Tips Tricks and Techniques Tuesday Sand and Sea Suite

 Don't you just love it when things go together?  Well that's  exactly what the dies and embossing folder from the Sand and Sea suite do! For today's project I married them up with the pattern paper and pearlescent paper that are also in the suite. Now that's  what I call coordination... stamps, dies, embossing folder and not 1 but 2 papers!!!

What you don't see in the above photo is the beautiful but oh so different to capture in a photo beauty of the pearlescent paper. So here goes....my attempt to show off this paper...

Now in my opinion this is a very tricky surface to stamp on. It's shiny and slippery a stampers worst nightmare! So I hear you experienced stampers out there shouting Stazon ink and yes that will work but you still have to be careful and stamp straight up and down with no rocking.

 But you know I only have black stazon and sometimes we all know we have a project that black is just to harsh on. So what to do when all you have is ink that will never dry on this type of paper? 

Well I have a tip to help get the look you want with the waterbased ink colour of your choice. All you need is your trusty antistatic bag, versamark ink,  clear embossing powder and heat tool.

First pat the antistatic bag over the pearlescent paper.  Then take your stamp and ink it up with versamark next ink the stamp again in the colour of choice. Now you're going to stamp on to the paper then cover the area with clear embossing powder.  Tap off the excess and carefully heat until all the powder has melted, clear powder seams to melt quickly so be careful not to over heat. Now you have a permanent stamped image/ sentiment 😀 

Now here is my big tip for this little technique try out your ink colours with a clear power overlay because some inks seam to change colour/tone. So the ink that coordinates perfectly when stamped directly may not be so right when you do the clear embossing powder trick! 

Below I have a picture that shows 3 attempts to find the right one. 

Example A was using a beautiful strong pink called melon mambo that ended up just looking neon... not what I wanted for my subtle project!

Example B was a mid tone pink called flirty flamingo that has become a little too orange for my project.

Example C is the one I went with and is using a colour that I wouldn't have picked at all! Called rococo rose it's a dusty deeper pink, that I have to admit is not a go to for me. But once given the clear embossing treatment it lightened and coordinated beautifully!!

My next tip is regarding using the die and embossing folder from the suite. They fit together perfectly but you need to do it in the right order. 

First die cut your paper then place in the embossing folder carefully. Now I have congenital tremors that means that being super careful lining things up can be tricky.  My best friend on these situations is sticky notes!! My tip is to stick the sticky note to the die cut peice then when its in the right place press the stick note down to hold it whilst you close the folder and pass it through you machine. 

I then made my card using a soft neutral colour base and added a layer of pearlescent paper and a layer of patterned paper from the Sand and Sea suite. Before placing my die cut and embossed focal point on top.

I'm glad I took the time to use this beautiful , if tricky,  pearlescent paper for today's project because in my opinion its just gorgeous and give a certain elegance to my card.