Beetles & Bugs Stained Glass Technique!

Hi everybody!

It's been too long since I've blogged... but here I am. I'm finally back and ready to share again (I've been deep cleaning my craft room and putting away Christmas and all sorts of boring things not worth mentioning). Honestly, I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to stamp lately. After two rounds of pneumonia this winter I've decided that my late night crafting (often until 3 or 4am) must be put on hold for a while. I've got to put my health first so you might see a little less production out of me but I sure hope not!

Anyhow, on to today's card and I've even got a tutorial for you! I'm sure there are some people who get a bit bugged out by this set but I love it! I often say that I could've been an entomologist because I find insects so fascinating. Right when I saw this set I knew I wanted to emboss these beautiful beetles and watercolor them. I imagined doing it with the aqua painter but couldn't resist using the new water color pencils from Stampin' Up! If you haven't tried them yet-the pencils are awesome! Here's my card...

I really wanted these cards to have some dimension so after watercoloring them I added Clear Wink of Stella and a large dose of liquid adhesive from the fine-tip glue pen. It created what I'm calling a Stained Glass effect.

I love the way these shiny beetles look in person. It was hard to capture the shimmer, shine and dimension in these pictures. If you run your finger over the beetles they actually pop off of the page.

After creating my stained glass background I added an embossed sentiment on a strip of vellum so that you could still see the background. I embellished with some black metallic thread and popped the card face up on a base of Pacific Point.

Hopefully somebody will get a kick out of this card! If you'd like to make your own, here's how (if you need a link to purchase the products you will need please see the product table at the bottom of my post):

Supplies:

• Stamp Sets: Beetles & Bugs ( 142980), Window Shopping (W:142920/ C:143265)
• Inks: Archival Black (140931), Versamark (102283)
• Paper: Pacific Point (111350)), Basic Black Archival (121045), Whisper White (100730), Vellum (101856)
• Other: Watercolor Pencils (141709), Embossing Buddy (103083), Heat Tool (129053), Clear Embossing Powder (109130), Gold Embossing Powder (109129), Aqua Painters (103954), Clear Wink of Stella (141897), Fine-Tip Glue Pen (138309), Black Metallic Thread (141695), Tombow Multi-Purpose Glue (110755), Mini Glue Dots (103683), Dimensionals (104430),

Measurements:

• Card Base in Pacific Point: 5-1/2” x 8-1/2” and scored at 4-1/4”
• Chocolate Chip Mat: 5-1/8” x 3-7/8”
• Whisper White Mat (with Images): 5” x 3-3/4”
• Vellum Banner: ½” x 4-1/4”

 Instructions:

1. Wipe the Whisper White image piece down with your Stampin’ Buddy and then stamp the beetle image multiple times using Versamark Ink. Cover all the versamark ink with Gold Embossing Powder and heat and set with your heat tool.
2. Color the beetles using the watercolor pencils of your choice. Let dry.
3. Color all of the beetles with Clear Wink of Stella. Let dry.
4. Fill all of the beetle wings in with adhesive from the fine tip glue pen. It will stay trapped in the wings because of the embossing and give a raised look like a shiny shell. Let dry.
5. Using Tombow adhere the image piece to the black mat.
6. Attach the matted image piece to cardbase using dimensionals. Set aside.
7. Wipe your vellum down with your Stampin’ Buddy. Then stamp the sentiment in the Versamark ink and then immediately into the Archival Black ink. Then stamp your vellum banner. Add Clear Embossing Powder and use your heat tool to heat and set.
8. Wrap Black Metallic Thread around the left side of the vellum banner  and tie a bow.
9. Add Mini Glue Dots to the back of the vellum. Roll them up so that they are narrow and stick them to the back side of the letters so that they will not be visible from the front. Adhere vellum to the card.

Have fun with this and if you make one of your own I would love to see what you make! Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Have an amazing day!

Maria.
P.S. Don't forget that right now is Sale-a-Bration! for every $50 US (CSV) that you spend on product you will receive one FREE product of your choice from the Sale-a-Bration catalog!

PRODUCT SUPPLY LIST:

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