A blog devoted to the cards I make in my tiny upstairs space. When my sister stays there, she calls it an "artist's garret". I'm not an artist, but am an enthusiastic cardmaker - hence the title "Cardmaker's Garret".
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Thursday 1 March 2018

Stars on Acetate


This is both a happy and sad post for me - I'm happy to be hosting the CAS Mix Up challenge for March, but I'm sad because it is my last month on the Design Team for CAS Mix Up.  But I'm leaving it for a very good reason - Loll and Bonnie are starting a new challenge "CAS Christmas Card Challenge" and, since I love making Christmas cards above all other cards, I asked to switch over to that Design Team.  More about it at the end of this post.

On to CAS Mix Up.  This month we are asking for:


One of my favourite ways to use acetate is with alcohol inks and tissue paper.


On a piece of aluminum foil, I dripped a couple of shades of blue alcohol inks and a white mixative.  I spritzed with alcohol ink blending solution.

I smooshed a piece of acetate into it until happy with the result (re-spritzing with the AI blending solution if the AIs got too dry).  I let the acetate air dry.

I scrunched up a piece of white tissue paper and glued it to the acetate (the side with the AIs).

When the glue was dry, I stamped and heat embossed the branch and stars with Versamark and gold embossing powder on the non-AI/tissue side.  I did the same for my vertical sentiment on a white cardbase, and then taped the acetate panel next to it.

A word of advice about heat embossing on acetate - it will not work on the acetate packaging that comes with our stamps and dies.  You need a good quality acetate - I use Grafix .007 acetate used here - available at Amazon.com.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the heat embossing:



If you head over to CAS Mix Up, we have lots of tutorials listed to give you ideas on various ways to incorporate acetate.  And great inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Cathy (Cathy's Card Spot).

And then please join us with a clean and simple card featuring acetate, stamping, and at least one other option from the list on CAS Mix Up.  My options are alcohol ink, tissue paper, and heat embossing.  You will especially want to join in this month as it is our 2nd birthday and to celebrate, we are giving away two prizes.


Prizes
$25 gift certificate for Simon Says Stamp for challenge Winner
&
$25 gift certificate for Simon Says Stamp for one random draw of all entries
(must follow the challenge rules to be eligible for prizes)


And be sure to come back on March 3rd for the inaugural challenge of the CAS Christmas Card Challenge!  We have a great Design Team to inspire you and the monthly winners will get the chance to be a Guest Designer.


Thanks for reading this rather lengthy post!!










Supplies:
Stamps - Memory Box Stars at Night, Impression Obsession sentiment
Ink - Versamark
Paper - white cs, white tissue paper
Size - 7.25x5"
Accessories - acetate, various blue alcohol inks, white alcohol ink mixative, alcohol ink blending solution, gold embossing powder



13 comments:

  1. Stunning background and love the colours of the alcohol inks. Great technique and the gold looks amazing x Looking forward to your inspiring creations with the new CAS Christmas challenge x

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  2. Gorgeous Acetate and Alcohol Ink with tissue paper background for your beautiful gold heat embossed stars and foliage. Love your vertical stamped and heat embossed sentiment too. TFS my friend.

    We will sure miss you on or CMU DT team, but know you will be an awesome inspiration on our new CAS Christmas Card Challenge, since that is your 1st love! Look forward to you playing along with us on CAS Mix Up. Love and Hugs, Nancy

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  4. Beautiful, Susan. Love the vibrant blue AI tissue background. It looked even more beautiful IRL. Awesome card.
    Forgot to add... looking forward to working alongside with you at CAS Christmas.

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  5. The colours of your AI and acetate panel are GORGEOUS!! I love the added texture of the white tissue paper peeking through in some areas. And your gold embossing is just beautiful with these colours. Love the design Susan, you are the hostess with the mostess! :) We are going to miss you on the CAS Mix Up team! xx

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  6. Before I finished reading your post I wondered how you embossed on acetate so thank you for explaining! Love the gorgeous blues on this and adding the white mixative really made this beautiful. The gold embossing looks so rich on this. Thanks for the inspiration, Susan!

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  7. So sorry to see you leave the team Susan - but I agree - the Christmas CAS is the perfect place for you! And I will see you there! What a magical card you created here with the AI's and tissue on the acetate and the beautiful gold embossing! Julia xx

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  8. Beautiful, beautiful card Susan! I've never tried AI on acetate before and am so excited to try this technique out! The vibrant blues with the gold embossing and stark white are just STUNNING together! I know you will be missed on the CAS Mix Up team, but your creativity is going to absolutely shine over at the new CAS Christmas site...SOOO excited to see what you come up with!! :0)

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  9. WOW!! Incredible mix of blues, like a true sky. Thanks for the tip about embossing with acetate, another item to by and try. Your gold embossed branch and stars really add to that magnificent background, simply stunning ...along with the border sentiment. You will be missed but CCCC will gain an impressive Christmas designer... looking forward to seeing your creations, hugs xxx

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  10. Gorgeous card Susan, love the inky colours and thanks for the embossing tip! Look forward to seeing your inspirational work over at the Christmas challenge, Cathy x

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  11. Susan, first I'm so looking forward to being on the CAS Christmas Card Challenge with you. Secondly wow what an awesome effect with the AI's and acetate. I love the card and am so happy I got to see this IRL :)

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  12. Your gold embossed stars and branch are so crisp and gorgeous against the beautiful alcohol ink colors! A fun challenge, Susan! We'll miss seeing your wonderful designs ahead of time at CAS Mix Up but happy you are still part of our family and won't be far away!

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  13. I love the gorgeous blue AI acetate sky, Susan! The tissue paper adds great texture. Stamping/heat-embossing the tree branches on the left side of the panel strikes a good balance with the vertical sentiment on the right. Thank you for the inspiration at the CAS Mix Up for the past two years. Looking forward to your beautiful Christmas cards in our new challenge! Hideko xx

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