Blending Oxides, Using Glycerine + Faux Die Cut Inlay

Hello! For my inspiration for the latest Creative Fingers Challenge, I thought I’d share another tutorial, this time a double!

To see these techniques in action, just click this image to see the video.

I should point out early that absolutely any cover dies will work for this combined technique. I have had these dies for a while now and I decided to get them out and combine them with a couple of ink blended panels made with Distress Oxide inks. I like the opacity of the Oxides but I’m far from a fan of the harsh lines they leave between the colours. I discovered, a couple of years ago now, blending them with Distress Inks will help remove those lines and you can find out how to do that here but I realize that’s not always possible to replicate, especially if you don’t own the Ink range to mix in with the Oxides. So, I put my thinking cap on to work our a way of getting a super smooth blend without using the Distress Inks range at all!

I tried blending the Oxides using glycerine and it was a real success. I added it to the brush before I started and applied a layer over the cheapest cardstock I had. I knew I couldn’t normally blend on this cheap card but I thought if I could get this to work on what is frankly, rubbish card, it would work on anything! I simply placed some glycerine on my craft mat and tapped my blending brush into it and applied it to the card, in the hope it would work as an extender and as a sealer. I then blended the colors onto the card as I normally would on more expensive, better quality blending card, like Neenah. As I blended, I could feel when I needed to add an extra drop of glycerine to my brush. The brush started to feel like it was dragging across the card and the harsh lines started to reappear in the Oxides. I simply tapped the brush into the glycerine again, rubbed it into the brush on the craft mat before returning to complete the blending. The glycerine extended the drying time and the absorption rate of the Oxides into the cardstock, allowing me to smooth everything over more neatly than usual than when using the Oxides alone. Even better, I only used about half a teaspoon of glycerine for the entire project and the tiny bit of glycerine that goes onto the Oxides pads helps to prevent it drying out during storage without affecting the ink itself.

The card required me to make two separate panels of rainbow card, one for the cover die and one for the lattice frame 5″×7″ panel. For both of these, after applying a thin layer of glycerine, I started in the centre using Squeezed Lemonade Oxide. I then moved towards the edge with Abandoned Coral and Picked Raspberry. I used the same brush for these, wiping it off on a piece of copy paper and then my chamois between colours. I didn’t want to wash the brush between the colours, simply because I wouldn’t be able to remove all the water from the bristles and I knew what water was retained in the bristles would ruin the cardstock completely.

Once I was finished with the pink, I switched to a second blending brush and tapped the brush into the glycerine, rubbing it on the craft mat to spread the glycerine through the bristles. I then added Mowed Lawn and Blueprint Sketch Oxides to the other end of the card panel, again cleaning the brush on copy paper and the chamois between colors so as not to contaminate the ink pads with different colours. I decided to spray them with some Shimmer Spray, just so it added a little more interest. Usually, the Shimmer Spray leaves a speckled finish in the Oxides as it dries, which I’m never that happy with. I prefer a smooth finish, especially after getting such a smooth blend. But, I discovered the glycerine stopped that mottled look from the liquid and the Shimmer Spray dried smooth and even across the entire piece, something else I hadn’t been able to achieve in the past, simply because the Oxides are just so reactive to water. Once I’d quickly dried the Shimmer Spray with my heat tool, I set my panels aside to dry a little more while I did the basic die cutting of the black cardstock.

I cut the 5″×7″ lattice frame and the floral cover plate from plain black card, backed with wide double sided adhesive tape. I made sure I ran the dies through the Big Shot several times so the adhesive’s backing paper was cut through completely. I then spent the time to remove all the negative space pieces while they remained in the dies, ready to glue them to the rainbow panels. I found it easier to leave the black die cuts in the dies so they weren’t damaged and so I could get the placement right and so the intricate pieces didn’t get torn or damaged while I was placing it onto the backing panel. I placed the frame panel into place and carefully peeled the die cut away from the die, pressing down firmly to get the adhesive to become permanent. I then trimmed the excess from around the edges of the black panel so it was flush and ran a black permanent marker around the edges to hide the white layer.

I really wanted the look of die cut inlay but wasn’t going to sit and add each piece individually. So, I used my embossing mat and big shot instead, to emboss the black panel into the rainbow background. Again, I had left the die cut in the die while I removed all the pieces and laid the die over the rainbow panel. I then ran both pieces through my Big Shot to dry emboss the rainbow panel while, at the same time attaching the black panel securely. If you’re unsure of how to dry emboss using your dies, you can read a full tutorial here. I also added a piece of copy paper to the embossing sandwich, over the top of the die to help protect the glitter panel from being damaged by the top cutting plate and to stop any of the Shimmer Spray from adhering to that top plate. I then simply peeled the die away from the cardstock to reveal the finished piece. The pressure had pressed the black card into the rainbow panel at the same time as it embossed the rainbow panel, raising the rainbow panel up towards the black die cut. Even though there was two distinct card layers, it looked like I had spent the time adding each piece as I would do using the die cut inlay method, that I did in this post. I was so pleased with how well this worked, especially considering I was being more lazy than inventive.

Again, I trimmed the excess edging of the rainbow panel flush with the black die and ran the black marker around the edges. It was at this stage that I noticed the cover die wasn’t quite the same dimensions as the lattice frame. To cover that small discrepancy, I die cut a scalloped border piece for the top and bottom of the cover die to fill the empty space.

To assemble all the pieces, I added the lattice frame panel to a white 5″×7″ card base. I glued the decorative border pieces to the top and bottom of the cover die and glued that panel onto the lattice frame base. I added a drop of glossy accents to each hole of the decorative edge, just so they would be more noticeable and allowed them to dry as I worked on a sentiment.

I decided to die cut three tiny sentiment strips and stack them together for dimension and added a silver peel off sticker sentiment. I then simply glued the banner to the card and, with that I was finished.

I actually think this technique looks better than a regular die cut inlay, simply because there’s a perfect join line between the black and coloured pieces. I’ve found that the genuine inlay technique, of which a tutorial can be found here, can leave small gaps between the pieces on the odd occasion and I always felt that diminished the finished look. Doing things this way, eliminates any possibility of that happening, and it’s just so much quicker and easier.

Don’t forget to add an entry into the current Creative Fingers Challenge. There’s a cool stamp set up for grabs! Thanks so much for spending time with me today, I look forward to next time. 😊