Technique: Acetate and Tissue

Are you ready to get messy? Today's technique involves quite a bit of mess, but lots of fun and beautiful results! 

Supplies needed:

• Window Sheets (142314), acetate sheets, or Photocopier Transparency Film
• Shimmery Crystal Effects (Holiday Catalog p. 41, 150892)
• White tissue paper
• Re-inkers (I used Bermuda Bay 131156, Pacific Point 111840, Pool Party 122933, and Crushed Curry 131158)
• Light colored cardstock
• Versamark ink (102283)
• Embossing powder (I used white 109132, copper 141636, gold 109129,  black 146956, and white 109132)
• Heat tool 129053
• Embossing buddy (103083)

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Years ago (10+), I bought a package of Plain Paper Copier Transparency Film on clearance. I've trucked it through at least 5 moves, including twice across country. I knew that some day - some day! - I could use it to make window cards. Since I still hadn't used 1 sheet out of the hundred in the package, I decided it was high time I used it for something. I browsed through some technique tutorials on SplitCoastStampers and came across this gem by Beatte. It's an oldie, but since Stampin' Up! has Shimmery Crystal Effects in there upcoming Holiday catalog, it seemed like perfect timing. 

I started by cutting a piece of the window sheet down to a size I thought I would use. Then, I used the new So Many Stars (150496) stamp set from the upcoming Holiday catalog to heat emboss star images on these pieces. The clear plastic has unbelievable static, so it's extremely important to use an Embossing Buddy (103083) for this project. 

I stamped a number of different pieces to try out different color combinations. ​

Cut a piece of light colored cardstock just a smidge bigger than your piece of window sheet and a piece of tissue paper that has about a half inch overhang on all sides. 
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Now comes the fun messy part! After you have heat embossed your images, turn your piece of window sheet over and squirt on a fair amount of Shimmery Crystal Effects (150892). Crystal Effects is basically a clear glue. When it dries, it leaves a shiny wet look. The Shimmery Crystal Effects has glitter in it and is a great way to add sparkle to a project without the mess of glitter. Be sure to shake the bottle well before you start so that the glitter is evenly dispersed in the glue. 

After you've applied the Shimmery Crystal Effects, put a couple of drops from your re-inkers on different areas of the glue. I used two different colors and added one drop of each. Start with just a drop or two. If it's too dark, you can add more. 

Take your finger and dab it all over the ink and Shimmery Crystal Effects. Smart people would wear gloves to do this, I couldn't be bothered, so my fingers were a little blue when I finished. (No worries - it washed off in a day or two.) You want to overlap the colors a little bit, but not so much that it just mixes into one color. 

Take your piece of tissue paper and lay it over the back of your window sheet in the Crystal Effects. You can press it down and let it crinkle and pucker up a little. You'll want to play around with it to get the look you are going for. Then, lay the piece of light colored cardstock over the tissue paper. 

I found that I didn't use enough Crystal Effects that it would completely adhere to the light colored cardstock. But It did stick in places, and once it was dry, I used a little Snail Adhesive to stick it down completely. 

When your image is dry, trim off the excess tissue paper and cut the image to the size you desire. I found that the white and silver embossing powders showed up the best. The black, gold, and copper tended to get lost in the background design unless you turned them to the light just right. 

I finished up the cards using Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy, Pool Party, and Crushed Curry cardstock, Copper Foil Sheets (142020), some old Brushed Silver cardstock, and various ribbons. I also added greetings with the Well Written dies (148534) and the Varied Vases stamp set (146644) and accents with the Stitched Stars dies (150653) from the upcoming Holiday Catalog.

As a variation, I used this same technique to create a card with the Friend Like You stamp set (149237). Instead of embossing the image of the cattails on the window sheet, I stamped it using a Jet Black Stazon Pad (101406). I used Flirty Flamingo and Poppy Parade for this card as well as Basic Black cardstock and some old Black grosgrain ribbon I had in my stash.