Sunday, December 9, 2007

Tinted Vellum: a tutorial


I've been getting tired of tree cards; you might have noticed, ;0) lol. So, I wanted to do something in an unusual colour with a technique I don't normally use. I made a mini tutorial in case any one wants to try tinting vellum...

Step 1: Stamp petals, or image, onto vellum with versamark. Emboss with white embossing powder.

Step 2: Paint back of vellum with reinker (to tint it in the desired shade.) If the colour seems to bead off, just rub it in with your finger & smooth the colour out with a brush. The vellum will curl, but tinting a sheet of them at once makes it easier to flatten it out. (Shape with your hands and/or put under some books to flatten.)


Step 3: Cut the petals out. They may still curl, but worry not! A little adhesive will straighten them right out!


Step 4: TO create a shadow flower, stamp petals onto a piece of cardstock. (I just love the acrylic stamp for this.)


Step 5: Paint the petals with watered-down reinker. (I've used vintage violet here; I love how it has a gray tint to it. If you don't have Vintage Violet, you could easily just add a little gray to lovely lilac & get a similar hue.) Allow for drying time (or use your heatgun if you're impatient like me.) Flatten your paper out.


Step 6: Put a good amount of strong adhesive in the center of your flower & adhere petals. (I love double-sided tape.)


Step 6: Finish arranging petals so they are centered between the petals of the shadow flower.


Step 7: Brayer your background mat. (If you've never brayered your background stamps, you may want to try it; I find it makes a HUGE difference in how even they come out.


I left out the step of embossing the ribbon, since I'm thinking it may need its own tutorial. (It's originally dyed with reinkers and then stamped with silver encore ink & embossed with white e.p.) There's a trick to not burning your fingers (stick the ribbon on paper with heatproof adhesive.) If anyone would like to see a tutorial for embossing ribbon, just let me know... :0)

ETA: Embossing on Ribbon tutorial here :O)

8 comments:

Allison Rankin said...

Another different idea...TFS!

Savitri said...

This is a great tutorial! I've never done anything like this. Hopefully this Christmas break I'd be able to.

Michelle said...

Beautiful, Melissa!! What a gorgeous way to use vellum to build a pretty flower!

Becky G said...

So pretty! Love that big beautiful flower!

Catherine said...

This is gorgeous! So elegant! I love that you share tutorials, and not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I would LOVE to see one on embossing ribbon.

Catherine said...

Oops! Totally forgot to say thanks for the tip on using the brayer to ink up a big background stamp. I've never heard of that and I'm off to try it out!

Lori said...

What a cool idea! I'll have to give it a try.

Kim Etherington said...

Love these flowers on the vellum and the colours on this card!!!