Adding Gloss Tutorial for Bugaboo

As a guest designer for Bugaboo Stamps, I get to share a crafty tutorial with you! One of my favourite techniques is to add little bits of gloss to my stamped images to give them just that little extra OOMPH, and Jodi's fab characters (with glasses, yay!) are perfect for this.

For this project, I decided I also wanted to pop up the mug for some extra dimension, so I printed out two copies of the image Stella Peeker- Magical Substance

Colour the images with your medium of choice - I used Spectrum Noir markers. As you can see I only coloured the portion of the second image that I will be cutting out.

Now for the fun part! I use Mod Podge Dimensional Magic, but you can use any gloss medium (such as Glossy Accents). I save the plastic clamshell packaging from tapes, etc, to use as disposable glue and paint trays. You'll also need a toothpick! 

Squeeze a small amount (you can always add more if you need to) into your tray, dab the toothpick into it, and dot onto the area you want glossy - in this case, Stella's glasses. 

I also coated the handle of the mug, and the part of the mug showing behind the coffee. 

Now, how to cover a larger area? Dabbing with the toothpick is going to take a lonnnng time. Carefully outline the area you want to coat...

...and smoosh it around with your toothpick. You can add more gloss if needed, but it's realllly hard to get it off if you've added too much! 

Set aside to dry. And I mean really, set it aside. Don't poke it to check if it's dry, because it won't be, and then your fingerprints will be in the gloss, and you'll be sad. Ask me how I know.

Here's what it looks like when the gloss is DRY and your images are ready to finish: 

I cut out the red portion of the mug, and used foam tape to add it to the fully coloured panel, and then I finished my card. To get the thin black borders on all the panels, I used a black marker. I love the pop without the extra bulk of matting them! 

Supplies: Bugaboo Stella Peeker - Magical Substance; Spectrum Noir markers; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic; AC paper; home made enamel dots 

There you have it - a really simple technique that will always have people asking you "how did you DO that?"
xoxo,
Jessi

How my house helps me create!

Or sometimes "helps", lol. This is a longish one, so bear with me. First up, how I make enamel dots at home - and then a card.

1. Preheat your oven to 375F, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. You can re-use the parchment paper several times if you remember where you put it afterwards!

2. Gather your minions! Connor's on the left, Riley on the right. They actually argue over who gets to help with making these :)

3. Have your minions lay out plastic pony beads on the cookie sheet. You can buy these just about anywhere that sells kids' craft supplies - I got a bag of 1000 from *koff* Wal-Mart for about $8. 

They should be laid out about 1/2 inch apart, but when the minions do it I try not to be toooooo bossy about it. 

4. Put the tray in the oven & set the timer for 20 minutes. My oven normally takes about 30, but I like to check partway in case something goes wrong. 

It will stink. Don't hang out in the kitchen while they're baking. I leave the windows open & a fan going, and the smell dissipates within a half hour, but PU.

As you can see, if they are too close together you'll have some conjoined dots - they don't break apart nicely, so I just leave them like that & have a little collection of odd dots. It doesn't take long for them to cool or set - I normally take the parchment off the cookie sheet to speed up the cooling, and ten minutes later they're ready for step five:

5. (not shown) intervene when the minions fight over who gets to sort them by colour into baggies.

Since I've done it a number of times I may have missed a step thinking it's obvious - let me know if you need any clarification!

I wanted to include a card using enamel dots with this, and I was instantly inspired by the photo at The Pink Elephant this week - and that's where the second part of "helping" comes from.

The culprit:

Maggie, also known as Maggie Mittens, Twinkle Toes, Trouble, Whiner, and a variety of other names. Don't let that innocent sleeping face fool you - she is TROUBLE. I'd made my card, and put it (and others) in the little box I use for finished cards that aren't photographed yet. When I got up Wednesday morning, she'd been on my desk in the night (she's the only one of the three cats who's ever been caught up there) and knocked a bunch of stuff over. She also left footprints on the paper I use as my crafting surface - and somehow got her chubby clumsy butt into that tiny box, leaving smudges on the cards. So lucky for me that I had used a lot of white the day before.... one of the other cats is also a polydactyl, but hers look more like a 'thumb' sticking out than Maggie's. Plus, dirty feet? Definitely Maggie. 

