Reverse Blackout Technique

Gosh I'm seeing a lot of cards made with this technique or the blackout technique in my Instagram feed lately and I thought it would be fun to have a go at it for the latest challenge at The Paper Players (Green, Pink, Yellow, Black &White). I watched a video from Sandie McIver which explains the process really easily.

In a nutshell you need a 3D embossing folder, you spritz the A2 panel of white card with a light mist of water and run through your die-cutting machine in the embossing folder.

Now this is where the fun/magic happens. When dry working on the debossed side colour in your image with colour, you don't have to be too clean and can colour outside the lines as anything above gets blackened afterwards. I found for the folder I was using I needed my smallest blending tools (1/4") to get into all the recessed areas. When happy swipe over your black ink pad (I had to reink mine as it wasn't black enough). Try to go up and down so you don't get ink in the debossed areas. My folder may have had too much detail as it was really hard to not get black ink in all the areas. I would have liked it to be blacker but I didn't want to add more black ink to the coloured images but it really does pop in real life.

Here's a quick collage of the process. It's funny it looks like I am working on the raised areas but I am definitely shading in the debossed areas.

Supply List:

Stamps: Easy Expressions: Birthday (The Ton)

Ink: Sunflower (PFS), Sparkling Rose (PFS), Bubblegum (PFS), Grassy Knoll (PFS), Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper: Neenah white, random pink glitter paper scrap

Other: Dogwood Blooms 3D embossing folder (HB), small blending brushes (PFS and WF), Twilight Ombre glitter drops (PFS), black dimensionals (SU!)

Challenge: PP#680

Well that was a lot of fun and I'll definitely repeat the technique especially if I find a bigger flower embossing folder to try it on.

Well my original idea when I saw the colours was to make a pretty spring bunch of flowers but I'm pretty happy with my more dramatic card. It's always fun to try out different and new ideas.

✿Karen✿

Carrot 'bout You

This was the name of Lawn Fawn's recent Create with Us. These are fun free classes that Jenn Shurkus and normally Kelly Marie from Lawn Fawn hold with each new release. This class was pretty straight forward and is available to watch on replay "forever" but I have to be honest Jenn had forgotten how to build a platform pop-up and we/she got it to work but it may have been quicker if I'd gone off and watched how to on the Lawn Fawn site. I would actually recommend you just make the pop up platform with the die-cut bits before watching. The good thing about if Jenn can forget how to make one then I am not alone, you do need to refresh how to do it, if you haven't done one recently. They are really easy and they do pack a wow and so fun but there is a way to do it right.

As always we started off with colouring our cute wee critters and then making the stenciled background, before constructing everything including the platform pop-up.

The first card:

I don't own the stitched garden border so made slits in a simple stitched hillside panel using my Sandy Beach Accents, that also meant I didn't own a bigger carrot die to use instead of an A but I had a wee carrot in the tint Gift Box bunny add-on so used that and used smaller alphabet dies in my stash to match the size. I also grabbed an I stamp from Henry Jr.'s ABCs which maybe a tad too big. I love the Spring Blossoms stenciled background it truly does look like DSP. I used my Pinkfresh inks for stenciling and darkening the top of my hillside(Fresh Pear, Lemon Whip, Marigold and Doe). But this is a fun thank you card all right.

Now this is when it all got tricky we got to make the pop-up platform and add the new Fence wrap-around, again I made it a thank you card as I don't send out Easter cards.

The coolest thing about it is it's no bigger than a standard envelope.

It's always a lot of fun creating with the two of them and it's great to play with the stuff you buy from the new releases, Kelly Marie often shares tit bits of info. I'm not sure if there was more than one but it sounds like we are getting "ice-creams" in the Summer release ??May 2024.

✿Karen✿

Going green (again)

Looking at my fav challenges sites, there's quite a few wanting "green" still so thought I'd try the luck of the Irish again and play with a free stamp set I earned from Simon Says Stamp 1 or 2 years ago (End of the Rainbow). It has a cool big sentiment complete with a shamrock and a lucky horseshoe but no Leprechaun just a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, which was cute but I green rainbow wasn't doing it for me, so I thought I'd try and colour up a wee gnome "leprechaun-style" complete with gold beard from my Little Gnome Agenda set (ME).

Lots of firsts here I'm not really sure how you are supposed to use Distress embossing glaze but I bought it as I love lime green awhile ago. I used it on the card like embossing powder i.e. stamping sentiment with my Versamark, coating with the Twisted Citron embossing glaze and then melting with a heat gun, it's definitely a pretty lime green. I added a few metallic gold pearls to add a tad more gold to the card.

Challenges I'm entering:

Just us Girls: Green, Lime Green and one other colour - hope gold is a colour

Inspired By: I've been inspired by the green shamrock plus a touch of gold

Colorful Options monthly challenge - this is a new site I have just discovered but it looks like it will be a colourful and fun one - this month the colour is green. 

I'll re-enter at Simply Clean & Simple as they have the option for March of Green as well. And it seems silly to not add to SSS Wednesday Challenge as they just want/need a sentiment.

This was totally different than my last green card which you can check out the wee frog and green clouds HERE. Well it looks like we all need to play with our greens a bit more which is perfectly fine with me. Do check out all the fab cards on all the sites, it certainly makes me happy.

EDITED 13/3/24: My wee card got a shout out at Just Us Girls "where they loved my fabulous CAS design."

✿Karen✿