{ Happy Mother's Day.... Mother-In-Law }

Well today was productive because I learned a new technique and I finished my Mother-in-law's mother's day card. However I went a step back with my New Year's Resolution!


The April issue of Stampin' Success just came in the mail yesterday and I took a few minutes to flip through it this morning. To my surprise there was a technique I hadn't seen yet that intrigued me. Faux metal. Normally I don't like the "faux" techniques. To me they are like shopping at Wal-Mart, poor quality! Why draw your stitching on your card when the quality shows through in your card by really stitching on it? In this case I don't really think the final product actually looks like metal, more like those wax seals you can put on the back of your envies. Anyway, I really liked the final product so I had to try it out!

It's probably pretty obvious, but the flower that is the focal point is what I used the faux metal technique on.

All images copyright Stampin' Up!

To try this technique follow these steps:

1. Cut out a piece of cardstock and apply versamark to the surface.
2. Melt multipule layers of embossing powder onto the cardstock.
3. Once the layers are nice and thick (about 3-6 depending on the EP) press your stamp very firmly on to the warm layers.

Oh and a little note, if you mess up or don't like the image just apply more Versamark and EP and keep going, no need to start over!

As for the rest of the card... I used my markers to do the background on the card base. I used the same stamp as I did on the focal point. Neat huh? I love how versatile stamps can be! Oh and before I forget.... I mentioned taking a step back on my New Year's Resolution, well... The set I used was in the "sell" pile, oh boy! Now I'm rethinking all the stamp sets that are in that pile, at least twenty sets.

Anyway, back to the card. On the artichoke layer I layered my SU Print Pattern stamp with my SU French Script, something I've seen in the SCS galleries quite a few times. Pretty much every layer on this card is sponged with Bravo Burgundy ink. I'm not really that great with sponging, actually, I normally don't like the way it looks, but in the case I'm really happy with the sponging on the card. Especially on the sentiment image which is heat embossed and sponged around. I also used my French Script stamp again over the entire layer. No need for masking, just used some tissue to wipe the ink clean from the EP. One last thing, since you can't see it too well in the picture, the main image is popped up under the scallops and all the layers are also popped up from the card base.

So what do you think?

Recipe:

Stamps: SU Print Patter, French Script, Thank You Blocks, All Year Cheer 2
Paper: SU Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy, So Saffron
Ink: SU Craft Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy, Versamark
Embellishments: SU Ribbon, MM Brads
Other: Misc Sponge Daubers, Gold Embossing Powder, Scallop Punch, SU Write Marker, Ticket Punch, Corner Punch, Slit Punch