So here's what she did to that card:

Yeah, can't really disguise those smudges. So I made a new one:

Supplies: lanterns stamp from Flourishes; sentiment from Paper Smooches; dots from PTI; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Spectrum Noir markers; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic; Distress inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass; home made enamel dots

I really loved the polka dot lantern, so I dug the scraps out of the recycling bin & had enough to piece it. The others are coloured twice, and all the lanterns were rolled around a pencil for dimension before adding them with foam dots. Then they're coated with Mod Podge Dimensional Magic for gloss. 

As I said twelve paragraphs ago, this was inspired directly by the photo at the Pink Elephant! The lanterns, colours, and neutral background :)

xoxo,
Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #230 - Anything Goes, Continued!

**For my Flourishes Guest Post, please scroll down or click here. Thanks!!!**

Welcome to week two of our annual Anything Goes challenge at Tuesday Morning Sketches! A few of us have additional projects to share this week as we remind you that you still have until next Sunday, January 5th, to play along with us! 

I've made a gift card holder that I'm rather proud of. I made a lot of these in Christmas designs, and made another one for a birthday so that I could take pictures & show you how it's made. Math, yo. Not my strong suit!

Start with a piece of card stock measuring 5.25" X 11". Score on the long side at 3", 5.5", and 8. Fold on the score lines into a W shape: (Remember, don't clean your desk if you're taking pictures!) Also, this looks more like an M. WHATEVER.

The centre piece (the valley of the M) will be your gift card slot. This picture is blurry but hopefully you get the idea. Centre a gift card along the fold, marking lightly with pencil the edges of the card. 

Choose a die large enough to accommodate your gift card - here I've used the 2nd largest Labels 4 Nesties die. Line it up with your pencil marks & use the partial die cutting technique to have it cut on the fold - you may need to run it through the machine twice for a solid cut. 

Again with the blurry - sorry! - line the outer parts of the panel with scor-tape or similar adhesive. Make sure not to fill in close to the aperture, since you need room for your card to fit! 

Final step - check that your gift card does indeed slide into the aperture. I've made a few dozen of these now, and I still check every one. It should be a tight fit so the card won't fall out. This 'holder' flap is on the inside of your card. 

Decorate the front however you like!

Supplies: papers from Bo Bunny; Labels 4 Nesties; Versamark & white EP; sentiment from PTI; little bunny die cut from stash

The finished size of this gift card holder is 5.25" X 3", so it will fit nicely in invitation size envelopes - which was my goal in futzing around with measurements. Not buying more envelopes.

Don't forget to check out the TMS blog today to see who else has a new project for you - and link up YOUR project with us by Sunday January 5th :) 

xoxo,

Jessi

Flourishes' Timeless Tuesday #252 - Shake it Up!

Oh em gee, it's finally here! Today I'm the guest designer at Flourishes - eeeeeeeek! This week's challenge is to make a shaker card - with all the sequins taking the crafty world by storm you're sure to have some fun stuff to shake! Here is a quick link to a Splitcoaststampers tutorial on how to make a basic shaker card, click here!

First I'll show you my finished card, and then I'll share some of the step-by-step photos I took while I was making it:

Supplies: Flourishes stamp set Joy is In the Air; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Spectrum Noir markers; Tumbled Glass distress ink; May Arts ribbons; foam tape; acetate; bits & bobs for the shaker; Sakura Stardust glitter pen

This set with its snow globe fillers is such a natural setting for a shaker card! Stamp the snow globe twice, and on one panel stamp the inside scene as well. That will be the piece that shows through for the shaker scene. 

The 'unfilled' snow globe will form the aperture for your shaker - carefully trim out the inside of the globe with a craft knife.

Colour the base of the globe, stamp the background if desired (I desired! lol)  and turn the panel over to adhere your piece of acetate

 

Colour the scene inside the snow globe - I've coloured the base again, even though it won't show in the final card just in case :) 

I like to make my shaker cards nice and thick so  there's lots of room for STUFF to shake - I use foam tape on a roll from the dollar store, doubled. Make a frame around your image, making sure not to leave any gaps where filler can leak out (especially if you're using microbeads...those suckers are escape artists!)

FILL WITH STUFF! I've used shaped confetti, microbeads, and glitter. You can use sequins, buttons, anything that is thinner than your foam layer will work. 

Carefully remove the adhesive from the foam frame (so much static - the next couple minutes will be spent picking confetti off of the exposed adhesive. I've never found a way around that yet!) and line up your top panel & adhere. Make sure you press all around to ensure a good seal!

Finish your card however you like! I've added ribbons here. This card & scene are perfect for a wintery thank you card! 

