There and Back Again

Falliday Fest (the challenge and tutorial portion) is over now, and we are in a catch-up period that lasts until Halloween. There were thirty challenges total, and ten tutorials, and to be eligible for the largest prizes we have, participants need to do all thirty challenges, plus five of the tutorials. So we gave everyone a little more than a week to catch up. We're not monsters, after all :).

And with 30 challenges over a two week period I couldn't possibly blog them all in time, so I still have a few really fun ones to show you.

Remember my old Felted Cardstock tutorial? I did this technique at Maker Faire in 2008 - talk about a thrilling and nervewracking experience! I miss Maker Faire coming here a lot. It was really fun and it was an honor to be one of the makers.

Well Patty Bombyk used this technique for her challenge and I was so excited to see it again.

I decided to try something different this time just because I'm unpredictable like that. So instead of Saran Wrap and and iron, I just very carefully used gel medium to apply the napkin to the cardstock. I put a thin layer of it on the cardstock with an old credit card, and then I placed the napkin on top of it. (Be sure and separate all the layers of the napkin and use only the topmost printed layer - the exact napkins I used are linked below.)

Then I rolled over it with my acrylic brayer to make sure there were no bubbles or wrinkles and set it aside to dry.

After it was dry, I trimmed away the excess napkin and I thought it needed a little shimmer. You can see a few glints in the photo - I added Ranger Frosted Film to the whole surface. I LOVE this product, and Ranger doesn't make it anymore. Boo hoo. If anyone knows of a similar product, I'd love to hear about it. Here's a video of Tim Holtz showing it at CHA. It's cool because no glitter comes off it, and it's really just a subtle shimmery finish.

InLinkz.com

Isn't that a gorgeous napkin? Sorry - you can barely see the edges of my card, but this photo went to heaven with my hard drive so I can't edit it.

The technique works great with gel medium too - my advice would be - use it sparingly, use a credit card to get an even layer, and go slowly to avoid tearing the napkin or getting wrinkles. Never cut the napkin down before doing this technique with either method - just trim it down after it's adhered.

I always have napkins leftover after holiday parties - I need to remember to save them for cards. It would be a fun way to document your holiday parties in an art journal too, I think.

I'm headed up for my retreat today - getting ready for a super fun weekend with some very special ladies. There will be tons of photos on Facebook and Instagram - maybe not during the retreat - we don't have great cell coverage out there - but afterwards, and many of the participants are hanging out in Austin afterwards for a few days of shenanigans.

Loveyameanitbye.