Technique Thursday

Hey Everyone,

Today is Thursday, almost the end of another week. Wow, time does fly!

This post is not about a finished card. I haven’t finished it for a couple of reasons: One, I am not sure if I think it is done well enough to finish and Two, I am not sure what kind of card I want it to be if I do finish it. Christmas? Thinking of You? Sympathy? I need to look at it awhile and think about it.

Anyway, on to the technique which I first saw on a You Tube video by Melissa Kerman. I looked further and there are other tutorials about tarnishing foil, some using aluminum foil from your kitchen and some using the beautiful foil papers. I am mostly following Melissa’s formula, which you can see here.

Here is the card front I created using the same technique of dry embossing, heat embossing and adding a bit of grunge.

I began with a piece of Silver Foil Sheets and dragged my Basic Black ink pad over it lightly, leaving some streaks. Then, using the Lovely as a Tree stamp set, I stamped a couple of the evergreen trees, one tall and one only partially, in Versamark and heat embossed with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder. Then I went back and stamped some of the little pinecone branches from the same set in Versamark and heat embossed again in the gold.

Here you can see the trees and the pine cone branches as well as the streaking. The heat warped the paper a bit, but I just put an acrylic block on it while I did the next step

Taking a piece of Crumb Cake Card Stock I stamped another of the pine trees and some of the little branches in Versamark and, again, heat embossed with gold. Most of this will be covered up, so I did not stamp the whole piece. I took this photo before I went around the edge with a sponge and Crumb Cake ink, but I did sponge it.

Setting this aside, I went back to the foil piece and dry embossed it with the Pine Bough embossing folder. I really like this folder and it is on the clearance rack right now!

Then, using what I thought was a light touch, I dabbed some Versamark over the highlighted pine branches and a couple of other spots. Since you cannot see this, I think it will take some practice to get a truly light touch. Personally, I think I got a little heavy handed. I then heat embossed with the Copper Stampin’ Emboss Powder. Now it is starting to look a bit more aged. The final step here was to again drag, dab, daub, whatever, the Basic Black over the surface to give it the tarnished look. I also applied some around the edges.

I then assembled all the pieces to get this look.

Each of the 2 art pieces and the foil strip were adhered to a Basic Black mat with liquid glue. The long panel was glued to the Soft Suede mat. The foil panel and mat were liquid glued together, then adhered to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals. The foil strip and its mat were liquid glued to the base.

That completes the front, if I decide to keep it that way. It was not difficult, nor did it take a lot of time. That said, I think if I took a bit more time it would have been better. This is a technique I will definitely try again, so stay tuned. I want to try it using household aluminum foil.

What are your thoughts on this technique? Please comment below the products and card cuts details. And, if you want to order that Pine Bough Textured Embossing folder, just click on the order online button at right to go to my store.

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Cuts: Basic Black: card base 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ scored at 4-1/4″, mats (1) 2″ x 5″ and (1) 3-1/4″ x 4″, (1) 3/8″ x 4″; Crumb Cake: 1-3/4″ x 4-3/4″; Soft Suede: mat 4′ x 5-1/4″; Silver Foil Sheets: 3″ x 3-3/4″; Copper Foil Sheets: 1/8″ x 3-3/4″

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