Tag Archives: transparency

Heart hue

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I’ve used neon colors for a summer-themed card, Christmas cards and a birthday card, so Valentine’s Day neon seems like a natural progression. This trend is not going anywhere. Neon is fun, retro (so many craft products are retro-themed lately) and screams, “Hey! Look at this awesome, happy project!”

I relied on brads instead of adhesive to attach the transparency to the card. Not having to wait for glue to dry is a bonus. To prevent the recipient from being blinded by love, I tempered my neon pink with layers of patterned transparency, vellum and cardstock in gray, black and white.

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Clear night

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Every year, my craft space is dusted with glitter as I make holiday cards. I’m all about the shiny materials. If there’s bling, it sings. Glitter, rhinestones, foiled cardstock, transparencies … I go all out.

For this card, I used an acetate thicker than a regular transparency. It doesn’t have the gritty surface found on ink-jet transparencies. You typically can find 12-by-12-inch pieces of acetate at craft stores. To stamp on it, you’ll need either StazOn or Brilliance ink. I used Brilliance white ink here. This ink takes much longer to dry. I let it sit over night.

A downside to using acetate is static cling. Unfortunately, this card is a dust magnet (grab your microfiber cloth), but the effect is too pretty not to create it.

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Buttoned up

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The fabric store in my town’s mall closed a couple of months ago. I noticed the store’s closeout sale during its final week, and I hoped I would find some ribbon to add to my craft supplies. There’s wasn’t much ribbon left. I was lucky to find two spools that I liked. What I didn’t expect to see were the scores of leftover fancy buttons. I bought skull-and-crossbones buttons, which I used on a Halloween card, and some pretty buttons that made me think of winter … and snowflakes … and button snowflakes.

I created this card to send to a friend for Hanukkah, but it also makes a lovely holiday card for anyone. I used a transparency intended for inkjet printers. It has a somewhat gritty side for ink, which is the side I stamped on. Allow the ink to dry on the transparency before completing the card. Metallic ink tends to take longer to dry and still can rub off, so be gentle with the transparency after the ink is dry.

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It’s all ‘eek’ to me

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Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love the challenge of putting together my costume (I’ve already started this year’s), and though my neighborhood rarely has trick-or-treaters, I’ll have glitter-covered decorations on display.

By August, I’m already brewing ideas for Halloween cards. Last month, I designed a set of patterned papers for Halloween, including the transparency for the card below. I bought the spider stamp around the time I created the spider-web design, which makes a great backdrop for the apathetic arachnid. It’s just hanging out, with a look that seems to say, “Eek. Did I scare you? No? Whatever.”

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Tie a ribbon around my umbrella

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April showers bring pretty cards … at least that’s how the phrase goes to me.

A rainy day inspired me to make this card and to show how to stamp on a transparency. As I mentioned last week, the key ingredient is StazOn ink. This ink is permanent and usable on many surfaces, such as metal and glass. It can be found in most craft stores. If you use StazOn, purchase the StazOn stamp-cleaning fluid. Otherwise, the ink will not come off your stamps.

To stamp on a transparency, ink your stamp with StazOn. If the transparency is for ink-jet printing, the transparency will have a gritty coating on one side. Stamp your image on that side. After stamping, let it dry.

To attach the transparency to cardstock, I recommend using a glue that dries clear, such as Aleene’s Jewel-It. Apply small dots of glue to the transparency’s corners.

I also used a ribbon punch on this card, which is a must for any paper crafter. It has its limitations in terms of how far it can reach, but it makes threading ribbons a piece of cake (mmmm … cake).

Clear concept

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I use transparencies often in card making. If you haven’t, don’t be intimidated by the slick surface. You can stamp on them, fold them and glue them to paper easily.

To fold a transparency for a card, it’s best to have something to score the fold with. I have a scoring blade for my paper trimmer. It’s really just a dull tip, which is great for paper, too, because it won’t cut through it.

I use my trusty tape runner to adhere cardstock to transparencies, but to adhere transparencies to cardstock, I use a small dots of glue that dries clear, such as Aleene’s Jewel-It.

I’ll feature stamping on transparencies in future posts. The key ingredient: Staz-On ink. It’s permanent and usable on many types of surfaces.

This card’s transparency is flocked, which is something I’d never seen before. I upped the fuzz factor with flocked patterned paper.