3 Ways to Add Glimmer to Your Cards

Hello Crafters! It’s Sarah here from Sarah’s Stampin’ Retreat and I’m so excited be on the Spellbinders blog to share my makes with you today! I’m going to be sharing 3 cards that I created with the GORGEOUS Peacock Paradise collection by Dawn Bibby. This collection just screams opulence and elegance to me, so I decided to use it to showcase 3 different ways to add glimmer to your cards.

The Heat Emboss Letterpress Technique

How beautiful is this Feather Flourish embossing folder? One of my favorite techniques to add glimmer to embossed images is the Heat Emboss Letterpress Technique. It involves adding embossing powder to the background of the image to create a shiny letterpress look.

Instructions

• Ink up the front of the embossing folder with embossing ink, then pass it through your die-cutting machine with a piece of Lagoon cardstock to transfer the ink and emboss the cardstock.
• Heat emboss the transferred ink with gold embossing powder, then cut the panel down to 5” x 3 ¾”
• Add detail to the feathers with metallic or glitter gel pens and Nuvo drops for extra shine.
• Layer your panel onto a lagoon card blank with a gold matt 1/8” larger than your embossed panel.
• Die-cut your sentiment from Fruit Punch, Lagoon, and Mirror Gold cardstock, then layer it up and add it to your card.
• Heat emboss your sub-sentiment with gold embossing powder onto Fruit Punch cardstock. Die-cut it and use foam pads to add it to your card.

Top Tips

1. Use a brayer and embossing ink refill for the best results when inking up your embossing folder.
2. If you have any areas where the ink didn’t fully transfer, you can fill these in with an embossing pen and extra embossing powder.

Add Shine With Mirror Cardstock!

Another of my favorite ways to add glimmer to an image is with mirror cardstock. Did you know that Spellbinders Mirror Gold Cardstock is actually extra special? It’s gold on both sides, which is particularly fabulous for projects where you want to add dimension and you will see both sides of the cardstock. But it’s just as good for adding details like on this card. Die-cutting the small pieces on this image is a perfect way to use up your scraps!

Instructions

• Add a 5” x 3 ¾” gold matt to a lagoon card blank, then cut a piece of Fruit Punch cardstock 1/8” smaller than your gold matt to go on top.
• Die-cut the main body of the beautiful Peacock Butterfly in lagoon cardstock, then use the smaller die-cuts to embellish the butterfly in bright colours.
• Use gold foil to hot-foil your sentiment onto Fruit Punch cardstock and die-cut with the coordinating die. Add your butterfly and the sentiment to the card.

Top Tips

1. Add dimension to your card by folding the butterfly’s wings up and only gluing it on by the body.
2. Use a pick-up pencil to make it easy to add the really tiny die-cut pieces.

Hot Foil Your Betterpress Plates

Have you tried hot foiling with your Betterpress Plates? You do it in just the same way you would a normal hot foil plate and they give great results! For this card, I hot-filed the beautiful Elegant Peacock Betterpress Plate.

Instructions

• Hot foil the Elegant Peacock in gold foil onto white cardstock. Color it with Karin Markers and cut it out.
• Add a 5” x 3 ¾” Lagoon Matt and a Mirror Gold matt 1/8” bigger to the front of a Lagoon card blank.
• Cut the largest of the Cameo Frames from Mirror Gold Cardstock.
• Glue your frame across one corner of your card, cutting off the excess, then use the excess to decorate the opposite corner of the card.
• Add your peacock to the card with foam pads.
• Hot foil your sentiment in gold foil onto Fruit Punch cardstock. Die-cut it with the coordinating die and add it to your card.

Top Tips

1. Cutting up your frames is a great way to add detail to the background of your cards.
2. Use a pale brown marker to go around the edges of your peacock after you’ve fussy-cut it to ensure your have no white bits showing – this will give a much neater finish to your card.

Thank you so much for joining me here today; I’ve had heaps of fun showcasing these beautiful products! There are so many AWESOME projects from different designers on the Spellbinders blog, please do check back again soon! If you’d like to see more of my makes, I’d love for you to join me on Instagram @sarahsstampinretreat and you can often see tutorials using Spellbinders products over on my YouTube channel.

Spellbinders Supplies:

Other Company Products

Wow! Mixed Media Embossing Brush, Wow! Polished Gold Superfine Embossing Powder, Brayer, Sakura Gelly Roll gel pens, Nuvo Crystal Drops – Carnation Pink