Peacock shimmer

 This little heart was made on a die cut shape using UTEE and mica powders to create a faux enamelled effect.  The heart was cut from grey board which is about the thickest card I feel happy cutting. I punched a small hole in the heart before beginning to decorate it.
Dark colours work very well as a base layer for this technique but this time I chose Broken China Distress Ink to go with my peacock theme. After colouring the grey board I built up two layers of clear ultra thick embossing powder. At this point if you are going to stamp into the third layer you will need to ink up your stamp and have it ready and waiting. Then on the third layer I added some mica powders on top. As the clear powder melts the mica will sink in and begin to flow a little giving the most amazing enamelled effect. Before the melted powder cools gently press your pre-inked stamp into the 'enamel' , wait a few seconds and remove it to reveal the impression. This peacock feather stamp is from Creative Expressions 'Art Nouveau Peacock'.

The second card is also from the same stamp set, stamped and embossed in gold. Then coloured in with Cosmic Shimmer Drawing Inks on a background previously sprayed with the new Cosmic Shimmer Vintage Mists. These mists are very subtle so you get all the shimmer with a much less intense colour, perfect for the vintage look.

The stamped image was them cut out with a spellbinder die and edged by leaving the die in place on the cut out and blending Broken China around the edge. This gives you the effect of another layer without building up your card to much, great for trying to save on postage!!

The cut out shape was then matted on a plain layer of card, I couldn't find the right colour to match so I used broken China again to colour the outside edge. Just around the edge because the middle will be covered and there's no point in wasting ink!

There is a thin layer of gold paper around the last layer and then mounted on black to make it really stand out.

I like to use black card a lot with the mica powders as I feel it really makes them shine. They behave differently on coloured card as they are translucent and the base colour will show through affecting the finished piece. If you have some mica powders have a play on various coloured cards and see the different effects you get. To fix the mica powder after dusting an image I use either a fine spray of water (because they have resins in them activated by moisture) or hairspray.

My appologies for not bolgging for a while, it's been a busy few weeks, I'm also getting used to a different blog method which is frustrating when I'd just got the hang of the last one! 

Coming soon.....Jubilee bunting and men's cards at Taverham at the end of the month.