.


Mix embossing paste with a little Fern Green Reinker (you could use the Meadow ink at a push) and spread through the Vintage Floral stencil. I used one side for the lower stems and flipped the stencil over to do the upper stems.


To break up the stencilling I splattered a little Picket Fence Distress Spray Stain over the background.


Finally edge the background with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and a Distressing Tool. The bonus with having a gesso layer is that if you add too much ink on the edges you can rub it back with tissue and even blot some off with wet tissue!


I stamped a sentiment in the corner with Jet Black Archival Ink before adding the flowers (raised up on foam pads) and sticking it onto a card blank. And hey presto!...


Hopefully you'll have enjoyed this tutorial and picked up a few hints and tips along the way. There are links to all the products available through The Funkie Junkie Boutique below.

And of course if this has inspired you to get embossing there's still time to enter our 'Enjoy your Embossing' challenge through to Tuesday, February 9th.

Have a great weekend and take care of yourselves. Jenny xxx


55 comments:

  1. Fabulous steps, love the alcohol ink on the gesso background. TFS xxx

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    1. Thank you Brenda. Helps get round the whole wet ink on gesso issue! Jenny x

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  2. That's a spectacular card Jenny, great steps by steps. It seemed a shame to cover that gorgeous textured background! x

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    1. Thank you Jane. I know, it had to be done though! Jenny x

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  3. That's a spectacular card Jenny, great steps by steps. It seemed a shame to cover that gorgeous textured background! x

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  4. Fabulous card Jenny I have learnt something new with this tutorial, I have loads of alcohol inks but never used them with water over Gesso, thanks again for yet more inspiration.
    Mo x

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    1. Thanks Mo. Hope this gets you playing with them again! Jenny x

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  5. Such a clever way to do the background-very inspiring. I love the finished card as well

    Cghrissie xx

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  6. I absolutely love this technique, and would never have thought of using alcohol ink on top of gesso. The finish looks like porcelain, and I just love the colors you used. You are so brilliant, Jenny!

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  7. WOW!!!!! Fantastic tutorial, Jenny. Love this technique. What a gorgeous background it has created. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Hugs,
    Linda

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  8. I can't believe you did that background with alcohol inks, what!!!! That's awesome Jenny. I love how you used just a portion of the stencil to create your trail of leaves. Love it. Thanks for the great tutorial. hugs :)

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  9. What a great tutorial. Thank you, Jenny. Have to give this a try.

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    1. Thank you Darlene. I look forward to seeing what you create. Jenny x

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  10. What a wonderful step by step Jenny - thanks bunches. And just a STUNNINGLY LOVELY card too. Have a super weekend. j.

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  11. This is gorgeous! Thank you so much for the step by step! LOVE this so much :)

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  12. great tutorial Jenny - fabulous techniques and explanation - didn't know that about the alcohol inks - brilliant! Hugs rachel x

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    1. Thank you Rachel! Another playtime idea :) Jenny x

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  13. Thank you for this technique tutorial, I bought Gesso 2 or 3 months ago and was immediately intimidated and it's been setting on my shelf ever since. Now I have a jump start. I'm hoping my card will turn out as pretty as yours.

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    1. Thank you. Gesso is the best ever as it tones everything down and if all goes wrong it's great for covering things up too! Play, enjoy and share what you make. Jenny x

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  14. What a great tutorial Jenny, I have never tried that AI technique but will do now! Your card is beautiful. Anne x

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    1. Thank you Anne! Looking forward to seeing what you create with it. Jenny x

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  15. Wow!! This is gorgeous and thanks for the fun tutorial! Beautiful colors and fantastic design!
    Sherrie K

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  16. Loved seeing how you layered in all the beautiful color and texture on your gorgeous art!

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  17. How beautiful, that background is gorgeous
    Claire xx

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  18. Am in love with your gorgeous project! And a fabulous tutorial too! Many thanks Jenny for sharing your step by step with us.
    Because of the lovely ladies on the DT here I am learning more every week about the products I own.
    I've only used alcohol inks on glossy card or metal before so learning another way I can incorporate them into my projects makes me hugely grateful to all of you for sharing the how and why.
    Once again I am hugely inspired by the step by steps and now want to play and experiment more and once again I must say I am grateful to you all Karen x

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    1. I'm so pleased to hear that the fabulous team I have the pleasure of working with are inspiring you so much and it's fantastic to hear you are learning with us too. Thank you so much for your kindness and for 'tuning in' regularly. Jenny x

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  19. Fabulous step x step Jenny ! Love the build up of the background. Sue C x

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  20. A really beautiful card Jenny and a fab tutorial with inspiration for such a unique way ( to me anyway) a background . Love the card shape n size - perfect for yur design .
    thank you for sharing x

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  21. This is so very lovely, Jenny! Great inky drips in the stenciled background and lovely arrangement of the florals and vines.

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  22. Great to see how it was all done - a fabulous step by step.
    Alison xx

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  23. Wonderful Jenny, I've never used alcohol inks like this, will definitely give it a try, love the results! Deb xo

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  24. Jenny, I am so grateful for your amazing and very informative tutorial. Your card is BEAUTIFUL, and I would have never guessed you used alcohol inks! Nor would have I thought to pair them with gesso. You are an artistic genius, and I'm so pleased you shared your techniques with us! Hugs!

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  25. Fabulous tutorial, Jenny! I've been excited about it since I first saw your project!

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  26. Fabulous tute!! Alcohol inks .. What!! Never would have guessed .. amazing background, (have to try that) brilliant technique and super gorgeous to boot!! Love this Jenny!! xx

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    1. Thank you Margaret! I'm not the first to use it by a long way but it's always worth sharing. Jenny x

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  27. STUNNING! Love love love the background Jenny. Thanks for showing us such a great step by step. I'm going to try this out for sure. :) x

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    1. Thank you so much Zoe! Looking forwards to seeing the results. Jenny x

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