distressed metal leaf stamping...

Hello my fabulous friends!

It's Friday, and while I am waiting for the mail to come to see if I got the packages I need for my next projects, I figured I would get a tutorial done for Unity's Friends with Flair.

I just finished making 72 Christmas ornaments that were covered in silver leafing, so I guess you could say I have had leafing on my brain... anyway, here is:

Distressed Metal Leaf Stamping

Step 1: Stamp image with pigment ink

Step 2: Cover with a heat and stick powder/sticky embossing powder just like you would any embossing powder-- cover, then gently tap off the extra to return it to the jar. 

(several different companies make this powder including Ranger, A-Muse, and Stampin' Up)

Step 3: Heat with a heat gun just until it turns shiny. DON'T OVERHEAT!

Step 4: Press on some metal leafing.  Burnish it on with your fingers. If the instructions of your powder say to heat again after applying whatever you are sticking to it, go ahead and heat it again now.

Step 5: Make sure the powder is COMPLETELY cooled. This won't take long. Pull off any large loose pieces of leafing and save them. You can then use a soft sponge to rub off the smaller pieces of loose leafing. Go ahead and save those too. They are still good!

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Up until now, you have done the normal stamping with leafing technique, and if you want to leave it there, that's fine.  However, this is where the "distressed leafing" comes in, and why I had you use a colored pigment ink instead of a clear embossing ink in step #1.

Step 6: Take a piece of masking tape and scrunch it up. Dab at the image with it to lift up random areas of the leafing from off the image. Where the hold of the glue is somewhat weak, the leafing will come off revealing the color underneath. It also leaves a fun texture on the remaining leafing. 

Continue doing this until you are happy with the results. If you end up taking too much off an area, simply press on some of your scrap leafing. There should still be enough stick to grab it. Gently buff away the extra as before, and don't be quite as vigorous in that area with your tape. 

Step 7: If you want, go ahead and ink over it with Distress inks. both the leafing and the pigment ink that has the remnants of the sticky powder on it will resist the ink. 

Enjoy!

~Kassi

Supplies Used:

Paper: Core'Dinations, card stock

Ink: Distress ink, Colorbox pigment

Stamps: Unity "Feel the Joy"& "Vintage Handwritten"

Other: gold leafing, Amuse sticky powder