During my personal 24 cards in 24 hours challenge I tried a new (to me) technique using Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers.  The idea is to give the illusion of coloured Glimmer Paper by colouring on an acetate overlay.  On my project I created a Christmas card featuring a sparkling poinsettia using the Detailed Poinsettia Thinlits Dies.  I was reasonably happy with the results considering I was working against the clock, but there are a few things I’d do differently next time.

SPARKLING POINSETTIA

This project was all about the sparkling poinsettia.  I began by using my Big Shot to cut out the large poinsettia shape from Window Sheet with a die from the Detailed Poinsettia Thinlits.  Then I turned the poinsettia over and coloured over the whole piece using a dark Real Red Stampin’ Blends marker.  I left the piece to dry for a minute or so and then went back and coloured the whole thing again.

While the Window Sheet was drying fully I went back to the Big Shot.  This time I cut out a piece of the Sparkle Glimmer Paper using the same poinsettia shape die.

Next I took a piece of Basic Black Card and covered the back with some Multipurpose Adhesive Sheet.  Then I placed the card onto the Magnetic Platform with the poinsettia shape die.  Before I cut this piece though I added the detailed poinsettia die inside the outline die.  Now when I ran it through the Big Shot I had a delicate poinsettia piece.

Finally I cut the centre part of the detailed poinsettia from a scrap of Gold Foil Sheet with Multipurpose Adhesive Sheet on the back.  Once cut, I left the pieces in the die as that would make life easier later.

ASSEMBLING THE SPARKING POINSETTIA

Putting the poinsettia embellishment together was really simple.

I peeled off the backing from the Multipurpose Adhesive Sheet on the Basic Black piece and attached it to the front of the coloured Window Sheet.  Then lining up the detailed poinsettia die over the black piece I was able to poke the tiny centre spots out with my Take Your Pick Tool directly into the black outline.

Finally I put a number of Mini Glue Dots onto the glitter side of the Glimmer Paper, then attached the Window Sheet onto it.  If you look really, really closely you can see the glue dots, but I have to say the colouring masks them well.

THE FRONT OF THE CARD

Using my Stampin’ Trimmer I cut and scored a piece of Thick Whisper White Card for my card base.  Next I folded the card along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.  Then using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I attached a piece from the Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack.

For the sentiment I started by wiping a piece of Whisper White Card with an Embossing Buddy.  Then I stamped the sentiment from the Peaceful Poinsettia Stamp Set using VersaMark ink.  I sprinkled the sticky ink with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and then tapped off the excess.  Once I’d remove some stray specks of powder I melted the rest with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

The sentiment was then fixed to a layer of Gold Foil Sheet with liquid glue, before being added to the card base.

Finally using Stampin’ Dimensionals I attached the sparkling poinsettia embellishment.

FINISHING TOUCHES

On a layer of Whisper White Card I stamped just the poinsettia section from the large image in the Peaceful Poinsettia Stamp Set, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  By stamping across the corner of the piece it was actually quite easy to avoid including the rest of the image.  I then repeated the poinsettia image across the bottom right corner on the front of a Whisper White Medium Envelope.

I coloured in both flowers using Stampin’ Blends in light and dark Real Red, and dark Daffodil Delight.  Once that was done I fixed the Whisper White layer inside the card base and I was finished.

NEXT TIME WITH THIS TECHNIQUE

I already knew that colouring with alcohol markers onto a non-porous surface like Window Sheet is a challenge.  If you try to colour too much the alcohol just pushes the colour out of the way and doesn’t blend.  The more you fuss with it, the worse it will get.  For this reason colouring a large area like the poinsettia is an issue, and it didn’t turn out quite as well as I’d have liked.

If I were to do this again I would attach the black card to the front of the Window Sheet first.  Then I could colour the individual bracts (petals) one by one on the back.  This would make the colour much easier to manage.  Using this process I would also be able to colour some of the bracts green which would add some nice contrast.

All in all though I pretty happy how this tuned out for my first attempt especially as I was watching the clock too.  I only wish I’d managed to get a better photo as my sparkling poinsettia is much more sparkly in real life.

BUNDLE BONUS – I purchased the Peaceful Poinsettia Stamp Set and Detailed Poinsettia Thinlits Dies using a single bundle code.  This meant that I saved % off the cost of buying the two items separately.  You’ll see I’ve included links to all the options in the product list so you can look at this offer in more detail if you wish.

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