Create It 3 Ways: Birthday

I was so excited to participate in my first Create It 3 Ways Instagram Hop yesterday. The hop is hosted by @amritapettus. This hop is on the 3rd Saturday of every month at 3PM ET. For this hop, we challenge ourselves by choosing our own category to feature across all 3 cards. This could be one stamp or die set, one color scheme, one embossing folder, one technique -- one anything that you use in three unique ways. 

The theme for July 2023 is birthday, and I chose to feature the Simon Says Stamp Floral Harmony embossing folder on all three of my cards.

Interestingly, the techniques I used on these three cards are things I had never tried before! It was cool to try several techniques with the same product. It really helps to see how the product "behaves" with different techniques. 

Happiest of Birthdays:

I had seen Jennifer McGuire demonstrate this technique, but I'm not sure if I did it exactly as she did. I applied Altenew Antique Gold pigment ink to the raised side of the embossing folder. I sort of tapped it on, being kind of careful not to press too hard and get ink on the background area of the design. Then, I put an A2 panel of Gina K In the Navy card stock into the folder, carefully closed it, and ran it through my Spellbinders Platinum die cutting machine. The results seriously blew my mind. Gorgeous!

To create a more vintage look, I brayered on Hero Arts Unicorn White pigment ink. The gold remained in the debossed areas of the design, and the white only touched the smooth, background area of the design. 

I mounted the panel onto a white A2 card base. I cut the Spellbinders Infinity Punch & Pierce Plate from white card stock twice, and stacked these for dimension. I used only the outermost frame of this die cut, and I saved the insides for another project. 

With Spellbinders Glimmer Matte Gold foil, I foiled a sentiment from the Spellbinders More Sentiments set. I cut the sentiment with a fishtail banner die from my stash, and then cut 2-3 extras from scrap paper to stack behind it for dimension. I adhered this just below center of the oval. 

I embellished with Gina K Disco Ball Sequins.

Time to Celebrate:

On the heels of such debossing success, I couldn't wait to try another similar technique! This time, I inked up the raised side of the embossing folder with Versamark ink. This squishier ink pad was a little trickier to control, and I did get quite a bit of ink on the flat background of the folder. I just wiped that off with a baby wipe before I closed up the folder. 

Once the folder was inked up, I debossed the image onto an A2 panel of Gina K Black Onyx cardstock. Next, I added color with Perfect Pearls powders, which I had never used before!

• Forever Violet
• Poppy
• Zinnia
• Blue Patina

After dusting on the powder, with a pretty fluffy paintbrush, I brushed off the excess powder and buffed any residual powder off the background area. I spritzed water into the air a few times and waved the panel through the mist. This sets the color. 

I trimmed down the panel with one of the A2 Stitched Scallops Etched dies from PhotoPlay. Running the embossed panel through my die cutting machine squished the embossing just a little bit, so I carefully positioned the panel back in the Floral Harmony folder, and ran it through my die cutting machine to revive any squished texture.

I mounted the panel to an A2 card base made from Gina K Ivory card stock. Using Spellbinders Matte Gold foil, I foiled a sentiment from the Spellbinders More Sentiments set, and then cut it out with a banner die from my stash. 

Without thinking, I had foiled the sentiment on white card stock instead of ivory, so I just colored over the banner with my E40 Copic marker, and that turned out to be a pretty decent match for Gina K Ivory card stock!

I embellished with Gina K Disco Ball sequins.

Oh Happy Day:

This card turned out to be the biggest surprise for me. I have had Tim Holtz embossing glazes in my stash for years, but I had never tried them. I had absolutely no idea if this technique would work!

Just like with the black card, I inked up the raised side of my embossing folder with Versamark ink. I used an anti-static powder tool on a piece of white paper, then sandwiched the panel in the embossing folder, and ran this through my die cutting machine. 

I sprinkled on Tim Holtz Speckled Egg embossing glaze and tapped off the extra. Or, well, I tried to tap off the extra. The powder pretty much stuck to the entire card panel. I was determined to make this work, though, so I used a small paintbrush to brush away the extra embossing glaze from the background. Then, I heat set it.

I was shocked how well this worked! I wanted to create a monochromatic design, so I brayered on Speckled Egg Distress Ink. This was underwhelming. Next, I brayered on Gina K Blue Denim ink. I didn't like this color either. Finally, I brayered on Gina K In the Navy ink, and I loved it!

To create a shaker window, I die cut an oval from the center-ish of a white A2 panel, using one of the Hero Arts Nesting Oval Dies. Then, I used The Stamp Market's Pierced Plaid Cover die and my tan embossing mat to texture the panel. To create dimension and give the shaker bits room to shake, I cut the same oval into a 4 x 5.25" piece of white craft foam. I adhered the craft foam directly behind the white plaid panel, lining up the windows. 

I foiled a sentiment from the (retired?) Spellbinders Oh Happy Day set onto Judikins Embossable Window Plastic, using Matte Gold foil. I trimmed this piece of acetate down to 3.75 x 5" and adhered it to the back of the craft foam. 

To assemble the shaker, I trimmed down the floral panel to 4 x 5.25" and adhered it it a white A2 card base. I glued a few Gina K Disco Ball sequins here and there on the image so, even if all the shaker bits had fallen to the bottom of the shaker window, there would still be some sparkle throughout the window. 

I sprinkled Gina K Disco Ball sequins into the center of the floral panel, and then glued the acetate-craft foam-plaid panel sandwich onto the top. I let this dry for a long time since liquid glue does not work the best on craft foam and acetate. 

A New Leaf? Or Not?

I am more than a little embarrassed to admit that I have tons of unused products in my stash. I also tend to use one product to create one card and then put it away and move on to the next big thing. This Create It 3 Ways IG Hop required me to stick with a product for more than one card. Doing this forced me to get to know my product better. It pushed my creativity up a notch. And obviously, it gave me more mileage out of one product. 

If you have this same habit, I encourage you to force yourself to stick with a product for more than one lap around the craft room. It might just take your creativity to the next level! 

Thanks for stopping by!
Tammy