Fun with Mixed Media - a card by Sue Smith

Here is a card I made using a mixed media background, which I had a lot of fun making (and making do when I didn't have the 'right' products).....



I started off with a piece of glossy paper. With not having any glossy cardstock on hand, I decided to experiment with some old glossy photo paper, which was a little yellowed around the edges and no longer works well with my printer. I cut it down to A5 size.
I also don't have a craft sheet so I folded up some cling-wrap and used that as an ink palette, stamping down with the Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Dusty Concord) numerous times to get a good amount of ink on the plastic...



To thin down the ink and make a light colour wash, I sprayed with water from an atomiser....



I have also made my own ink applicator with a small block of wood with velcro attached and I cut up small pieces of felt which stick right onto the velcro and work just like the real thing....




Starting from the edge, I worked the ink-laden applicator in circular motions and left a small portion of the paper uninked....



Then using the wings stamp (from Tim Holtz Visual Artistry Collection - Regal Flourish), I stamped with VersaMark ink onto the paper. My stamp was a little stained with black ink which gave a bit of an outline to the image (remember there are NO mistakes in art...just happy accidents!).
Working quickly before the VersaMark dried, I covered the stamped image with Opals Franklin Embossing Enamel (an ultra thick one) and also Stampin' Emboss Crystal Clear fine embossing enamel, shaking to make sure the image was well covered.....



Then I shook off the excess....



And applied heat....



Then using a new piece of felt on my applicator I applied some Adirondack Alcohol Ink in Latte over the white area (the embossed image acted as a resist) and overlapping the mauve area....



And then some brighter Terracotta alcohol ink over the top of that....



To clean off the embossed image and to smooth out some of the background, I then applied Blending Solution with the applicator. Here is where another happy accident occurred....in the areas where I worked a little exuberantly the emulsion started to come off the photo paper, leaving this wonderful patchy distressed look....



After working some more with the Blending Solution, and allowing the ink to dry, the colour became a lot more subtle. I then repeated the stamped image using VersaMagic Multi-surface Chalk Ink Pad in Night Sky, and stamped some words in the bottom right-hand corner with black StazOn....



Some more layers of stamps with StazOn...this time music notes....



And blurred and blended a little with Blending Solution....



I then added some scraps of paper and some natural fibre....



Some more paper, fibre and some lace to the top right-hand area....



Next, I mounted it on some natural cardstock, and distressed and ripped the edges, and then mounted that onto some dark blue cardstock, folded into a card.
I added some ink to the paper scraps and the fibre to match the background, and lightly sprayed with GlimmerMist in Antique Brass...



Then I stuck on some lettering which were cheap old 'no-name' letters which I roughly inked with dark blue....



And finally, some more GlimmerMist in Antique Brass and a metal butterfly which I coloured with Alcohol Ink in Purple Twilight and Denim....



A close-up of the butterfly....



I really did have a lot of fun with this one, experimenting with lots of different techniques, and I was really happy with how it all turned out....hope you like it too!

Don't forget to visit Tanyah's store where EVERYTHING is heavily discounted!