A Venture in Layering

I've been wanted to try a few new techniques lately and I'm always looking for the opportunity to use them. For this card I wanted to try a bit of layering. Not sure what the official term is, but I'm using layering to describe the building of ink, stamps and/or embossing on cardstock. This first attempt turned out to be a bit light handed but I'm happy with what I have done none the less.

I did break out my brand new and desperate to try product - scented embossing powder! I bought it (and many others) from gel-a-tins. It smells just like a vanilla latte. Apparently the scent will last for 3 weeks. The colour is white with brown specks. You can't really see it in the photo, I probably should have used a darker embossing powder (such as Chocolate Bliss or Can't Catch Me Gingerbread).

Grandad's birthday - hope he enjoyed it and liked my card. Here's the recipe:

Materials:
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Newsprint DSP.
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark.
Stamps: Bliss, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Wonderful Favourite.
Other: Early Espresso striped grosgrain ribbon, oval punch, scallop oval punch, dimensionals.
Non Stampin' Up: Perfect Pearls mist in Heirloom Gold, Gelly powder - Extra Foam Vanilla Latte scented embossing powder from gel-a-tins. (The website is a little bit buggy at the moment but I'm sure it will be fixed soon.)

Tips and Tricks:
1. The layering - I've seen a lot of cards out there with a lot going on with the DSP - inking, embossing, distressing, etc, so I had a go at it myself:

• First I misted my DSP with water and then crinkled and screwed it up.
• Next I sprayed it with Perfect Pearls mist in Heirloom Gold and let it dry.
• Then I stamped an image from the Bliss stamp set in Versamark and applied the scented embossing powder. I heat embossed it.
• After that I stamped the bird from Bliss in Chocolate Chip ink randomly over the DSP.

2.  I stamped another bird in Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla cardstock, cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals in the bottom right hand corner.

Stuff Ups:
1. As I've said already, I should have chosen a darker embossing powder - I was too cautious.
2. Same with the Perfect Pearls mist - I should have used more.
3. The sentiments aren't aligned properly. They are three separate stamps and you can tell. The happy birthday one is also too high and nearly cut off by the punch.

Finally, the Valentine's Card

This is the card that I've made for my husband for Valentine's day. I didn't look to other cards for design ideas or colours, I just chose the colours and played with design ideas until I found what made me happy.

Materials:
Cardstock: Basic Black, Real Red and Very Vanilla.
Inks: Basic Black marker, Real Red marker, Real Red ink pad, Versamark.
Stamps: Wonderful Favourite, A Happy Heart.
Other: Black embossing powder, heat tool, big shot machine, sponge, oval punch, dimensionals, paper piercer and mat pack.
Non Stampin' Up: Polka dot embossing folder, red heart brads.
Tips and Tricks:
1. It may be hard to tell, but the base card is black.
2. I used markers to colour the hearts and crosses stamp. Originally I also used Glossy Accents on the red part of the stamp, but it made the ink run within the gloss and I lost the definition.
3. The 'to my' and 'husband' ovals are sponged around the edges with Real Red ink.
4. The words 'to my wonderful husband' are embossed in black.
5. I used the paper piercer guide that comes with the mat pack to position the heart brads and get them evenly spaced.
6. I have made an insert on Very Vanilla with a red heart brad and another stamp on it from the A Happy Heart stamp set. It will be easier to write on that than black.

Stuff Ups:
1. The Glossy Accents that I've mentioned at least twice already!
2. There is the tiniest of smudges on the hearts and crosses stamped image.
3. The embossed words are a little bit uneven in places.
4. The sponging - I'm not 100% happy with it and I'm not sure why.