Polished Stone - A very pretty technique
The stamp set on this card is now retired from SU (Wonderful You) but any line art image that lets you see your pretty Polished Stone paper through the embossed images would be lovely for this style card. Polished Stone is an oldie but a goodie in terms of paper techniques -- it's a fun way to make your paper look like marble (or at least like a Formica countertop!) It's wonderful to stamp and emboss an image directly on the paper like I did here, but also as a background paper with a focal point layered over it (if you can stand to cover up any of your yummy design.)
You need:
- Glossy white card stock (item # 102599 from SU)
- A few Classic dye ink reinkers (my sample used Baja Breeze, Pacific Point and Basic Gray from SU)
- A metallic ink refill, this is a pigment ink (I used Gold Encore, item #101242 from SU)
- 91% Rubbing alcohol from your medicine cabinet
- cotton balls
- rubber gloves (if you want to keep your hands from getting stained)
- An acrylic sealer (I prefer the Patricia Nimocks line from Plaid as I've noticed no color change and they don't interact with my inks as some sealers can do)
I'm going to send you to a video to watch for the how-to's -- however, she does not show the sealing stage. Critical -- as metallic inks WILL NOT dry on glossy card stock and over time you will smudge away your pretty veins. When my card stock is dry (and thanks to the alcohol it drys very fast) I place it inside a big box turned on its side as a little spray "room" and I spritz lightly with the P. Nimocks sealer (you can use matte or glossy, your choice.) I do this outside as spray sealers have fumes. Sealing is also a must before embossing a design on your background, otherwise the embossing powder would stick to your little veins. Once I've sealed I also use an Embossing Buddy (the little powder bag) and rub that over my card before stamping and then there's no static to catch stray powder.
Stamper extraordinaire Amy Celona has a nice video on her site that shows exactly how I've always done this technique over the years so why reinvent the wheel -- click here to watch that. Squeezing the ink into little puddles that give you those metallic edges is the real secret of how you get a pretty marble look with nice, random veins. And each one always turns out a little differently -- see, here's the same card and the background is just a little different. Enjoy this fun technique.