Poinsettia Petals for a Blue Christmas

Hello, Stamping Friends! I’ve been playing with some old background techniques, and one of my favorites is the “Faux Patina.” It had been many years since I had visited this technique when I found it again in September. You can see my last post using it here.

Since I usually use browns and greens for this technique, I decided to try it with some blues and Silver Stampin’ Emboss Powder. I love the way this turned out.

For this technique, you need Whisper White or Very Vanilla Cardstock, an embossing folder, four coordinating ink colors (two on the lighter side and two darker), Stamping Sponges, a VersaMark Pad, embossing powder, and a heat tool.

First, ink the inside of the embossing folder (the side with the Stampin’ Up!® logo) using the lightest ink. I used Smoky Slate Classic Ink, the Parisian Flourish 3D Embossing Folder, and Whisper White Cardstock.

Place your cardstock carefully in the inked folder, then run through the Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine. Let the card stock rest a minute while you rinse the ink off the embossing folder.

Next take a sponge wedge and lightly add the other light color. Balmy Blue was my choice. Don’t cover the entire area; just add touches here and there. Repeat two more times with the darker colors, again adding ink lightly and not covering the entire panel. I used Misty Moonlight for this step, then Night of Navy for the fourth inking.

Give the ink a minute to dry. You can also heat with the Heat Tool.

Add VersaMark to the inked panel. You can use “direct to paper.” That’s what I did on this card, but I think I like using a sponge a little better. That way you don’t cover too much of the panel, and you don’t get rectangles of VersaMark. Use a light touch; the more VersaMark you use, the more your panel will be embossed and your lovely “inking” won’t show. You can always add more later. I think I have a little too much on this card, but it makes it more frosty and wintery, so I’m ok with it.

Add Stampin’ Emboss Powder over the VersaMark (I used Silver). This is why you want the classic ink to be dry. If it’s still wet, the powder will stick to it and you’ll have more embossing than you might want. If this happens, simply flick the back of the card stock with your finger before you melt the powder with your Heat Tool.

That’s all there is to the technique. It sounds long, but I made the background for my Blue Christmas card in about 5-10 minutes – and that included washing the ink off the embossing folder.

To finish it off, I used the Poinsettia Petals Bundle from the August-December Mini Catalog. This bundle includes the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set (used for the sentiment) and the Poinsettia Dies. The dies are amazing, because you can cut and emboss leaves at the same time! My poinsettias are Whisper White with Daffodil Delight centers, and the other leaves are Balmy Blue. I added some extra “filler” cut from Champagne Foil Sheets and Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper.

I punched the sentiment tag using the Banners Pick a Punch, then added a piece of Seaside Spray Metallic Ribbon to the Balmy Blue card.

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy. Have a lovely day – and if you live in the USA, please remember to vote tomorrow if you haven’t already!

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