SHINY!

You definitely need to head over to the design team's blogs & see what they've created for this challenge - I can't wait!

Allison Cope

Cheryl Lea

Deborah Anton

Jenny Gropp

Katie Sims

And even more? I can't wait to see what YOU create for this challenge! You don't have to use Flourishes stamps to participate (but if you do, you get 2 chances to win!) Link up at the Flourishes blog by Monday January 6! 

xoxo,

Jessi

A "Faux Faux Patina" Tutorial!

Here goes nothing - this week I've made 2 tutorials, one of which you won't see until the end of  the month. Breaking a process down into steps is not my forte, so if I've left out a step or just generally mucked things up, feel free to mock me & ask for clarification :)

The other tutorials I've seen for Faux Patina are different, so I'm sharing my way. I would absolutely LOVE to see what you make if you try it! What you'll need:

*dye ink (I've used Distress inks, but any dye-based ink will do)

*white cardstock

*dry-embossing folder

*sponges/blending tool

*glimmer mists 

*Hairspray or craft sealant

*used dryer sheet/embossing buddy

*Versamark

*embossing powder in one or more colours

1. Begin by cutting your card stock to the size of the folder. Whatever you do, don't clean off your desk first. 

2. Ink one side of your embossing folder by swiping your ink pad across it.

3. Emboss your card stock - if you want to do several pieces at once, re-ink the folder in between impressions. WASH YOUR FOLDER as soon as you're done - I just run mine under the tap.

4. Select 2-3-4 ink colours to go with (or not, lol) the first colour.

5. Using your sponge/blending tool, begin with the darkest colour of ink, and work towards the lightest. I've done my two panels slightly differently with the same colours. 

 

6. At this point, your panels may look hideous. I really, really don't like the way the purple & red blended. HAVE NO FEAR! (Well, ok, I was afraid, but it works out!). Lay down some newsprint (more than you think you need) in a place where you will REMEMBER YOU PUT WET STUFF. Like, not right behind your f&^&^%^#$g chair where you will keep rolling backwards into it, the cats will come sniff, the dog will walk, etc & so on. I have a brown carpet that's very glittery.

Choose your glimmer mists (if you have too many like I do). I wanted to dull down the hideous not-working-for-me colours, so I picked some white mist to help. (The other colours are Turquoise Blue & Yellow Daisy - I usually choose colours that go with the inks I've used, or a neutral one like Pearl). 

7.  Spray those suckers. SOAK them. You can try to coat them evenly with the colours if you like, or try to concentrate the different colours in different areas. Let your freak flag fly. But whichever you choose, there should be pools of mist on top of your paper. You want it WET. This helps blend the inks even further.

8. Let them dry. It's going to take hours - make sure you keep poking them every 15 minutes or so 'just to see.'  When they are all the way dry, spray them with a light coat of hairspray or craft sealant. Hairspray works fine & smells lovely :) And look at them now - the violent nasty shades of bruise are now pastelly! (And again, don't clean your desk or move your phone. That would be ridiculous.) The purpose of the hairspray is to contain the glimmer, since you aren't yet done working with the papers. They'll stay shimmery without it, but so will your hands, your stamps, your Versamark, your dog...you get the idea. Hairspray it is.

What number are we at? Oh, 

9. Rub the papers with your used dryer sheet (I have kids, there is an unending supply of these at my house) or embossing buddy to reduce static.

10. Versamark time! As you can see, I have an icky dirty looking pad. I keep two - one is clean, for when I want to do clear embossing. This one is the workhorse - the stains on the pad really don't effect it at all. Since there's glitter & ink & mist, you don't want to wreck your pad. If you only have one pad, just use one edge for this step. Apply the Versamark randomly - you don't want it to coat the entire piece, so don't press too hard or evenly.

11. Sprinkle on the embossing powders, in whatever colours you choose. The left panel has Frantage pink & blue, and the right has Tinsel. Use a make-up brush to brush off any stray powder that you don't want.

12. Heat set the embossing powder - and you can add more at this stage. I've just added a third colour to the one on the left - gold sparkle. As you can see  these are pretty 'bendy' - I usually flatten them out under hardcover books for a couple hours at this point. I know, more waiting.

13. Trim your panel to fit the card base, and get your other elements together (woohoo, it's almost the end!)

14. Finish your card! Voila!

Since I'm obviously still making Christmas cards - and I usually do up until the 20th or so - I'm popping this in over at jingle belles :)

xoxo,

Jessi