Hello everyone! Today I’m going to talk about something that’s probably happened to all of us. You see a designer on YouTube and their project is so beautiful! You ordered and received the stamp, you pick out the embossing powder, you don’t have the re-inkers, but you have plenty of other mediums that would work. You spend an afternoon creating what you saw. But once everything is dry…it just slides downhill from there…this is that story.

To look at this photo you might think to yourself what’s wrong with that? I have to say the camera made these panels look ok, but in reality they looked pretty bad. The designer on YouTube used Distress Reinkers. I didn’t have those colors so I used Distress Oxide Reinkers. And that was my downfall. Once these panels were dry they looked so chalky I couldn’t use them. I set them aside for a few weeks. Then I took them out again for another try. On the red panel I used a red Reinker and a dark brown. On the blue panel I used Distress Mica Spray.
READ ALSO: WE ASKED YOU: ARE YOU RECYCLING?

I had to put lots on to try to combat the chalkiness of the Oxides. And once dry, I buffed off the surface to pick up ink that stayed on the surface of the embossing.


I knew the card layout I wanted to use. It’s very simple but really showcases the background. Even though I used the same embossing powder for each of the panels, they looked best with 2 different shades of gold! I also cut sentiments for both. On the red one, the sentiment blended in so well you really couldn’t see it so I adhered a band of very dark brown card stock behind it to make it pop. And that finished these cards!
READ ALSO: MAKING NO-WASTE FLOWERS

I don’t always try and save panels, but these were definitely worth it!

Betsy Birge is from Liberty, US. She has been writing for TPC since 2023. Betsy started paper crafting in 2006 and she mostly makes cards. Her style is a bit of everything and she loves watercoloring both her cards and fine art showing in local galleries.