Hand Stamped Sentiments #114 {Black Magic Technique}

I have to tell you, crafty friends, that this week's HSS Challenge was way, way out of my comfort zone!  Yow!  But that's what a challenge is all about, right?!  Here's the finished product, but the road to get here was a comedy of errors!

The challenge is Black Magic, for which there are plenty of tutorials and samples out there.  I'd never heard of it!

I decided that I would incorporate it into a card I would normally do, to add the Black Magic portion as a step along the way.  Turns out, no matter what you do, this technique takes center stage!  I used layers, frames, die cuts, doilies, ribbon, brads, pleating, sponging, punching.  And yet there it still is!  Haha!

But I digress.  My black magic technique was a little different from many of the samples I looked at.  First, I didn't want to use black, so I used Rich Razzleberry.  Second, I had no colored pencils, as I'm away this week (Have Stash Will Travel), so I used Watercolor Wonder Crayons.  Third, my gel pen is being a brat, so I used Frost White Shimmer Paint and a toothpick.  Here's my process:

 Stamp the image onto dark cardstock with Whisper White Craft Ink.  Set with a hair dryer because you may not have a heat embossing gun :). Color the image with Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Pretty in Pink and Baja Breeze used here.

 Here is where the "magic" occurs.  Apply gel pen or (in this case) Shimmer Paint around edge of stamped and colored image, which makes the image really "pop". I admit, it is a striking technique, and my 2 sons graded it an A Plus.  But they are certainly buttering me up.

Then came the layering, embossing, etc.  Tucked underneath the three layers of Edgelits is a Doily die cut, which I shimmed the wrong way, and none of the die cut pieces completely cut through.  But I loved the way it came out in one piece, so on it went, as the very bottom layer.  You can see it in the second photo, where the card is standing upright.  Then many other layers, listed from bottom to top:

- Edgelits

- Lucky Limeade embossed with Vintage Wallpaper

- Rich Razzleberry punched with Scallop Edge Border punch

- First Edition, cut 12" x 1-1/2", pleated and adhered

- Lucky Limeade 1/8" Organdy ribbon, wrapped 4 times around, and knotted with Lucky Limeade Bakers             Twine and Linen Thread.

- Designer Fabric Brad from Summer Smooches

- Finally, the bird, cut from Rich Razzleberry and Pretty In Pink, embossed, sponged, and layered.  Her eye is a Linen Thread knot.  

So there it is, come what may!  

I hope you will try this technique out for yourself, there are so many ways to use it!  Link up your creations at Hand Stamped Sentiments, and check out all the other samples for inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST:

STAMPS:  Printed Petals, Fabulous Phrases

INK: White Craft Ink

CARDSTOCK: Pretty In Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade

DSP: First Edition, Summer Smooches

ACCESSORIES:  Edgelits, Edgelits embossing folders, Doily die, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Scallop Edge Border Punch, 1/8" Lucky Limeade Organdy ribbon, Lucky Limeade Bakers Twine, Linen Thread, Elegant Bird Bigz die, Summer Smooches Designer Fabric Brad, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Basic Rhinestones, Tag punch.