Versamark and Perfect Pearls update

You may remember that I was struggling to master a technique shown by Barbara Gray in her show on Create and Craft.  After corresponding with the lady herself, I then treated myself to a set of the Perfect Pearls Metallics.  (Sorry, that does not fit in too well with the UIU in 2012 principle, but there really was no other way to do this)

They finally arrived yesterday, so I rushed off to try them out, and this is the result.  No, it is not perfect, but I learned a lot, and it is a dramatic improvement on my previous attempts.  I was still too impatient at cleaning the excess off, which is why there are some little gaps in the lines.  I might try putting those back in with a Versamark pen and more mica.  I hate throwing things away.

I hit the button to post this and realised that some of you may not know what I am talking about and how this technique works. 

You will need:

 a piece of black Clarity silk card, 

a versamark ink pad, 

Perfect Pearls in whatever metallic colour you desire, 

talcum powder ( I have a huge baby powder on my desk at all time)

A large soft paint brush

soft kitchen roll

most important - PATIENCE  (I do not have enough of that)

I nearly forgot, you need the stamp of your own choice

 Brush a little talc over your piece of card, brushing most of it off.  Try not to handle the card too much as you will end up with loads of messy finger prints when you add the mica.  I found it was easier to attach it to a piece of copy paper with lo-tack tape. 

Ink up your stamp with the Versamark, then stamp it onto a piece of scrap copy paper, before stamping it onto the Clarity card.  Blotting on to the copy paper gives you a clearer image and reduces the risk of the stamp sliding on the shiny card - it really does make a difference (if you don't believe me, try it for yourself).  Barbara Gray's motto is that if you are using the shiny card, you Ink, Blot, Plot. 

Now you need your soft brush again to transfer a tiny amount of Perfect Pearls to your stamped image.  Once you cover it, very gently brush off most of the excess.  Then leave it till the next day to be sure (do as I say not as I do - I dived in far too soon)

Then you can gently rub off the remaining excess.  Barbara rubbed really hard but she knows what she is doing.  I am still learning and I do not want to waste too much card in the process.

It has to be something like Perfect Pearls as they have a binder within them which holds them to the Versamark.  Plain mica powders do not work - I proved that well and truly before I asked the expert, Barbara Gray.

I do have another Clarity gem to show you, but I have to wait till Sunday as it involves a present for someone else.  It is a project that has been very exciting.  I will show you very soon.

Have a good week, everyone, and I will see some of you in Pixie's playground tomorrow.

I love Barbara Gray

Finally, the creative juices are starting to flow, and new things are being tried - not just finishing off old ones.  Having watched Barbara Gray on Sunday (I do wish Create and Craft wouldn't alter the times - it made a mess of my pre-set recording), I was dying to have another go at brayering.  I know all the theory, but actually putting it into practice is very different.  

I stamped the silver birches onto the silk card, and then followed what she had done with the Versamark pen and clear embossing powder, covering the trees themselves.  The first attempt was rubbish.  Not sure if it was the pen (lack of use), not enough powder or the just a rubbish crafter.  So once it had cooled, I added more Versamark and more powder and reheated.  Much better this time.  I really wanted to use a dark colour, a pale grey or something like that, but I haven't got that yet.  The darkest I had was the Mountain Meadow Big and Juicy, so that is what I used.  Having inked up the brayer, I duly took off what I thought was most of the ink and started flicking the brayer across.  Wrong!  I needed to take off much more ink.  The background is now far too bright for what I wanted, so that attempt will go on the shelf until I decide how I can recover it for use.  Never mind, it was only a play, and you don't get things right every time.  Hopefully, you learn.  I did have another go with the brayer, this time taking off so much ink I could not see any left on the brayer.  The result was much better, so that piece of card will also go onto the shelf until I decide what to stamp onto it.

I also had a go at stamping onto acetate, then spraying with adhesive and applying silver leaf to the back.  after burnishing that, I mounted it onto plain black card, then onto silver mirri card, and onto black again, before mounting the whole thing onto a piece of pearlescent white card.  I was quite pleased with the result, which will make quite a good card for a man, being very plain and simple.  I can print a sentiment off on acetate, back that with silver leaf and mount that up below the image.

I am so pleased with my new printer.  It will print everything I have tried so far, including quite thick card, up to 350gsm, which is what I had hoped for.  So I can use it to print a background direct to the card before matting an layering on top of it.  I even tried with a piece of textured card.  Perfect!

By the way, how does anyone else store Clarity stamps to keep them safe, but accessible?  Mine are still stuffed in the box and the paper they came in.  Not good as I cannot remember what I have, so if I want anything, they all come out.  Any ideas gratefully received.