The faux mosaic technique has been around for some time now, with the method I am sharing today inspired by the beautiful tile work that still comes to mind from my days as an interior designer. It was really fun to watch this project come to life as I tested out the combination of the glossy inked cardstock, cement embossing powder and Sookwang tape.
Before beginning my project I was curious to see if anyone had ever created a mosaic Christmas tree and so I googled it. My search brought me to a site that shared the history of the Christmas tree and some absolutely beautiful glass trees including the following project.
(photo credit - Sirius Mosaics)
This piece inspired me to create the green marbleized "glass tile" cardstock I used in my project.
It is essential that you use glossy cardstock for this technique.
Place 3-5 drops of each color of Various Alcohol Ink on the felt pad of an ink blending tool. Make certain it is a felt pad that you are using and not foam! Add a little colorless blender fluid and dab the felt to the surface of the glossy cardstock.
Twist, swirl, tap - play with the motion of the ink blending tool as you create to see the various effects you can achieve. If you don't like the look you have, simply tap over the surface you have already created and a new one will appear.
Hold your cardstock vertically and add droplets of the Pearl Mixative, allowing it to flow down the cardstock. Add a few drops of blending solution to these areas to spread the mixative even further. Then go back over the entire surface with your felt covered ink blending tool and watch the magic happen as the colors all mix together.
Attach Be Creative Tape to a piece of Neenah cardstock being certain to keep the protective liner in place and die cut using the Christmas Tree Silhouette. Also cut the tree silhouette from the glass marble glossy cardstock created above.
Work from the top of the tree down. Begin by pulling back a portion of the tape liner leaving the bottom secured in place and the top adhesive exposed. This allows you to use the liner to press the mosaic tiles securely in to place without getting your fingertips on the adhesive surface. Snip a piece of "tile" from the marbleized cardstock and position using your fine-tipped tweezers. I find it essential to use the tweezers as it allows me to see exactly where I am positioning my cardstock.
As you can see in the photo above I then snipped a little "channel" before cutting my second section of tiles. This "channel" is where I will be placing my grout or cement embossing powder.
Snip a tile, place it and then snip a channel. If you work methodically it moves along quickly.
Simply put the liner back over the cardstock pieces that are in position and rub your hand over the liner surface to secure the tiles in place.
The beauty of this particular look is that precision is not key - in fact to have the gaps vary makes it look much more realistic.
Once you have all tiles in place remove the liner and pour cement embossing powder over the entire surface.
Remove the excess powder and brush away any remaining powder with a soft brush. The cement embossing powder will hold firmly to the exposed adhesive. Heat setting the embossing powder will melt it in place. It is fantastic that Be Creative/Sookwang tape can be heated with no side effects!
Color a crystal clear star with Copic Markers and add Hero Arts dots for bling. Stamp your greeting on the sweet Madeline bird and using 3D-Dots position everything atop an A6 sized linen textured cardfront (finished size - 4 1/2" x 6 1/4").
I can envision this technique being a fantastic way of creating a masculine card front using squares, rectangles, triangles and diamonds. Cut your pieces with precision using dies such as the Wplus9 Quilt set or a simple Lifestyle Crafts Pennant punch die and piece together and add your grout (embossing powder) --- or hand cut them into little pieces as I did in today's example. I hope that you enjoyed today's version of the faux mosaic and that this project triggers new ways to explore using your supplies!
