Many years ago when I first started papercrafting I was introduced to the ‘blockfill technique’. Basically I would create a colourful image and then partially surround it with a block of really dark colour, usually black. The beauty of the technique is in the contrast between the two areas. The challenge was getting the dark colour without telltale streaks, but the new Basic Black Stampin’ Blends now makes this possible. So as soon as I saw the Lovely Lattice Stamp Set I was determined to revisit this simple technique.

Of course that lattice is so delicate I knew that I’d never be able to colour inside each individual area. What’s more, the alcohol in Stampin’ Blends can destroy the surface of heat embossing making it lose it’s shine. I’d need to be creative if I was going to do this image justice. This week’s What Will You Stamp? Challenge WWYS205 Lovely Lattice gave me the perfect reason as I sat down to make a project for the Design Team gallery.

FLOWERS FRONT AND CENTRE

I started my project by mounting the large image from the Lovely Lattice Stamp Set onto my Stamparatus stamp positioning platform. Then I stamped the image onto Whisper White Card using Tuxedo Black ink. I left the stamp attached to the Stamparatus, but cleaned it with my Simply Shammy and set it aside for later.

Next I coloured in the flowers using light and dark Petal Pink and Flirty Flamingo, with Mango Melody for the centres. Then came the leaves in light and dark Granny Apple Green.

The dotted border around the oval was filled in with light Smoky Slate. Finally I coloured the main part of the oval and between the flowers with Dark Basic Black. Of course the black completely covered all that delicate lines of the lattice, but I wasn’t worried.

Going back to my Stamparatus I placed the card layer back onto the platform in exactly the same place as before. Then I wiped the surface of the card with an Embossing Buddy. I inked up the stamp with VersaMark ink and then stamped on top of my coloured image.

After carefully removing the stamped piece I sprinkled the sticky ink with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder. Then I tapped off the excess and removed a few stray specks before melting the rest with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high). As the shiny gold appeared the beauty of the delicate lattice image was revealed in all its glory.

SMALL FLOWERS

Also in the Lovely Lattice Stamp Set is a small flower image that I thought would be perfect for the inside of the card and the envelope.

I’ve found that heat embossing can sometimes get damaged when going through mailing machines, so I decided against that for my envelope.

Instead I simply stamped the small flower image on the flap of a Whisper White Medium Envelope using Tuxedo Black ink, then coloured it to match the main flowers.

It was only at this point that I thought you might appreciate a little video explanation of the stamp, colour, emboss process. So I completed the project with the camera running.

On a layer of Whisper White Card I stamped the small flower in the centre towards the top using Tuxedo Black ink. Then I coloured the image as before. Finally I re-stamped the image using VersaMark ink and embossed it in gold.

To complete the project I cut and scored a piece of Thick Whisper White Card using my Stampin’ Trimmer. I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create the card base. Then the layer with the small flower was fixed inside using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

Finally, using more liquid glue I attached my main image to a layer of Smoky Slate Card, and then to the card base.

I can’t tell you how pleased I am with this project. I still can’t decide whether or not to put a sentiment onto it, but perhaps I’ll do that just before it’s mailed.

WWYS205 LOVELY LATTICE

If you already have the set, we’d love you to join our challenge this week. The rules are very simple. Create a new project using at least one image from this stamp set and upload a photo to our challenge gallery for everyone to see. Then at the end of the challenge we’ll randomly choose one person to be our winner. They’ll get bragging rights, a badge for their social media, and an invitation to be our Guest Designer two weeks later.

To get this stamp set for free all you have to do is place an order for $60 CAD (before shipping and taxes) by March 31st. Then select the stamp set when prompted for your Sale-A-Bration choice.

ANOTHER CHALLENGE

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