Playing with chipboard imprints

I walked into my local Michael's store the other day and discovered this gorgeous Melody Ross display full of mysterious looking metal things and a pretty rubber mallet, and all kinds of glorious chipboard. Since chipboard and distressing are two of my favorite things in paper crafting, I had to try some of this stuff!

I think I need to watch a video on how to use it properly, but basically the metal "dies" - if you will - are used to make an imprint in chipboard, metal and probably many more materials. The pretty rubber mallet is used to smash those suckers into said material. So I gave it a try.

Using the PlayDate Cafe color challenge this week, I chose to make a "friend" card with a butterfly. Here is the PDCC challenge #73 this week...


(Love this photo. And those dresses!)


And here is the card I made...




Here's a look at the chipboard...


I experimented a lot here and found that the gray chipboard makes almost every color I tried to ink over it turn muddy looking. So I started over and used some white paint over the top and let it dry. Now I have a nice clean canvas, so to speak.




After swirling some Dusty Concord ink (Ranger) over the top, I then hammered away with my husband's 20 year-old nasty-looking rubber mallet. This particular die is a small flower. I was a little disappointed in the loss of detail here. The die has more texture in the center of the flowers, but it just didn't transfer. I had to be careful not to ink over this too much after the impressions were made, because I found this made the image even less defined. I felt like it still needed something though.



I like how the hammering help to expose the white underneath a little. Gives some dimension. I started to pierce small holes for brads to go in the flower centers, but I didn't end up liking that, although I did like the way the holes looked, but they were just a little too small. So I grabbed the beloved Crop-a-dile and punched some larger holes in the centers. Interesting.



Using a 1-inch circle punch, I made some circles and then dug through my stash of embellishments to accent here and there.



Here's another look at the card. I'm still on the fence with these Melody Ross dies, but I won't give up yet. The line of chipboard is really nice and I'd like to experiment with metal the next time I use the dies.


Thanks for stopping by today! Have a good one.



Comments

  1. Annette this is a masterpiece!!! WOw so much work...but so worth it!!! Thanks for joining us at The Play Date Cafe :)

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  2. What a fun card, very clever. I love all of the detail! Thank you for playing along with us at the Play Date Cafe this week!

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  3. Great technique, Annette! A wonderfully vintage type card, with so many elements to catch your eye! Great job with the colors, too! Thanks for joining us this week at the Play Date Cafe!

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  4. Your chipboard butterfly is so pretty - I like all the little pieces you have used on your card too. Thanks so much for playing along at The Play Date Cafe.

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  5. Annette, this has a feminine Tim Holtz type of look to it...and I LOVE it! Every little detail you put here makes me say "Ahhh". THanks for joining us at the Play Date Cafe this week!

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  6. This is stunning... every last detail! Yum-O! LOVE how you've created a grid design with circles and embellished each one in their own unique way! Thanks so much for playing along with us, this week, in The Cafe!

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