Make it Shine! - CTMH Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to The Scrap Buzz! For this month’s Technique Blog Hop we will Make It Shine! You may have arrived from visiting Lauren Moore's page; or, if you just stumbled in, hop from blog to blog using the links to see all of the ideas and art work. If you get lost or find any broken links, a full list of participants is on Melissa Robinson's blog.

Let Me Show You How to add shine to any artwork. I took this card from the September/October catalog and made a few adjustments. Did you know...that you can find the recipes for all the catalog artwork? Here is the link for the September/October catalog.

This stamp set is called Peace and Love. I think it will be good for not only Christmas, but babies, get well, sympathy and even Valentine's with that cute heart! 

The first thing I did was to replace the Evergreen Cardstock with Evergreen Glitter Paper. Easy Peasy, right? We have 15 colors of glitter paper and I love that it doesn't shed glitter everywhere! It also works great with die cutting and Cricut. TIP:  Don't use a brand new Cricut mat with glitter paper.

I think the catalog card used Watercolor Paints for the background. I'm still working on my skill set for that technique so I used a sponge with Glacier Ink.  Next, instead of using a Waterbrush to blend the Watercolor Pencils, I used Shimmer Brushes! Did you know you could do that? I used Lemonade on the stars and Clear everywhere else. Exciting News:  shimmer brushes will start to come labeled with the name of the color; YIPPEE!!

It's a little tricky to photograph shimmer. I hope you can see on some of these pictures how much it sparkles.

There were a couple of other changes I made. Instead of a sewing machine, I used my Piercing Tool and the technique shown in the White Pines Scrapbooking kit. I made a video class for that workshop and you can find it in my Virtual Craft Room on Facebook.

I played with the Autumn Loose Sequins and discovered a few things about the new Loose Gems (clear gems are in this collection).

 I used the Micro Glue Dots to attach the Clear Loose Gems. Depending on which way you place them, they do offer different looks.

With the point down, they look clear.

With the point up (easier to attach), they are opalescent. I put mine point up. Watch for more Autumn Sequin info on my Facebook page.

I used Thin 3-D foam tape to raise the Evergreen layer, the cloud and the angel. The sentiment is flat but the gems are the same height as the cloud and angel.

If you need a consultant, you can contact me for help and/or shop from my website.

Please leave a comment below before hopping over to see more Shiny art from Maz Wood.

Heat It Up! Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to our April blog hop! You may have arrived from visiting Miss Carrie. To continue the Hop, just follow the links from blog to blog until you get back to where you started. If you get lost, you can find a list of participants on Melissa's page. 

Spring has sprung and around here, we haven't even had the April showers yet, so as the weather warms, let's Heat It Up! with some heat embossing!

 I made this card with the new "Let's Stay Home" stamp set Close To My Heart has created for documenting the Covid-19 pandemic. Many of us are embracing the idea to "Stay Home and Create!" I've been sending extra cards to keep in touch with family and friends and I have an online crop starting April 15 (contact me for more info).

I also used the current Mix In paper pack and both the stamp set and paper from our "These Are My People" special. The patterns is #6 from Volume 4 in our How To series Make It From Your Heart.

Have you noticed that brads are back in our product line?? You'll need them for making spinner cards and some adorable new things coming in May. Right now, silver is the only option, but what if you want to use them in another color for artwork? Did you know...you can color brads with heat embossing?! Let Me Show You How...

One of the amazing things about embossing brads, is that you may not need ANY ink!  The most challenging part may be finding something to hold the brad so that you don't burn your fingers. I used reverse tweezers and this is the perfect application for them.  

A wooden clothes pin is another option. Does anyone beside me still use clothes pins??

STEP 1.  Hold the brad while your heat it with your Heat Tool. 

STEP 2. Dip the hot brad into the embossing powder. (Just barely. You really only want the head of the brad. The prongs don't need powder, and your tweezers don't either.) Since heat melts the powder, the heat from the brad will cause the powder to start to melt onto the brad.

STEP 3. Heat the brad a little more to get a nice finish and completely melt the powder. 

I made samples with two different powders then I played with some other options. If you want to match a color, use pigment ink and clear powder. I also tested StazOn and sealed those with clear. They are still metallic, almost a bronze/copper and pewter vs. brown and black. You can color the brads (and a lot of other things!) with the Tri-Blend Markers. You can emboss these with clear too, but I don't think it's necessary.

I used white brads for the center of my flowers. You can use the Piercing Tool and the soft side of a Versamat to poke a hole in your paper for the brad. 

Please leave a comment, or any questions, below then hop over and see what Scrappin Katy has to share!

Here's the list of products I used if you need a consultant for shopping:
These Are My People paper pack
Love These People stamp set - retired
Mix In paper pack (March/April) - retired
Mink Twine
Let's Stay Home stamp set - retired    
Sapphire Shimmer Brush
Silver Brads
Bluebird Ink
White Daisy Cardstock
Carnary Cardstock
Microtip Scissors
Tombow Adhesive
Micro Glue Dots
Thin 3-D Foam Dots
Card Bases & Envelopes

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