I love experimenting with new techniques, especially when they are easy. Today I have a new take on an old favourite of mine. When done in shades of blue I’ve been calling it the Cracked Ice Technique as that’s exactly what it looks like. But today I can only refer to it as the Super Saran Wrap Technique. Hopefully you’ll understand why.

SUPER SARAN WRAP

This project all started with a 2″ strip of Shimmery White Card punched at the top using the Delightful Tag Topper Punch.

I had in mind an abstract green background for a floral / leafy tag design and thought that the Saran Wrap would be a good one to try.

So I scrunched up a piece of Saran Wrap , tapped it onto a Mint Macaron ink pad and then onto the tag base. After that I tapped on some Call Me Clover ink, then added some Shaded Spruce ink. The three colours created a really nice effect. So far, so good.

Then something got me thinking about mixed-media projects I’d seen and how they often have shiny accents. It made me wonder whether the Saran Wrap technique would work with heat embossing. There was only one way to find out…

I began by wiping my tag with an Embossing Buddy to remove any oils and static. Next I tapped a fresh piece of scrunched up Saran Wrap onto the VersaMark ink pad and then gently tapped the ink onto the tag. I repeated this all over the surface until I thought I’d covered it all.

With that done I covered the tag with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder then tapped off the excess. Finally I melted the remaining embossing powder with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Oh my goodness. I can’t tell you how excited I was when I saw the results. It was exactly as I’d hoped. It just took my simple green background to a whole new level.

So now all I needed to do was create a suitable sentiment and embellishment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

For my happy birthday sentiment I turned to the Rustic Retreat Stamp Set. I like the combination of fonts and it’s the perfect size for a 2″ wide tag.

I began by wiping a piece of Shimmery White Card with the Embossing Buddy then stamped the sentiment with VersaMark ink. As before I covered the sticky ink with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. Then I removed a few stray specks of powder before melting the rest with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Next I needed my embellishments so I grabbed a new set of dies called Lovely Leaves. These coordinate with the Lovely Is The Day Stamp Set I used on a project a few days ago. I knew exactly the die I wanted and that was a small fern. Then I cut one each from Call Me Clover Card and Vellum Cardstock.

Using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I attached the sentiment to a piece of Call Me Clover Card. Then I glued the fern leaves to the back, before adding it to the tag with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The just left the tie at the top. I chose the Mint Macaron thick twine from the Nature’s Twine pack and tied it to the tag. It was OK but did seem a little plain in comparison to the rest of the tag. Not to worry, I had another idea.

I pressed the cut ends of the twine onto the VersaMark ink pad and then dipped them in the pot of embossing powder. I tapped off the excess and then melted the rest with my Heat Tool. No more boring twine here!

With that, my super Saran Wrap experiment was done. I’m really happy with how it all turned out and amazed that I never thought of it before. Don’t be surprised if I try other ink techniques with VersaMark in the future.

You’ll find some other projects I created using Saran Wrap in these earlier blog posts:

• Cracked ice background effect
• Simple inked background
• Tiny Woven Threads

CLEARANCE RACK UPDATED

As I announced yesterday, the Clearance Rack has now been updated with the addition of reduced price stamp sets. All these sets originally appeared in the 2018 Holiday Catalogue, or the 2018 Snowflake Showcase promotion. The stamp sets appear to be priced at 25% off the original catalogue price.

In addition you will notice dies that coordinate with many of these stamps also appear in the Clearance Rack. Just be aware that availability is limited so please order via my online store straight away to avoid disappointment.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Lovely Leaves Dies in a bundle with the coordinating Lovely Is The Day Stamp Set (not used today). Ordering the two items using a single bundle code saved me 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. You’ll see I’ve included a link to the bundle below so you can look at that option in more detail if you wish.