Using Brushos and Gilding Flake to Illustrate a Beautiful Mind

Good morning all! How are we all? Not very good weather down here, wet and windy and the perfect excuse for hiding I'd say...
As we are reviewing techniques and products we have used through the year, I thought it would be the perfect excuse to use a stamp set I have owned for a while, but was not sure what to make with it. Do you have crafty items like that? You know, the ones you see, you buy because you LOVE them, but then can't think who to send cards to using them?? Guilty: several times over.

First step, 7X7 card blank base and 15x15cm piece of watercolour card. The watercolour card is the best to use for the techniques I used in this case, not only because of the fab texture, but also because it is 'forgiving' and allows you to play and 'alter' the colour you place onto it.

My next step was to select 3 colours of Brushos and apply small amounts directly from the pot onto the paper (less is more). Using a spray bottle with water, I then lightly sprayed onto the card, waited a few seconds and sprayed again if I wanted more 'spread'. Where the colours were intense, I used a muslin and dabbed away to leave a more subtle effect (purely personal choice here, but the watercolour card allows you to do this, if you try with anything else you will get a pulpy mess...)
Once dry, (you can speed up with a heat gun) I then took one of the stamps (chemical symbols) from the IndigoBlu Beautiful Mind stamp set and stamped across the whole topper, using the 2nd generation of ink from a Jet Black Staz-On pad. The effect is subtle, but I like it when you look at a card, then when you look again you see things you didn't realise were there at first...

 

 

Now, slightly different technique with the Brushos - this time putting a little of each of the colours I had used into a small palette and adding some water so that I could use them as a paint.

 

I stamped the head and the sentiments, again from the Indigo Blu Beautiful Mind stamp set, onto watercolour card, cut them out and painted them with the Brushos.

 

Going back to my main topper background, I used one of the stamps from the Indigo Blu Itsy Bitsy Backgrounds set (sooo useful this set!). I applied Versamark onto the stamp and stamped twice onto my topper at an angle. I then covered the area with Wow Bonding Powder and heated with a heat gun. Once this was 'tacky' I then covered the area with Indigo Blu Gilding Flakes and rubbed over. At this point I agree it looks a little 'alternative' (stay with me..!) but then, so are the stamps, aren't they?

 

Once I had mounted my elements onto some black card to make them pop, I also applied to my base with 3D glue gel (rounding the head especially). A final touch was needed, so I stamped a flower from Lisa B.'s Floral Pimpernel College onto watercolour card and coloured the same way as before, finishing with a pearl.

 

Not sure who I would send this one to; I would not want to offend anyone, but my goodness it does apply to me and I often have 'big problems'!

 

Really looking forward to seeing you all next week; it does seem an age since last class and it's great to have crafty chats together with other like-minded folk

 

Thank you for indulging me and reading,

lots of love,

 

Martina

xx