Now for a little bit of bling!

When I saw the “Bling it on” theme for the July twinchie swap on UK Stampers, I immediately thought of the gorgeous Diamond stamp from Clarity.  I think diamonds are the ultimate in bling, though I chose sapphires for myself!

I decided to show my diamonds off by putting them on cushions, so I made tiny ones out of some dark blue fabric that I rescued from a jar of jam.  I stuffed the cushions with cotton wool, and sewed some gold braid round the edges.  The miniscule tassels, that I tried to make for the corners, just would not work out, so I had to make do with loops instead.  By the time I had finished sewing all 3 cushions, I was beginning to question my sanity…….

I inked the background cards with Mustard Seed and Barn Door distress inks, then spritzed them with water to blend the colours.  They looked really boring, so I scored a sunray pattern with my Hougie board.  They still looked boring, so I spritzed them with Heirloom Gold pearl mist.  That was a bit better, but I decided to go the whole hog and mount them on gold mirri-card as well.  Sorted!  Before I stuck the background layers together, I sewed the cushions onto the inked cards, by making small stitches in the back layer of the cushions, so that they stayed plump.

Now it was time for the diamonds!  I can’t stamp on acetate for toffee, so I tried an idea from Barbary Gray, using double-sided adhesive sheets.  Barbara peels off one backing sheet, stamps onto the adhesive, lays acetate on top, then turns it over, peels off the other backing sheet and adds blingey stuff to the adhesive, so that it shows through the acetate.  Brilliant, and it works!  Well, it does if your stamping is any good!  I got 2 images to work immediately, but the third just would not cooperate!  For some reason the stamp decided to skid over the adhesive, or miss bits, and it took 5 tries to get a useable image.  Even then, a bit of the point was missing, so I had to “patch” it by stamping that bit again – luckily just right!  By that stage, I was getting a bit desperate, so it was a relief, when I finally had 3 images I could use.  I decided to use plastic packaging instead of acetate, as it is stronger, and successfully stuck it on without any bubbles.  Phew!  Now for the glitter, but…..

I couldn’t find my one and only pot of Glamour Dust glitter anywhere!!!!

So, I had to use Mica Flakes instead.  I bought 3 pots of them in a weak moment ages ago, but hadn’t got around to trying them.  I found out that they are an absolute menace, spreading themselves everywhere, even though I was really careful and tidy!  I hate using glitter because of the mess, but this was 10 times worse!!!  The flakes kept falling off the adhesive and didn’t cover it completely, so the diamonds looked a bit disappointing.  I decided to back them with gold mirri-card, as it seemed to bring out the blinginess.  I stuck the mirri on with Pinflair glue gel, which finally tamed the flakes, and I was able to trim neatly around the edge of the plastic shapes with scissors.

Finally, I stuck the diamonds onto the cushions with Pinflair glue gel, and took some photos.  I think my Twinchies have turned out quite well, and I hope the eventual recipients will agree!