Confession time.  I was very late to the party when it came to Wink of Stella Glitter Brushes.  I’d come across them in some craft stores but never actually bought one.  I suppose at the time I must have thought they were a bit like glitter glue which I had no use for.  Of course once a friend let me try her Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush, I was hooked.

Today is Monday and that means it’s time for another What Will You Stamp? Challenge.  This week the challenge is WWYS181 Lilypad Lake, and it’s a stamp set I love.  For my Design Team contribution I decided to focus on the congratulations sentiment and the ‘heron’ image.

SILVER EMBOSSING

I wanted the image and sentiment to be the star of the card so decided they should be embossed.  I started by wiping a piece of Whisper White Card with an Embossing Buddy to remove any oils and static.  Then using VersaMark ink I stamped the heron image.  I sprinkled the sticky ink with Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess.  This allowed me to see exactly where I wanted to place my sentiment.

I stamped the ‘congratulations’ sentiment below the heron with VersaMark ink and sprinkled silver embossing powder over that.  Next I tapped off the excess powder and removed the stray specks.  This is an important step when embossing as it makes a huge difference to the finished result.  Once I was happy I melted the rest of the powder with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

WHITE ON WHITE

This was going to be a clean and simple card front, basically all white.  So I cut and scored a piece of Thick Whisper White Card using my Stampin’ Trimmer, then folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

To mat my embossed piece I decided to use Vellum Cardstock instead of white card.  It’s a bit more interesting than white card, but wouldn’t distract from my focal image.  I cut a piece 1/2″ larger than my embossed piece and set it aside until I was ready to put everything together.

BABY CONGRATULATIONS

It was time to start the inside of my card and for that I needed another stamp set, Sweet Baby.

The layer of Whisper White Card was prepared as before by wiping it with the Embossing Buddy.  Then I stamped the Bouncing Baby image in the top right corner using VersaMark ink.  The ink was sprinkled with silver embossing powder then the excess tapped off.  Above the bouncer I stamped the little chain image in VersaMark, added embossing powder and tapped off the excess.  Finally I used VersaMark to stamp the ‘It’s a Girl’ sentiment beside the image.

With the stamping complete I sprinkled everything with silver embossing powder and tapped off the excess.  Now I could remove the stray specks of powder before melting the rest with the Heat Tool on 2 (high).

SIMPLE COLOURING

Although the front was going to be basically white, I wanted the image inside to be a colourful.  For this I’d do some simple colouring using Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers.

I started with the hair in dark Crumb Cake followed by Dark Daffodil Delight.  The face is Ivory with rosy cheeks courtesy of a dot of light Calypso Coral.  Then I chose light and dark Calypso Coral for the onesie.  The bouncer itself uses light and dark Rich Razzleberry, with light and dark Cherry Cobbler for the little heart.

Once the colouring was complete I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix the layer inside the prepared card base.

WINK OF STELLA MAGIC

I love experimenting with my Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush.  Painted onto Smoky Slate Card the card looks like brushed silver.  Today though on Whisper White it would take on a pearl effect.

On the inside of the card I used the Clear Wink of Stella on the top bar of the baby bouncer.  Then I set the open card aside to dry.

Next came the heron image, and I coloured the whole thing with a thick coat of Clear Wink of Stella.  This too was set aside to dry.

But I wasn’t finished yet!

I took the Vellum Cardstock layer and with my Clear Wink of Stella painted a 1/2″ border around the piece.  Then I went over it a second time to make sure it was thoroughly coated.  Vellum isn’t very porous so to make sure it dried properly I helped things along with my Heat Tool set on 1 (low).

The result was stunning, pearly vellum.  The perfect backdrop for the focal point of my card.

Finally I used liquid glue to attach the heron piece to the front of the Vellum then added that to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

FINISHING TOUCHES

All that was left was to complete the project with a decorated envelope.  For this I decided to go back to the Sweet Baby Stamp Set and the ‘jump for joy’ sentiment.

Using the Embossing Buddy I wiped the flap of a Whisper White Medium Envelope to prepare the surface.  Then I stamped the sentiment in the centre with VersaMark ink.  Silver embossing powder was sprinkled on the ink, the excess tapped off and stray specks removed.  As before I melted the rest of the embossing powder using the Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

And that was it.  With Wink of Stella and silver embossing my heron had transformed onto a stork bringing baby congratulations.

I’m really pleased with how this project turned out.  Change the colours on the inside and it could be a card for a baby boy.  Add another bouncing baby and it’s a card for twins!

From passing over Wink of Stella, I’m now a huge fan.  In fact I always keep a spare in my craft studio to make sure I never run out.  I’m so glad the Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush is now available through Stampin’ Up!  Here’s a link to my earlier post where I show the silver card created using Clear Wink of Stella.  So many wonderful moments.

You’ll also find other projects using the Lilypad Lake Stamp Set in these posts.

Sailing away

Going far

Faux canvas

WWYS CHALLENGE

Here’s this week’s What Will You Stamp? Challenge WWYS181 Lilypad Lake.  All you have to do is create a new project (not necessarily a card) using at least one image from Lilypad Lake.  Then upload it to our gallery for everyone to see.

At the end of the challenge we’ll randomly chose one person to be our challenge winner.  You’ll get bragging rights and a winner’s badge to display on your social media.  Plus you’ll be invited to be our Guest Designer two weeks later.

I and the rest of the What Will You Stamp? Design Team can`t wait to see your projects.

BUNDLE BONUS – Both the Lilypad Lake and Sweet Baby Stamp Sets have coordinating dies available from Stampin’ Up!  You can buy them separately, or order the stamp set and dies together using a bundle item number and save 10%.  I’ve included links to the bundles at the end of my product list so you can look at these in more detail if you are interested.

Product List