Yin Yang - Matte and Shiny

Late last year I recieved an invitation asking if I’d be interested in being part of a Design Team for an exciting new challenge to be launched at Splitcoast Stampers. The new challenge is called Mix-Ability and we want to encourage players to have a go at mixed media styled stamping and papercrafting.  Just my kettle of fish, don’t you think. Today we have launched off with our first challenge set by our intrepid leader Lydia, aka Understand Blue. Drum roll please….. Yin Yang - use matte and shiny mediums.  How easy is that? Want to join in?

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I like making tags, so I chose that format for my project for today. I’ve got all sorts of matte and shiny media happening here. There is heat embossing, shimmer sprays and pearlex for the shine, and PanPastels for the matte. I haven’t used my Pan Pastels in ages and have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to bring them out to the table again. I did go to town on this tag, but when the mood takes you I say go for it.

Let me take you on a little behind the scene look at what I do to come up with a finished tag. You’ll see I exercised little restraint, throwing this and that at my tag

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First I start of with four blank manilla tags. Why four? Because thats how they come – four joined together! Actually I colourize four at a time because I need’ an heir and a spare’ just in case something goes wrong, one for ‘shrinkage’ since something will go wrong, and another for good luck because I’ll never figure out how to make another one. So I gather my tags, stamps, Pan Pastels, and pearlex/mica powders. I stamp. I powder. I stamp. I powder. I fix. I stamp. I powder. I fix. I have no idea what I’m doing and I’m already thinking of starting over. It’s looking more like a hot mess than something pretty.

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I then have a bright idea to take one tag and stamp an all over background image, emboss in clear and add another layer of Pan Pastels over the top (middle tag). Amazing texture! I now have a tag I will use for this project.  I then spend some time ferreting around in my cast-off die cuts seeing if anything grabs my fancy. I spot a tree (which I  clearly remember cutting last August at Stamp Camp, lol). I think the tree would look so pretty with flowers. So I punch and cut things I might need from one of the spare tags and see what they look like on the tree. Those spare tags are just like having coordinating papers.

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Before I proceed with the tree I really think I need to add a darker colour to the tag. Do I risk making a mess of my pretty background? You bet I do!  More Pan Pastels please, and then…… POW! If you love stampy texture you’ll know exactly where I’m coming from. LOVE! Did I just make that? Please, don’t ask for an encore. When I hold it up to the light I can see the mica images shining under the clear embossed layer. So cool!

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Now to put this beauty together. Curl, stack, snip, glue, press. All done!!!

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Or

is

it?

Something is still missing.

I slept on it and found what I needed.

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My little birdies are a family so I had to make a feathered nest for the nestling.

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And lets tell the world about it! From the fence post.

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Done.

Come and give Mix-Ability a try. It can be a lot of fun.

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