Advice Needed please.......

[pigtailpat]

I was doing a card for my mom, who is not feeling well to cheer her up.

This was the complex cut I got from last night. Not much editing needed other than thickening the lines just a bit in inkscape. I sent it to .mtc to actually cut as I still need more experience with signcut.

Should I leave it as is, or, is there a way I can get a "stained" glass effect with actually painting the "insides" of the lines? (different colors.) I would like to leave the cardstock cut lines on the paper (nothing has been glued yet...I scanned it sort of face down without anything being permanently adhered) and if there is a way to paint different colors inside the lines, I would like to know what can be done to get that effect. I have the viva pens (glass effect), but I feel it might be hard to direct the pen inside each of the areas. Has anyone used a different brush technique for the viva pens? Any other suggestions for either products or techniques to complete this card?

I cannot share this file as it came from a dover freebie some time back. Even though Dover posted it as a freebie sample, I don't feel I should share the actual file. You can sign up at dover to get Friday freebies. They really have some wonderful designs, and with a little work, alot of them are cuttable.

Pat

flower-card.jpg

[Elsa]

Maybe an oval the same size cut out of acetate or similar material then coloring that with alcohol inks. I don't know what Viva pens are. Maybe they would work as well. You could print out the outline and lay it under your acetate as a guide to apply your color. You could paint solid colors or blended colors. Then lay the cutout on top.

[Thyme]

Elsa, that is exactly what I would suggest too

[CeCeCreates]

It is beautiful! I love Dover samplers!

[pigtailpat]

OK, I will re-cut just an oval out of some acetate I have here, and another full inside cut from contact paper, and I will lay the contact paper over the acetate and see what happens with alcohol inks, or even my SU inks mixed with the alcohol. If I do contact paper, I think after everything dries, the contact paper should lift off - leaving the design in from the inks, so that I can re-lay the cardstock on over the acetate - alcohol ink design. If I run into trouble with the contact paper way, I will just print the design as you suggested Elsa, or even just simply take the cardstock one and photocopy it and place the photocopy under the acetate. I probably cannot play with that until much later tonight.

Pat

[Gigi]

Think we are all on the same page - the acetate behind would be beautiful and give you the effect you want.

I have a lot of the Viva Decor pens (surprise I know ) but have not tried painting them . I don't see why you couldn't though - maybe try it in a scrap piece of acetate and see what it looks like when it dries.

The other thing you could do if your Mom like sparkle is use some of the really fine glitters out there. The Ritz line (think that's the brand) is super fine and once dry does NOT budge - it even sticks to tape and doesn't fall off - amazing - but that could be really pretty too depending on how much pop you want.

And that design is beautiful - your Mom will absolutely love that card.

And for those who haven't heard of Viva Decor - OMG! They make pearl pens that are the best. You can make your own pearls from small to whatever and they dry totally hard and beautiful. They come in a lot of colors and just came out with a magic pearl pen - those are made for the darker cardstocks (you need the dark to see the colors). Besides the gloss gel and pearl pens, they also make glitter liners that are awesome. And then there are modeling compounds, inks made for painting metal and other surfaces (lots of colors - no I don't have those!!) and they just came out with a compound that makes resin shapes from molds. You can find the best selection of Viva Decor products here - if you must want to peek -and there are lots of videos that show the possibilities too.
http://www.susanascustomartandcarddesig ... hp?cat=143

No I am not enabling - just sharing information!

[CeCeCreates]

Maybe you could make the contact paper design just slightly thinner in all areas, then if it doesn't lift cleanly, then your overlay piece should still cover all the contact paper. Just a thought. Can't wait to see the finsihed product.

[Elsa]

And for those who haven't heard of Viva Decor - OMG! They make pearl pens that are the best. You can make your own pearls from small to whatever and they dry totally hard and beautiful. They come in a lot of colors and just came out with a magic pearl pen - those are made for the darker cardstocks (you need the dark to see the colors). Besides the gloss gel and pearl pens, they also make glitter liners that are awesome. And then there are modeling compounds, inks made for painting metal and other surfaces (lots of colors - no I don't have those!!) and they just came out with a compound that makes resin shapes from molds. You can find the best selection of Viva Decor products here - if you must want to peek -and there are lots of videos that show the possibilities too.
http://www.susanascustomartandcarddesig ... hp?cat=143

No I am not enabling - just sharing information!

That would include me. Why do I not believe you are not enabling.
I'm off to check out the pens and glitter. Thanks!

[Elsa]

Pat, shame on me. That is a great design.

