Floating Acetate Mini Slimline Card

by Adrienne Boese - 6:00:00 AM

I just love giving a card that makes the recipient say, “Wow!” And with this tutorial, they surely will!

Acetate mini slimline card made with: Scrapbook.com mint tape, pops of color, feel better sentiments stamp set, acetate; Tim Holtz nature layering stencil, distress oxide ink; Pinkfresh jewels

And you only need a handful of supplies, much of which you might already have on hand. Here’s what you’ll need:

Stamp sentiment (I used the new Feel Better Sentiments 2 set from Scrapbook.com that they sent me--as of publishing this blog, it's still marked as coming soon, so if you love it, visit this link and click on the notify me button and you'll get an email when it's ready for purchase!)
Embossing ink
Embossing Powder (I like using Ranger’s Super Fine powders because they show off more details in your stamps)
Ink of your choice (I love using Distress Oxides—they provide great coverage and are highly pigmented)
Stencil (I used the Nature layering stencil from Tim Holtz)
Acetate
Smooth white cardstock
Pops of Color (I chose seafoam, bubblegum and soft lilac)
Thick art medium like 3D gloss gel, heavy body gel or gesso (remember that it being transparent vs. opaque will change the way it looks—I used a transparent 3D gloss gel)
Jewels
Foam adhesive
4” mint tape
Palette knife or craft scraper
Heat tool
Stamping platform or stamping block

Start by cutting a piece of acetate to the desired card size. I made this particular card a mini slimline (3.25 x 6.25 inches). Using 4” mint tape, temporarily adhere your acetate to the back of your stencil. This will help hold it in place as you work. No one likes wasting supplies or lining your work back up with the stencil and this tape is perfect for the job!

Next, mix a small dollop of your art medium with a Pops of Color to tint it. The more Pops of Color you use, the more vibrant. Remember that a little goes a long way with the art medium so be prepared to have more acetate/cardstock and stencils on hand to use up any tinted medium that you have left over. Using your palette knife or craft scraper, apply your art medium through your stencil and scrape off the excess. Peel your acetate off of the stencil and set it aside to dry. This won’t take long.

Then, stamp out your sentiment on a strip of white cardstock. I chose to make mine both embossed and inked. (I recommend using a stamp platform for this as it makes it a cinch to line up your two impressions, but it isn’t necessary.) I started with the embossed portion first, masking off the other part of the stamp before inking and then stamping with embossing ink. I heat embossed mine with Ranger’s Super Fine embossing powder in gold. I then masked off that part of the stamp and inked up the other portion with Distress Oxide Ink in peacock feather. Make sure that you give your Distress Oxides a chance to dry before doing more with the sentiment so you don’t smudge the ink. You can either set it aside or briefly hit it with your heat tool (a few seconds).

Using foam adhesive, add your sentiment to your acetate. Then place foam adhesive on the back of your acetate in strategic locations. The adhere your acetate to your card base. Using foam adhesive floats the acetate, really amping up the wow factor. To finish it off, add a few gems or pearls for a bit of bling. And that’s it! Until next time, happy crafting!

Adrienne

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ReplicaSurfaces

Love the background I shot my photos on? It's from Replica Surfaces, a company that makes rigid photo-realistic backgrounds. This surface is called Shiplap You can pick up your own with a 15% discount by shopping this link. When you do, I get a small commission from the sale at no extra cost to you, which helps me continue to provide you amazing tutorials and information, just like this blog post!

Scrapbook.com

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Below are products that I used or similar products.