Gilding Flakes & Trees Happy Birthday Card

I saw gilding flakes demoed at the Glitter Pot a few weeks ago and I loved the results but was undecided as to whether to purchase some or not.  Then Sue, a lady from my card group, showed me some gorgeous pieces she'd made with flakes and then Jenny Mayes was demoing the flakes at the Glitter Pot last weekend so that was it, I just had to get some and try for myself.  I've been playing around for the past few days and getting some good and not so good results.  Now that I've experimented and  know what I'm doing I can actually make cards using the flakes!

I bought the IndigoBlu starter kit which contains FlitterGlu, a tub of flakes, Phat Foam, a scoochy and stamp cleaner.  The flakes come in such beautiful colour mixes I bought two other tubs as well - I do find it hard to resist pretties!  You need to get larger containers to put the flakes into - you would never get them back into the original tub!  An A5 plastic box is great but I've found Carte d'Or ice cream tubs are also ideal  - and who doesn't love an excuse to eat ice cream?!  You can 'ink' a stamp with the FlitterGlu and then add flakes to the stamped image.  That's what the Phat Foam in the kit is for - you cut a small piece of the foam and use the white side to apply the FlitterGlu to the stamp.  I get some glue on the foam and then tap onto a piece of acetate to spread the glue out evenly before applying it to the stamp.   Immediately after stamping clean the stamp thoroughly using water - but the cleaner that comes in the kit will remove the FlitterGlu if you've left it and your stamp has gone gunky!  The stamped image remains sticky for a long while so you don't have to apply the flake straight away.  You dip your piece into the flakes and press firmly and then wipe off the excess, making sure those pieces go back in your tub.  Then you burnish with the scoochy (a textured sponge) to finish off.

You can also use double sided adhesive sheet and acetate with the flakes and that's the method I've used to make this card.  I have to say I had disappointing results the first time I tried this method but I've since tried it again with a different brand of double sided adhesive sheet which is ultra thin and that worked perfectly.  I cut a piece of the adhesive sheet, peeled off one backing and stamped the trees and circle onto the sticky side using VersaFine ink.  I then placed a piece of acetate over the top which then sticks to the adhesive side you've just stamped.  Next I cut the piece to the size I wanted, took off the backing from the other side, dipped the piece into the flakes and brushed off the excess and burnished with the scoochy.  You could get the same look by stamping direct to the acetate but that can be tricky as acetate is such a slick surface, I found stamping on the double sided sticky sheet much easier!  I matted and layered with black and silver CS, added brads and the panel was ready to be put on a card.

I stamped the trees in a line on the card front, stamped the sentiment and popped the image panel up.  This card has been delivered to my neighbour Jim this morning as it's his birthday today.  I thought this was a good design for a masculine card. 

More stamping on the inside and envelope finished everything off.  I'll be sharing more flaky creations soon and I see much more fun with flakes in my future!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hobby Art 'British Countryside' clear set, Hero Arts 'Yummy Treats' clear set
CS: PaperMania A6 white card blank, SU! Basic Black, metallic silver CS from stash, acetate
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black
Tools: Perfect Layers, scoochy for burnishing flakes
Embellishments & accessories: Crafty Notions double sided adhesive sheet, IndigoBlu 'Winter Dawn' gilding flakes, black brads, 3d foam tape