You Are Wonderful!

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone is enjoying some sunshine today!  It's finally starting to look like spring!  I wanted to  show you how to make this bright card to give someone who is special to you!  Here is my list of supplies:

• Concord & 9th Wonderful Florals stamp set
• Flitter Glue (or a liquid glue that dries tacky)
• Gilding Flakes (I used Cosmic Shimmer - Autumn Leaves)
• Scoochie Foam (available from www.paperwishes.com)
• Black Cardstock cut to 4.5 x 6
• Stamp Positioning tool
• Cosmetic wedge
• Paper trimmer
• Foam Tape
• Dryer sheet or Swiffer sheet
• Glue Pen
• A2 size card base (I used a shimmer tan/kraft color)
• Metallic ink 

I started by placing my black cardstock panel in my stamp positioning tool and laid my stamp where I wanted it to be.  I eventually cut this panel down to 4 x 5.5, but in this initial stage I wanted room to work.  I placed some glue onto a piece of scrap acetate and using the cosmetic wedge I applied a thin layer over my stamp and stamped it onto the black cardstock.  I immediately took the stamp off and washed it off with a sponge and warm water.  Your stamp will be ruined if this glue is allowed to dry on it (trust me I know LOL!) This piece was laid aside to dry until it was tacky.  Meanwhile I stamped off the 2 different sentiments and followed the same steps.  Then it was time for the gilding flakes.  I used a heavy hand when applying these - knowing that any excess could be put back in the jar and used again.

First I rubbed my finger over the areas to get the larger excess portions off.  Just using my finger took an amazing amount off, but to really get the stamped image in focus, I then used the scoochie foam.  Scoochie foam is a very porous foam that is slightly scratchy, and you can see through it:

When sourcing this for you I looked it up on Amazon - who had never heard of it!  It is available on the Paper Wishes website (listed in supplies).  They also carry gilding flakes and Flitter Glue.

By gently rubbing over your image with the foam piece and not using much pressure, it takes away all the gilding flakes that are not adhered by the glue, while burnishing it at the same time.  It really leaves a lovely metallic finish!

There were several places that didn't get enough glue, so I used a Zig glue pen, let it dry for a short period and then put the gilding flakes on top and burnished them.  It worked really great for the small areas that were missed.  I cut my big panel down to 4 x 5.5 and trimmed the strips with the text on them, fish-tailing the ends.

I glued the main panel onto my top folding A2 size card base, edged the text strips with antique gold ink just for definition, and adhered those with foam tape.  And that finished my card!

Using the gilding flakes is sometimes quite messy because of all the static, but I used a dryer sheet for clean up and I rubbed down my card panel with it before gluing it on.  My picture here looks quite navy (instead of black)...navy with silver gilding flakes would look gorgeous!  I would love to see your version of this card!  Tag me on Instagram if you do @betsybirgeart

There's still time to enter my giveaway of a Hampton Arts StampPerfect!  Go to my original blog post, answer the question that's asked there and that's it!  Winner will be chosen next Sunday, April 29th!

Happy Paper-crafting and remember.....it's only paper!!!

Betsy