No. 18 Moulin Rouge

1. Stamp tag with Calais flourish stamp (Antique Linen or Vintage Photo).  Ink edges with Vintage Photo.  Set aside.

 To create the faux bois picture frame-
2.  Cut 3 1/4 x 5" pieces of both black Bazzill cardstock and chipboard.  You will also need template #2 if you have a kit or instructional CD (cut inside the black lines).  If not, then you can create an oval in a Word document.  First open a blank document.  From the tool bar pick auto shapes, then basic shapes, then oval.   The oval we are using is approximately 2 3/4 x 3 3/4".  Really, it just needs to fit nicely on the piece of black paper.  Set the chipboard and template to the side while you work on the black card.

 3.  You will need to emboss the black cardstock.  Most of us old stamper's have been using this technique for many years (too many to count in my case).   But, I thought I would spell it out just in case you haven't tried it.   You need 5 things; your cardstock piece, a stamp (it really can be any size), embossing pad, and some embossing powder.  I am using black embossing powder but you can use clear since our cardstock is black, it won't make a difference. Oh, and the last thing is a heat gun. 

 4.  Ink the entire stamp.  If you are using a smaller stamp to emboss the card, just re-ink in between  stamping.  You can see in the second picture that my card is still a bit longer than stamp.  That really doesn't bother me, in fact I like the way the finished card looks so I chose not to trim that part off.  The stamp is a favorite of mine from All Night Media found at Michael"s.

 5.  The stamp will leave a print even though it might look to you like it is too light, don't worry it's there.

6.  Lay the black card on a piece of computer paper and pour the embossing powder over the card.  Don't worry about the amount...all the leftovers will just go back into the bottle.

7. Gently tap off the powder...NO flicking with your finger.   Melt the embossing powder with heat gun. I am going to put my two cents in here...the Ranger heat gun is worth every penny.  It's quiet and has relatively no blowing air to disperse the embossing powder you just added.

8. Once your black card is cooled, you are ready to add the wet Perfect Pearls.  Spray a bit of water from a mini mister onto a craft sheet or wax paper.  Dip a small brush into Perfect Pearls (Heirloom Gold) and add to water.  Swirl around until you make a small amount (a little goes a long way) of gold watery paint.

 9. Use the brush to “paint” the embossed card with the Perfect Pearls.  If you run out just make some more.  The background of the cardstock that is not embossed will turn shades of gold depending on how much of the Perfect Pearls you add to the water on your craft sheet, and will bead off the embossed portion as it dries.

I admit this looks much richer in person.

10. If you have other colors of Perfect Pearls, experiment by added more colors to the card.  I added a bit of Turquoise and Perfect Gold.  They look great layered.  Set card aside to dry.

 11. Use template to cut out center of the chipboard.  Discard center.

12.  Add glue to the chipboard frame.  Lay the black cardstock on top and burnish well to secure.

13.  Cut out black center with an X-Acto knife or scissors.  It doesn't have to be right up close to the edge or perfect because the braid will cover the edge.  You can discard the center or save it for another project.

14.  Add picture to the frame.  You can use whatever picture you like, maybe a family photo?

15.  Use a liquid glue to add gold braid around the oval, beginning and ending at the bottom of the oval.

16. Gather items for twig - 

 Lay the gold leaf on the twig, then wrap with small piece of fabric (I used Osnaburg).

 Secure by wrapping ribbon around the fabric 2 times, then knotting off.  Leave ends long.

Add beads to the corsage pin and stick into fabric on twig.

17. Adhere twig to the bottom of the oval with a strong glue.

18.  Add frame to previoulsy stamped tag .

19. Stamp, 44.Rue (Avignon) at the top of the picture (black).  Refer to the first picture of the tag.

Have a great weekend everyone and i'll see you back here on Monday for tag #22