Tracy Evans here, and today I am going to run you through a few step by steps to create the background in my card below.

I have used acetate and alcohol inks to create an opulent background adding further texture with a touch of embossing. So lets begin!

Apply Diamond Glaze to a piece of acetate, my piece measures 4″ x 6″.

Add drops of Cranberry Alcohol Ink to the acetate, applying colour over the entire surface but leaving gaps for other colours if necessary.

Add Gold Mixative into the mix, simply adding randomly to the background. Continue this process until the acetate is covered with Alcohol Ink.

You can add as many colour as you wish at this stage but I opted for just two colour choices. I was aiming for a real opulent feel.

Crumple a piece of tissue and then place on top of the inked acetate.

Dab the tissue into place using a piece of kitchen towel. Ensure you are working on a Non-Stick Craft Sheet when using this technique!

Continue to press the crumpled tissue onto the acetate and then set aside until completely dry. Once dry trim away the excess tissue paper.

Now that the acetate is completely dry, emboss the decorated piece with the Twisted Hearts Spellbinders M-Bossabilities Embossing Folder, this adds further texture to the piece, something I love.

For a touch more opulence rub over some of the embossed areas with Olive Bronze Treasure Gold Wax.

This gives the design a touch more opulence and really adds to the overall feel of the background piece.

To decorate the background piece I decided to use the girl from Tim Holtz Winged Things 1 Stamp Set. I stamped the image onto white card with Black Archival Ink and stamped the wings a second time onto Wendy Vecchi’s Clear Clearly For Art using Black Stazon Ink.

Both the girl and the wings were then cut out; the wings were coloured with a touch of Cranberry Alcohol Ink.

I coloured the wings and the crown with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink.

I then heated the Clear Clearly For Art, once this product is warm it allows you to bend and manipulate your piece.

I die cut a circle from white card and then applied Aged Mahogany and Walnut Stain Distress Inks to my Non-Stick Craft Sheet and then spritzed with water and mopped up the beads of ink with the card. Heat with a heat tool to dry.

Apply Black Soot Distress Ink to the edges for definition.

Add background stamping to the circle using the background stamp from Tim Holtz Classics 9 Stamp Set and Black Archival Ink.

Place all the elements onto the decorated backdrop.

Stamp the sentiment onto white card with Black Archival Ink, cut out and colour with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink, applying Black Soot ink to the edges.

I like to ‘ground’ my images to that they do not appear to be floating so on this occasion I have added a torn piece of book page machine stitched into place to ground my little winged girl. I have also added machine stitching to the outside edges of my card. For further interest and dimension I have also included a wing embellishment coloured with Alcohol Ink, highlighting the detail with Olive Bronze Wax.

I love the detail and texture the backdrop gives to my card; I love to create my own backgrounds.

Happy accident but I also love the text from the book page, this was not planned but I love it when things like that happen so unexpected.

Wow! I love all of the techniques and details that Tracy added into this piece, and how much inspiration she has shared. Thanks Tracy!

Guess what? Now it is your turn – join us this week in the challenge! For the full rules, read the “challenge rules” posted in the side-bar here on our blog, and be sure to enter the challenge in the post below this one.

Products Used:

Tim Holtz Winged Things 1
Tim Holtz Classics 9 Stamp Set
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Regal Adornments
Alcohol Inks – Cranberry, Gold Mixative
Spellbinders Standard Circles Large Die
Black Archival Ink
Black Stazon Ink
Distress Inks – Aged Mahogany, Walnut Stain, Black Soot
Wendy Vecchi Clear Clearly For Art