Cracked Pistachio Winner

Thanks everyone for the nice comments about the Texture Paste test run. I have already been doing some tests without the embossing powder.  The Translucent gloss is super shiny and really brings the Distress inks to life.  I was surprised how much I liked it since I'm usually not such a "shine" person.  Well I guess I better get on with announcing the winner!

Congratulations!

PatGLex

Now I need to get some of that transparent texture paste! Love the way it looks on the card sans embossing powder. And the tag; I always add to a tag, never remove! Love the open name. I'll have to give that a try!

PatGLex please email me with your shipping address to paula@oneluckyday.net

now carry on,
paula

Texture Paste Test Run

Tim created a fantastic tag for March for his monthly "12 tag series".  He used a technique I had never tired before so I set out to not only test the technique, but to test Ranger's new Texture Pastes that were released at CHA this year.  Follow along and I will show you the results.

I started by coloring a few pieces of manila cardstock with Cracked Pistachio, Picked Raspberry and Mustard Seed Distress Ink. 

The Picked Raspberry and Mustard Seed Distress Ink can be over powering so take that into account when mixing colors.

Next, I used the Flourish Layering Stencil to add Texture Paste (this is the new Transparent Gloss finish) over the stencil.  The new gloss (and matte for that matter) paste is creamy compared to the regular Texture Paste.  It is easy to drag across the stencil and get a smooth finish.

Peel back the stencil and wash immediately to remove Texture Paste. Remember it's transparent so at this stage you could let it dry for a beautiful shiny flourish over the ink.

But to test Tim's technique I will need to pour Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder over the WET Texture Paste and let it dry...meaning the Texture Paste needs to be DRY before you heat the Embossing Powder. 

Once the texture paste is dry, heat emboss the powder to get this fabulous color - like liquid gold. 

I mounted the flourish paper onto black Core'dinations cardstock.

Next I needed to cover the bottom where the stencil did not reach, so I grabbed a gold Deco sheet.  These are sheets of sparkly self-adhesive paper.  Easy to cut by hand or with a Sizzix die.  I mounted the cut Deco strip onto cardstock to give it a little more stability.

I also colored a piece of Crinkle Ribbon using Picked Raspberry Distress Ink.  Once dry, I added Gathered Twigs to a craft sheet, spritzed it with water and pounced the dry ribbon into it.  Adding the Gathered Twigs to the dry ribbon helps you control how much brown you want to add, creating this great vintage look.

Add the Deco strip and Crinkle Ribbon to the card front, tying a simple bow.

Cut a word from the Thinlits "Celebrations" set.  I cut mine using a tag so I could use the tag "leftover" later.  I painted the word with black Distress Paint to fit with the card front.

Add the word to the card front with Multi Medium.  An easy way to do this is to pounce a bit of Multi Medium on to the craft sheet, then place the word into the the glue.  It will coat the back of the tiny word and make it easy to add to the card.

I wanted to add a Heart Charm to the bow but the metal is heavy, so I lifted the bow and added a staple using the Tiny Attacher underneath.

Love how it turned out.  The colors are bright, yet subtle.  The embossing powder looks amazing - really, really gold.

(please click photo to enlarge)

So here is the testing part!
I created three separate Distress Ink cards with the three different Texture Pastes - Texture Paste, Texture Paste Transparent Matte and Texture Paste Transparent Gloss.  I used the same Ranger Embossing Powder on each sample.

Texture Paste - the paste is thick and gives you the crispest image.  It dries very quickly so you need to work fast.  I recommend having a tray of water to ready to toss the stencil into so you can be adding the Embossing Powder right away instead of cleaning.  This paste dries the quickest of the three tested.  It also gives a grittier texture, which is great for some applications.

Texture Paste Transparent Matte - A smoother finish that the straight paste.  Takes a little longer to dry but a great result.  Goes on smooth and easy.

Texture Paste Transparent Gloss - the gloss is the smoothest of the three pastes.  You can see that the texture is more like melted butter than the crisp finish of the first texture paste.  So it really is a decision of what kind of finish are you looking for, crisp or smooth?  you make the call!

The Texture Paste Transparent Gloss was the perfect paste to use for this particular card.  I sure hope to do more testing of the two new products to see what they can do without the Embossing Powder!

Since it's St. Patrick's day today I thought we would end by giving away a little green!  Cracked Pistachio that is!
Please leave a comment and I will pick a winner on Thursday the 19th.

 I told you that "leftover" tag would come in handy!

Hope you liked today's project!  Thanks to Tim for demoing the great embossing powder technique.  Be sure to go to Tim's blog to see his tag.  It really is fantastic!  And if you make a tag using this technique, be sure to add it to Tim's March "12 Tags" post to win a prize.

now carry on,
paula

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Cultivate Kindness

Hi everyone!  I'm here today sharing a quick little project using a 4 x 6" Burlap Panel.  Lets get right into it!
I sprayed the burlap with a few colors of Distress Spray Stain and dried it with a Heat it tool.  Using Spray Stain is the easiest way to get great coverage over the nubby burlap texture!

I used the new Wildflower Layering stencil and Ranger Texture Paste to add the silhouette of the wildflowers over the burlap.  I let it air dry (which does not take too long at all) before proceeding with the next step.  Do not dry Texture Paste with a heat tool or the paste can become puffy.  Always REMEMBER to wash the paste off the stencil right away.

Once dry you can see that the color of the Spray Stain came up through the Texture Paste, leaving the paste a minty green color.  Not a problem, in fact it's really kinda cool how the colors bleeds up through the paste. 
I used a Mini Blending Tool and a few colors of Distress Ink to color the flowers (mustard seed and abandoned coral), then misted it with water to let the colors blend.  I dried the ink with the Heat it tool.

Next, the stems of the flowers needed a just a little more color so I added Evergreen Bough over the dried paste.

I used the same colors of the Distress Ink to color a piece of Specialty Stamping paper which has a matte surface.

I misted the ink with water.

And rolled over the water with a roll of paper towels to tone down the bright color.

I stamped the paper with one of the small butterflies from the Watercolor Stamp set and Archival ink in Black Soot.  I did dry it with the Heat it tool to make sure the ink was set before cutting one out.

Once I had it cut out, I added a bit more ink on edges to disguise any white paper that was left from cutting it out.  A little Glossy Accents down the center of the butterfly...then hold it in place for at least 30 seconds till it adheres to the burlap surface.

I added a Mirrored Star that has been colored with gold Alcohol ink, text from the Small Talk sticker book and a bit of the new Trimmings.

Easy to do and a fun little experiment in coloring Texture Paste.  I love that it dries so fast! 

I sure love this little reminder to always, Cultivate Kindness.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I made today.  I'm off to teach at Memory Bound in Iowa this weekend.  Praying for planes to be on time, luggage to make it to the destination, and a happy weekend for all the students!

now carry on,

paula

 

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