Getting Messy for Pals Paper Arts

Well, I was in a real "mad scientist" mood yesterday and I ended up making a lot of mess - not on my card, but on everything else.  You see, I was working on something for Pals Paper Arts - a last minute entry featuring Basic Black, Very Vanilla and Tangelo Twist:

Basic Black and Very Vanilla made me think of Typeset Specialty Designer Series Paper, and that made me think of a Gothic Wallpaper type of background, and that made me visualize a black wreath on the wall, along with some Tim Burton-style lettering- an Edward Gorey kind of look.

Here's how it turned out: (more about the mess in a bit)

• I used Basic Black for the card base, then a layer of Tangelo Twist cardstock and a layer of the Typeset Specialty DSP to create the gothic wallpaper look. So far, so good - no mess.
• The Wondrous Wreath stamp set was used to stamp the black wreath in Versamark, then Black Stampin' Emboss Powder was added and heat set using the Heat Tool. The berries and the bow were stamped in Tangelo Twist.
• The wreath and bow were die cut using the Wonderful Wreath Framelits.  Still okay, but keep reading!

• I had a hankering to add some black tulle to the back of the sentiment, which, by the way is from a very cool sentiment set!  I wanted to use it just for the name - Mingle All the Way! I rummaged around in my scrap fabric and came up with...white tulle.  "Well, that's okay", I thought, "I can dye it black!"  So I got out my Rubbing Alcohol, my Basic Black reinker and set out to do just that.  In about 3/4" inch of alcohol, I added a lot of reinker - maybe 40 drops or more.  I pleated the tulle and tied it around the middle to keep it together in the dye and on the card.  I placed the tulle in the container with the dye and poked it around for about 5 minutes.  
• I pulled out the tulle and blotted it dry on paper towels, but got the black dye all over my fingers despite the paper towels.  The results were disappointing, so I thought I would try StazOn Jet Black reinker, thinking it would give a darker result. I dumped out the Basic Black reinker in my bathroom basin, thinking nothing of it, as I have done for dozens of reinker dye baths.  Oops!  Shouldn't have done that!  Some Windex, some baking soda and elbow grease finally got the basin clean again!  My fingers?  Not so much.  Wear rubber gloves during this step.  I finally got the tulle dark enough for my liking with the StazOn reinker full strength.
• I added it behind the sentiment panel. The sentiment panel is stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and mounted on Tangelo Twist cardstock. The pumpkin and the moon and bats are from the Holiday Invitation stamp set. They are hand-snipped here.
• I double-layered my Stampin' Dimensionals on the sentiment to make it high enough off the card base to accommodate the tulle. The wreath was also mounted with a double layer of the largest diameter Shaker Frames!  It is necessary to have it a good distance off the "wallpaper" so that it shows up properly.

I think I achieved the Edward Gorey look I was going for. What do you think?

And here are your new

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

                  Tulle

Wondrous Wreath Photopolymer Stamp Set [135047]	Mingle All The Way Wood-Mount Stamp Set [135770]	Mingle All The Way Clear-Mount Stamp Set [135773]	Holiday Invitation Photopolymer Stamp Set [135074]	Typeset Specialty Designer Series Paper [133704]
Basic Black 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [121045]	Tangelo Twist 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133677]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [101650]	Versamark Pad [102283]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]
Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad [133646]	Jet Black Stazon Refill [102566]	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder [109133]	Heat Tool [129053]	Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies [135851]
Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]	Shaker Frames [124155]	Paper Snips [103579]