Faux Delft "Tile" Card

Materials:

8-1/2" x 11" sheet of card stock: white, glossy white, dark blue, black
Ranger Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE): white
Archival Inks dye ink pad: black, cobalt
Colorbox white pigment ink pad
Michael Strong's "Tea Time" rubber stamp
heat tool
aluminum pie pan
paper cutter
double-sided tape
glue stick
red-liner double-sided tape

Steps

1. From the white card stock, cut a 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" square.

2. Fold the glossy white card stock in half to make a 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" card. Using the paper cutter, cut the folded glossy white card to make a 5-1/2" x 5-1/2" card. Set the 5-1/2-inch square card aside and add the leftover piece to your recycle supply.

3. Using the paper cutter, cut a 5" x 5" square from the dark blue card stock. Cut a 3-3/4-inch square from the black card stock.

4. Using the double-sided tape or glue stick, mount the dark blue square on the front of the glossy white card. Using double-stick tape or glue stick, mount the black square onto the center of the blue and white card. Set card aside until later.

5. Coat the front of the 3-1/2-inch square piece of card stock with white pigment ink. Place the square on a scrap of paper and tap the ink pad all over the card stock to coat it (figure A).

6. Set the coated square in the aluminum pie pan. Sprinkle it with white UTEE. Shake off any excess and return the excess powder to its container. The pie pan prevents extra particles of embossing enamel from blowing all over your work surface.

8. Turn the enamel-coated card over and repeat the process on the reverse side of the 3-1/2-inch square. You will only need to do this once. This step will prevent the completed card from warping. Allow the enameled square to cool to the touch.

9. Ink the rubber stamp with the cobalt dye ink and stamp the design onto the front of the enameled square (figure C).

10. Using the heat tool, start reheating the stamped enameled square. After a few moments, you will notice the design begin to spread and distort. Move the heat tool around the design until the inked areas are all uniformly blurred. Allow the square to cool to the touch.

11. Re-ink the rubberstamp with the black ink and stamp it in the center of the enameled square. Note: The blurred image will become the background for the crisp black image, creating a shadow effect (figure D).

12. Set the black ink on the completed "tile" by passing the passing the heat tool over it for a few seconds.

13. Mount the "tile" onto the center of the prepared card (figure E).