Tutorial: Glitter Masking Technique

This is a technique that I really like because it can add a unique and beautiful background to a finished card. Its relatively easy but a bit time consuming and messy - so make sure you have some time and room on your desk!

I love, love, love Glitter Ritz microfine glitter for this. These glitters are absolutely gorgeous and they come in a huge selection of colours. The woman who owns the company which creates these glitters (In the Making Enterprises) calls this technique Burnished Velvet.

Gather your supplies. For this project you will need a card or card front to apply your glitter to, glitter (I've used three colours here: black, white and peacock blue), some double sided adhesive tape, punches or die cuts or your choice and a large powder brush.





Adhere the double sided tape to your card wherever you want your glitter background to appear. I've used a wide tape here to cover the top part of the card.






Use a tape cover from a previous project and punch out the shapes you want to use on your glittered background. It must be the cover from your adhesive tape because it can not stick to the tape permanently. Do not use paper.

Here I am using circle punches because I want to imitate bubbles in my background.


Here are the shapes I punched out with my circle punches.








Remove the adhesive cover (do not discard) and apply the shapes to the sticky tapes in whatever pattern you would like. Do not touch the sticky tape with your fingers or the oils from your hands will make it not so sticky. Use tweezers or an Xacto knife to place your shapes.




This next step is very important. Take the adhesive cover you removed and place it on top of the shapes. Press down with your hands or a brayer to push the shapes into the adhesive. This is so they do not come off easily during the next steps.





Now apply your glitter. In this technique the first colour down will be your background colour. In this case it is black. The second colour will be your middle ground colour and the last colour will be your foreground. You can use as many colours as you like in this technique. Apply the glitter liberally - make sure you cover all the exposed adhesive. I do this over a sheet of scrap paper so I can pour the glitter back into the bottle afterwards. Use your makeup brush to brush off the excess glitter onto the scrap paper.

Here's what it looks like once the excess glitter has been brushed off.







Next, remove the shapes you want in your next colour. My next colour is blue but I did not remove all the shapes I wanted blue because I wanted some blue to be in the middle ground and some blue to be in the foreground.





Pour the next colour over the piece and brush off excess with the powder brush. Then repeat with your next colour and so on and so forth until you have removed all the shapes and covered the entire piece with glitter. Be sure not to touch the sticky part - use tweezers or a knife to remove the shape pieces.




Once you have applied all your colours burnish the glitter by rubbing your finger over the entire piece. Do not worry about the glitter coming off - it will stick quite well to the adhesive and burnishing the glitter makes it shine better. This is what the completed background looks like.




And here is my completed card!

Supplies: Glitter Ritz Glitter (peacock blue, black, white), Stamps (Stamping Bella, Stampin' Up!), circle punches, ribbon, My Mind's Eye mini rhinestones, black chalk, Nestabilities scallop oval, Black ink (Palette Noir), Versa Ink, white detail embossing powder, double sided adhesive tape (Sookwang)

Thanks for visiting!

Card Kit Swap

This is a picture of some card kits I made for a swap I'm in on Splitcoast. I've got no idea what people put into these kits so I hope whoever gets them is able to make a cute card from them. Its a March swap so I thought I'd go with a Saint Patrick's Day theme. Inside each kit is the following:

• 2 pieces 6x6 patterned paper (Reminisce)
• 1 - 12" piece of ribbon (Making Memories)
• 1 stamped image (Stamping Bella - Goodluckabella)
• 2 homemade dimensional stickers (1 is a shamrock outlined in Glitter Ritz emerald glitter and the other is a two-toned four-leaf clover with a Heida Swapp rhinestone in the centre)
• 1 Good Luck sentiment - embossed in emerald embossing powder
• 6 green brads
• 2 green dew drops (Robin's Nest)

This is a completely foreign way of designing a card for me. Usually I start with a concept (i.e. a colour combination, a layout, a technique), then I determine the stamped image, if any, I'm going to use. I pick out my cardstock and patterned paper and the last thing I pick out is my embellishments - usually after the card has been laid out.

I think swaps are great. I went a little over board when I first started doing them and I think that I've got myself signed up for like 15 or so... but there are a lot of advantages to swaps. Here's a few reasons to do them:

• To use up your stash. There's a reason why this site is called Craft Store Junkie and sometimes I find myself spending more time purchasing supplies than actually creating projects.
• To get to know other scrappers/stampers on SCS. There's usually a lot of chatter on the swap boards and its a great way to meet other stampers. I've actually met a few local ladies by being involved in swaps.
• To stretch your creative bounderies - do a swap that puts you outside of your comfort zone. Learn a new technique, try a new stamp company, use a colour combination that you don't normally use. Like the challenges, swaps will make you a better stamper.
• To receive some amazing cards from the very talented folks on SCS. I've gotten back some absolutely beautiful works of art.

I've got a few swap going myself if any of you are interested. Check out Last Minute Occasions, Ribbon Addicts and Scrap to Basics.

If there's anyone actually reading this blog I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences with swaps. Do you like them? If you haven't done one, why not?

Bellas, Bellas, Bellas!

Happy mail - I received my order of Bellas today and was very excited! For any of you who haven't had the chance to meet the Bellas visit them at Stamping Bella - there are loads to choose from. I belong to a yahoo group called BellaholicaAnonymous. Some of the girls there were wondering how to get nice, sharp images from the stamp (they come rubber only with no foam underlay or mount). Personally - I mount all my Bellas on EZ Mount and I get perfect impressions almost every time. If you buy a lot of unmounted stamps and use EZ Mount to mount them I highly recommend investing in a hot knife. It cuts through the underlay like butter! I've posted a great video tutorial from the Expressively Me blog on the left side - it shows how to use the hot knife with EZ Mount.
Here's a couple of Bella cards and just so you don't think I'm all about the paper...a few knit projects I've finished lately. I've been doing a lot of small knit projects (hats, scarves, gloves) because I can knit quietly while my daughter takes her naps. Also - I'm trying to use up a bunch of odds and sods of yarn/wool I have laying about the house.