A Revisit

Well, over at Paper Vineyard today I posted a tutorial about creating a leather look on your cardstock.  I featured a card that I made quite some time ago and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to revisit this one.  It features a chalk colored Stampin Up stamp from the Provencal stamp set (retired, sorry) and yes, I colored it with chalks.  Believe it or not, there ARE other mediums besides Copic markers although if you've kept up with my blog for the past year, you wouldn't think so.... me being addicted to Copics and all... hahahahahaha!  But I ADORE this stamp set, so if there is a way you can get your hands on this one, you will thank me!!!   Anyway, the spotlight today is on creating that super fun leather-like background.

Ok, so the background of this card started out as just a plain piece of off-white cardstock. I then dabbed a few drops of three different colors of Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Inks in warm colors mixed with a few drops of Ranger Alcohol Blending Solution on a piece of felt attached to the Adirondack Alcohol Ink Applicator (it doesn't take much) and covered the entire surface of the paper using a dabbing or pounding movement. The effect that it gives the paper is that of marble.... and it looks cool!!! The inks, blending solution and applicator with felt are available for purchase at the store. I then spritzed the paper with about 5 sprays of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist to give it a sheen. While the paper was moist from the Glimmer Mist, I ran it through the Cuttlebug using a reptile-scale-looking Cuttlebug embossing folder and allowed it to dry. Once the paper was completely dry, I then inked the edges using a ColorBox Chalk Cat Eye in Chestnut Roan to give it a distressed and weathered appearance.... that's it! That's all there was to making this leathery background. I finished off this card with a leather ribbon and some slide embellishments.

I hope you all give this one a try.... it's an easy way to achieve some leather-like results in a matter of minutes.  It's also fun to do with other embossing folders as well as brighter ink colors (purple, teal and gold makes an AWESOME combination!!!)!  Welp, that's it for today... stay tuned.  I have the priviledge of being part of an AWESOME birthday blog hop this weekend.  Be prepared for LOTS of goodies and LOTS of fun!!!

***NOTE:  this exact same look can be created (and was) using the colorwash technique.  In both instances, the paper is damp when embossed.  Using Adirondack Acrylic Pearl paints achieves the same effect as the alcohol inks with the Glimmer Mist, although using the colorwash technique requires a little bit of drying time prior to embossing due to the fact that the paper is sopping wet directly after the colorwash.  You have to let it dry a little till the paper is just slightly damp.  Because alcohol inks dry so quickly, no drying time is required prior to embossing in the tutorial above.