Acetate in Different Ways

Hi Everyone, wishing you all a happy Monday! Today I have two cards to share, my Whimsy DT makes for last week and this week. Wrapped up in one posting because somehow I ran out of time last week...pfff.

Ok here we go. This is my first card using the Lovely Lavender set from the Clearly Whimsy Stamps Collection.

I made the background with my Distress markers and an acetate sheet inspired by a technique called Smackin' Acetate. You can find a tutorial HERE. It's super simple with a great effect.
I stamped over the background with Versafine Onyx Black ink and added just a few pearls and rhinestones.


I love my acetate sheets at the moment :-) Here is a card with an acetate overlay. This technique has been on my to do list for quite a while now. This is such a stunning effect, I looooove it!

This super cute little kitty is from the Clearly Whimsy Purrfect Pals clear set by our very own  Tracy. I just love her designs! I colored using Inktense pencils. I stamped the image and the sentiment (it's from the same set) with Versafine Onyx Black ink onto 140lb Canson watercolor paper

here is a closer look at the image

I used the following Inktense colors:

0260 Burnt Orange
1210 Dark Aquamarine
1540 Light Olive
1800 Baked Earth
2120 Neutral Grey

When coloring with Inktense pencils I always use the "Brush to Tip" technique, at least that is what I call it. It means with my wetted brush I take some color directly from the pencils tips. Inktense pencils are very intense and vibrant and you get an overload of color if you color directly with your pencils on your image. At least for water coloring stamped images it is too much in my opinion. Or I should say for the look I like to achieve with them. It all comes down to a personal preference. For other coloring techniques this might be just perfect. You can also use these dry like e.g. Prisma pencils. I prefer the wet technique using these. I also always work only on small areas at a time. Inktense pencils behave pretty much like water colors but once they are dry they are waterproof and you can not reactivate them anymore unlike watercolors. Working on small areas gives you enough time to lay down your color and blend before the ink dries. A great advantage is that you can layer colors easily because of the waterproof nature of these pencils. I also love the vibrant colors.

Ok back to the acetate overlay now:

I dry embossed the acetate for a 3D effect which I think gives it a really cool look. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder called Spots and Dots. The acetate sheet I used was from Grafix in a .005 medium thickness. It embossed perfectly but for my taste the acetate was a bit too thin to be a perfect overlay. It did not stay as flat on my card as I wished for. I used a tiny glue dot to hold it down on one corner. It worked, it's just not perfect! Next time I am using a thicker sheet. I already ordered me .007 which is just slightly thicker and still considered medium weight and also the .020 which is more a heavy weight acetate. 

For even more 3D effects I die cut the word birthday using the Whimsy Shapeology large word die 'Birthday' and heat embossed it with copper and green, both metallic embossing powders by Zing. I adhered it on top of the acetate sheet and the dot from the i is made using NUVO Crystal Drops in Golden Sunset.

Thanks for dropping by!

Hugs,