Foiled Garden

I am so excited for Wednesday’s Technique Class. We’ll be using Brusho Crystal Colour on Foil Sheets. I usually use Gold or Copper Foil Sheets with this technique, but I decided to try Silver this time. And – WOW! – was I happy with the results.

Isn’t that background gorgeous? I spritzed a bit of water on the foil sheet, then added Prussian Blue Brusho to the top half and Moss Green to the bottom half. Knowing I wanted a bit of a brighter green as well, I sprinkled a little more Prussian Blue and some Yellow to the bottom, then spritzed again.

Sometimes I get a little carried away with my spritzing, and this time was no exception. But it was a simple matter to add more Brusho and give it a one last tiny, quick spritz of water.

I used my heat tool to move the water around a bit. Then (when I got impatient) I simply blotted some of the excess water with a paper towel and heated until it was dry.

I usually have a stamp set in mind when I start a card. Like yesterday’s card. I knew I wanted to use the Time for Tea set. But with foil and Brusho, I wait to see what it makes me think of before I add other elements. This time, it reminded me of the sea. Ok, this technique always reminds me of the sea – kind of murky and mysterious. But it also looked a little like some of this rain we’ve been having – a little drippy and blurry. So I chose the Graceful Garden rose to complete the card.

Garden Green is one of my favorite greens for leaves and stems, so I checked my handy-dandy Color Coach and saw that Melon Mambo was a suggested color to use with Garden Green. And that’s a pink I don’t normally use, so that was a perfect choice.

I stamped the rose in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. Usually, I save Memento for sentiments, small details, and for using Stampin’ Blends. If I’m going to color with a water-based medium, I use Jet Black StazOn Ink. Confession for the week – I often also use our retired Basic Black Archival Ink, because I have a lot of ink spots in that color and they’re so easy to use with the Stamparatus. But this time, I did use Memento. I knew I was going to use Stampin’ Write Markers to color, and they’re a little easier to control and keep from bleeding than water and Aqua Painters or paint brushes.

After I had stamped the flower using the Stamparatus, I colored shadows on the petals with a Merry Merlot Stampin’ Write Marker, and the flower stem and leaf shadows with a Garden Green Stampin’ Write Marker. Then I finished coloring with Melon Mambo (petals) and Granny Apple Green (leaves) Stampin’ Write Markers.

Here’s the fun part (for me). I didn’t want to cover up a lot of my gorgeous background, so I fussy cut the flower. I didn’t want to cut the leaves too closely, because they would be so delicate. (Translation: I was afraid I’d cut them off.) I left a bit of border, then sponged the edges with Garden Green ink. I stamped the little sentiment from Itty Bitty Greetings in Melon Mambo on a scrap left over from the rose. If you don’t enjoy fussy cutting, you can always use an oval framelit to die-cut the flower.

Tip for the day: Make sure you test your sentiment stamps before you stamp on your project, especially if you’re stamping directly on the card or in a place you can’t cover up. I made a birthday card for my older brother – whose birthday is today! Happy birthday, Mike!! – using the Happy Birthday stamp from the Itty Bitty Greetings set. Or, at least, that’s what I thought. Fortunately, I tested it before I totally messed up his card. The one I picked said, “Happy Hanukkah.” That wouldn’t have been bad, except it’s not even close to Hanukkah. And my brother isn’t Jewish.

Before I adhered the flower and sentiment to the card, I clear embossed the trellis image on the background foil. For fun, I added a tiny bit of Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter to the embossing powder. That and the Clear Rhinestone Basic Jewels give it just a little more sparkle and look like raindrops.

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy. Have a lovely day!

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