Mix It Up!

Do you love our Mix In paper packs?! These collections are designed to MIX IN and coordinate with every other paper collection in the current Idea Book, or use on their own! Right now, the Mix-In colors are Ballerina pink plus neutral black, white, and grays. One of the things about our B&T (background and texture) Duos that I like is, if one side doesn't suit your taste, turn it over!

If you've arrived from Daryls' page, you're right on track. If you're starting here, follow the link at the bottom to "hop" the next blogger's page. Proceed until you complete the circle and arrive back on my page again.

As life often is, mine is busy and somewhat extra complicated right now, so I'm "cheating" by showing you a piece of artwork I CASEd (Copy And Steal Everything) from the Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea Book. But that's OK, that is the purpose of an IDEA book. But, did you know, the recipes for all the beautiful pieces are available to you?

On your consultant's website site, go to "More" and select "View Catalog." Then scroll down to the pdf link for Recipes. All the ingredients are listed including colors, stamp(s) and tools used. If Cricut shapes were used, the recipe will list the collection name, size, shapes name and DS code.

 Here's the recipe for this card:

PAGE 82
4¼" x 5½" Happy Birthday Card (Horizontal)

A1228 My Acrylix® Special Day Duo Stamps
X9005 Mix-in Paper Packet
X6028 Black Cardstock
X5988 Peach Cardstock
X6018 Raspberry Cardstock
X6022 Smoothie Cardstock
Z891 VersaMark™ Ink Pad
Z4057 Craft On Rubber Shapes
Z4213 Silver Embellishing Thread
Z2068 Ranger™ White Super Fine Emb Powder
Z4220 Anti-static Pouch
Z4252 Heat Tool
1772 Glue Dots® Ultra-thin Dots

Guess what? The ONLY piece of Mix-Ins I have used to date is the one featured in the catalog. Could I just substitute that one piece? Me?? No! Any normal person? Yes!!

So if I was going to substitute for the B&T I might as well substitute the cardstock too. The colors used in the sample seemed a rather odd combination. By looking at the CTMH Color Wheel, I was able to determine the "formula:" one color from one section, skip a section, two colors from the following section. I'm sure there is a fancy name for this arrangement, comment below if you know it!!

My colors are:

Emerald from the green section
(skip the Blue-Green section)
Carolina and Bluebird from the Blue Section

Oh look, I picked blue and green!! Totally unplanned but probably done unconsciously; they're my favorite color combo!!

I had to decide which color was going to go where. That's hard!! When I was cutting the B&T from Mix-Ins, I made it a 4" x 5.5" rectangle. I know that I can get three piece across a 12" piece, and as long as I was making one card, I might as well make three. Then I cut each of the other three shapes from each of the other three colors and mixed them. This pattern is similar to, or a variation of , #16 from Make It From The Heart, Volume 4 (MIFTHV4#16).

Instead of the Craft On Rubber Shapes, I used Black & White dots. (On one card I used some retired Emerald dots from the Cats & Bats collection.

Have you ever heat embossed? Has it been forever?? We all love this technique so I'm not sure why we don't use it more often. If it really has been a while, check out what Close To My Heart offers now including a new heat tool, tinsel embossing power, and an anti-static pouch.

The pouch is great for keeping stray embossing power off your paper so that it only sticks to the ink. I also use it on the back of stickers when using them as die cuts. The powder inside the bag sticks to the sticker adhesive so it's not sticky. It's much faster, simpler and easier than using baby powder. The pouch also tames your lose sequins. Just throw it in the bag when they're new and give it a little shake. Remove the pouch and your sequins will stop doing their Mexican Jumping Beam imitation.

Another item I think is a must have for heat embossing is the All-Purpose Mat. The large size protects your craft space. It is also double sided. The smooth, shinny side is a non-stick surface. Keep your adhesive off the back of your project! You can also use it as a palette for watercolor projects and mixing ink colors. The other side is slightly tacky, which keeps it from sliding on your work surface. If you turn this tacky side up, it keeps embossing powder for dusting everything in the craft room. You can wipe or wash it off as needed. It is also heat resistant to  240° Fahrenheit.

Making all three sentiment squares the same would have been too easy. I used three combinations so you could see the difference. The photo on the left lists the ink underneath the piece and the embossing powder color above it.

At the far right is the combination from the recipe: Ranger™ White Super Fine Embossing Powder and VersaMark™ Ink Pad. In the center is the same powder over white pigment ink. And, the far left is white pigment ink with clear embossing powder.

What is your favorite color arrangement? Which embossing combination would you use? Answer in the comment section before  hopping over and see what Melissa has to share. (She also has a list of all the participants this month.)

These are the other products used, instead of or in addition to the recipe listed above:

X5990 Carolina Cardstock
X5987 Bluebird Cardstock
X6001 Emerald Cardstock
Z2045 All Purpose Mat
Z2863 White Pigment Ink
Z2088 Clear embossing powder
9044  Make It from Your Heart Volume 4
Z3314 Black & White Dots