Welcome to the CLASSroom. I have been a member of the Splitcoaststampers online paper crafting community for about ten years. I love playing in the daily challenges and feel I have learned most everything I know from trying new techniques and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. My project today was made using the Belleek Inspired Technique and was introduced in the Technique Lovers Challenge a couple years ago. The goal for this technique is to create embossed backgrounds using light shades of color that mimic the beautiful Belleek Pottery.
I love the soft colors on the embossed backgrounds and think they are such a gorgeous backdrop for flower projects. I want the flowers to be as soft in color to match the background so I played around with water and ink to create what I refer to as color washed flowers. I like to create small frames to add dimension and help accentuate the design but not detract from the beautiful background.
Apply a heavy wash of water to the die cut flower. This will help the ink flow when applied.
Put a drop of straight reinker in the lid of your ink pad, dip your brush in the ink and apply directly to the center of the flower.
Lightly brush the ink outwards to the petals and dry with the heat gun.
Turn the flower face down on the molding pad and push down on the petal tips using the ball stylus.
Turn the flower face up on the molding pad and push down in the center using the small stylus. You can see that the two step forming process creates a natural looking flower.
Turn the foliage face down on the molding pad and push down using the stylus to form and add dimension to the leaves.
Place the front of the embossing folder face down and apply light colored ink with a brayer.
Place paper in the folder, place front of the folder face down on your die cutting machine and run through to emboss.
Place the cardstock for your frame and waxed paper on the magnetic platform, set both dies in place to create the frame and run through the machine.
Note: Sharon mentioned in her post recently that she uses waxed paper to help when cutting intricate dies. I also use waxed paper to keep the paper clean from the dies leaving those ugly dirty marks around the edges.
Apply strips of mounting tape to the back of the frame and attach to the card base.
Attach the foliage to the card base with glossy accents.
Apply glossy accents to the back of each flower and set in place and hold with a stylus to set.
Apply pearls to the center of each flower for an additional elegant element. Hint: for insurance I always add a small dot of glossy accents to the center of the flower before I place the pearl.
I love the soft embossed background paired with the beautiful floral design. This might have to be the card we send to my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day.
The Belleek Inspired technique has become one of my all-time favorites and my go to when I need a feminine elegant card.
How long has it been since you dug out your brayer? I hope my tutorial today will inspire you to get it out along with your favorite embossing folder and create your own Belleek Inspired project.
