Saturday, February 27, 2016

February 2016 Altenew Inspiration Challenge



Hello everyone,
after a long time I have decided to join Inspiration Challenge February 2016 hosted by Altenew.
I love Altenew products and designs and this picture was so inspiring.
As soon I have seen it, I knew exactly what I am going to create.
Please CLICK and check out the others who participate in this challenge. 
Some of the creations are breath-taking. 




I was inspired by the stripes and colors. 
The design is pretty easy - as you know I love clean and simple style. 
Stamp and mask the gorgeous magnolias and then mask and color the stripes.
The sentiment is from the Scribbled Flowers Stamp set.
And this is my card ♥




Used supplies are here ( just click and it will link you for the source):

Hope you like my card and if you did, please leave me a comment :)
Wishing you wonderful day
Valeria

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Tips and tricks about Heat Embossing

Hello everyone,

I´d like to share a few tips a tricks about my favorite technique - heat embossing.
You can use this technique in every project and apply to any material. You can add a little bit of sparkle and shine wherever you wish. Don´t forget to try heat embossed the wood veneers and vellum as well. 

Prajem vám všetkým krásny deň,
dnes by som chcela venovať mojej obľúbenej technike - horúci embossing. 
Článok bol vytvorený pre vintagecrafting.sk
celý článok si môžete prečítať na tomto odkaze. 


Follow these 5 easy steps to achieve perfect results:
1.treat your surface with antistatic powder bag. Simply rub the bag on your paper to remove the static electricity. 


 2. choose high quality embossing ink pad. I have tried several companies and the Versamark Ink Pad by Tsukineko is the best. 


3. you will also need high quality embossing powder. There are so many possibilities, just choose your favorite.


4. Sometimes everything is going wrong even though you are doing everything correctly.  Sometimes all you need is just a clean dry brush to solve all your problems. 


5. The final step is your heat gun. 



This is my collection so far :) I am slowly building it up



If you are a beginner I highly recommend you this essential embossing kit by Stampendous. It includes the basic colors as gold, silver, white, black and clear ultra fine embossing powders.



My most favorite and usable powders are storaged in these little containers with plastic spoons.



The basic types of emsbossing powders are:
* regular size
* fine or ultra fine - the crystals are extra small to achieve the best results with tiny sentiments and images.
* ultra thick - on contrary these crystals of embossing powder are extra big. You can achieve extra dimension but it´s pretty difficult to work with it. 

 

If you want to buy just one color - go for the white ;-) You can use it on your sentiments and it looks amazing on Kraft cardstock. 

I want to persuade you that you need to buy also TRANPARENT / clear embossing powders.
Here are 3 main reasons:
1. Use it in combination with Versafine Onyx Black ink. It will replace the black embossing powder completely + it will help you with your water coloring. You can read about it in this article :)

2. You can use it with your PIGMENT ink pads and create your DIY color embossing effect.
You need to use the pigment ink pad because it stays wet for long time and is able to catch the embossing powder.
 

 

In the end you will achieve similar look as if you would use color embossing powders. Of course it´s better to use the original embossing powders but you can stretch the supplies you already have at home. 



3. the main advantage of using the clear embossing powder is its ability to preserve the original color of cardstock. I have prepared the example for you. I have created three tags on 3 different cardstocks:
* kraft cardstock
* white watercolor cardstock
* manilla cardstock by Ranger 



As you can see the original stamp doesn´t have the stem. I have created it using Clear Sticky Ink in Pen. 


I hope I have given you some inspiration. 

See you soon here and have a great day ♥