Caught In Crystal

      Caught in crystal is this month's challenge at Technique Time Tuesday. There is a very good tutorial on the challenge site which takes you through the whole process, it's easier than you think.....honest!
     I have made projects with this technique before but so far I had never stamped on the acetate, until now. My Stazon pad has dried out a bit and wasn't up to the job so I had to put my thinking cap on, what else could I use on acetate? Alcohol markers work but not what I wanted to do this time, then it hit me...Flitter Glu!
     Flitter Glu is made for use with gilding flakes but shiny flakes wouldn't look their best with a sparkly background, so thinking cap on again......foil! Stix2 have a great range of foils that stick to double sided tape really well, why not Flitter Glu.
     I have used a Crafty Individuals stamp to stamp my Flitter Glu onto some reclaimed acetate packaging, the hardest part was waiting those few minutes before laying the foil on top and rubbing gently to get it to take.

     I was really pleased that I actually remembered to keep the shiny side up with the foil, you may laugh but it has been known to put it upside down and wonder why it's not working. The added bonus of getting it right first time (yipee) was now I have a negative foil that I can use on another card, how's that for frugal crafting?!
     After getting that bit right I turned the acetate over and spread some Cyrstal Laquer on the back, then I dropped alcohol inks on for my colour, blue, green and brown with a little glitter sprinkled on top. I chose to use gold tissue this time so after giving it a good scrunch I opened it out a little and laid it over the back of the acetate, gently dabbing it down to make full contact with the glue. Don't press to hard, you don't want to loose the creases or squish out all the colour and glue.
     I left my creation to dry over night, if you try to cut it too soon it's messy and the tissue will tear. It is mounted on cream card to lighten it up because I used gold tissue rather than white. To fix the acetate to the cream card I have used brads, three tiny yellow studs and one butterfly. The butterfly was silver but he's been coloured with alcohol markers to tone with the project.
     The image panel is mounted on a white card blank coloured with Distress Ink, it's a bit bright but it helps lift the blue in the image panel. I have used the watermark technique on the blue card to tie in the flower theme of the panel.
     It's an interesting technique, I would suggest watching the tutorial  before you begin. There will also be a Hints and Tips post next week to help you along but if you have any questions then please leave a comment and I'll see if I can help. Please come and join us at Technique Time Tuesday with your creations, we'd love to see them.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes / Use Stash (everything is from stash 'n' trash)
That Craft Place - Anything Goes
Allsorts Challenge - Spring Is Coming
Great Impessions - Spring