[pigtailpat]

Cece, that is a great idea! I understand what you are saying, so that the cardstock can go right over it. This is weird though, I started with a thin design, made it thicker to cut, and gotta go back to thin. I had some difficulty cutting this thin. I will try though at original size and keep my fingers crossed.

Gigi - what I have done is I have applied a whole bunch of inks and alcohol, and the viva pens, and I specifically spread the viva around with the nozzle tip, to see if I pick up bubbles. I am letting all the samples dry and the acetate and I will see soon what works. I can tell you though, I love those viva pens. Generally I have used them to make dots, this would be the first time I am actually painting with them. So if they dry without air bubbling, I might use those. I have limited colors though, pink, blue and amber - that is it. I have alot of amber, very limited on the blue and some pink. Given that - what do you guys think of what colors where? I think the flower petals are definitely going to be pink, so undecided about elsewhere given the limited blue I have. I might have enough to make the background blue, and the stem leaves the amber...

And I did get mine from susanna...(elsa - check out the glass effect pens they are beautiful)...

Pat

[Gigi]

Crud - forgot he glass effect ones - those are too cool!!

What if you cut it out of black vinyl so it would have more of a leaded look?? (interesting thought from one who is terrified of vinyl!! )

Hmmm - as for colors - I wonder what you would get if you combined some of the amber and blue - would it be a pretty deep green or a yucky one - thinking about the leaves....

Do you have other pens?? Part of it could be opaque with the other colors

OH oh - what if you used the glossy accents (if you have the crackling gloss that could be cool in the background - I love the crackle) - thinking of how you could get a frosty look in the background.....

And you do have the alcohol inks so you can fill your other areas in with those - right? Would be beautiful with the different colors and "textures". Will keep thinking - curious to hear how it looks as it dries.

And don't you just love Susanna's??? Her service is great and she carries things that no one else does - and way before anyone else does. You may, months later, find some of the product for less elsewhere, but her service is awesome and she has embraced the Viva Decor line that I think originated in Germany.

[pigtailpat]

I do have glossy accents, I tried that too.......))::

I did not try combining glossy accents with the viva, I will do that now...

EDIT: The pearl pens with glossy accents is stunning. I did not like the glass effect pens too much with glossy accents. I might use the gold and glossy accents for the outter background, because I just do not have alot of the blue left...I wish I had more colors dang it......

[pigtailpat]

I wanted to update you guys on the viva pens and acetate. The viva pens sort of sank and I had this same experience with them on acrylic some months back. I thought that perhaps it was the hardness of the acrylic that made it "spread." It is the same with the acetate. I brought that to the attention of Viva Decor. The young lady who I spoke with some months back even bought some of the acrylic (from Lowe's) and sent it all the way to germany for testing. There is definitely something wrong with the pens on any kind of plastic. I do not have this problem on cardstock. When mixed with glossy accents, it looks much better, but, it is not the stained glass type of look I wanted. So, I guess I am making a trip to michael's this weekend for some of the alcohol inks in color. All I have is the gold and silver. I need at least red and blue (and green if it comes in that color). The gold alcohol ink was tested, and it looked the best of all. I love the viva pens, but it really appears, at least to me, they work best on actual cardstock, not any other surface as described by viva decor. I wanted to make sure you guys knew of my results and disappointment on plastic. This is the second time I am disappointed by the product, and I know now that I cannot trust it on anything plastic.

Pat

[Gigi]

You know -I remember that happening when I was trying to make some pearls in advance. If I made them on the craft mat they held up and were fine, but if I put them on waxed paper they went flat. I emailed Susanna and she said they need whatever is in paper or cardstock to hold their shape but won't stay on a plastic type surface. I totally forgot about that - so sorry.

If you are going to Michaels, you might want to look at the Gallery Glass that I think they still have. I used to make huge stained glass designs on my windows when it was popular eons ago! Those would be perfect on the acrylic as that is what they are made for. Just a thought...... (and they come in all sorts of colors and a little goes a long way.

Hope that helps. I still love the Viva Decor Pens - just not on plastic! Good luck, Pat.

[pigtailpat]

No problem gigi, the thing is, the viva pens are marketed so that they supposedly can be painted even on a plastic surface. That is what bothers me....

I am going to check gallery glass too, I have heard of that and hopefully that might work.

Pat

[Gigi]

OH I didn't realize they were marketed to work on plastic

I know the gallery glass will work - I have used it on acetate. I remember years ago doing something with clear contact paper behind and using glitter but I just can't remember all of the details!! That's really helpful, huh??!!??

[pigtailpat]

I was doing a search on gallery glass and contact paper. Will it work with contact paper? I see so much of the leading stuff, but this design I think will be very tough to do with the liquid leading stuff.......

I have seen gallery glass at michaels, and they will accept a ac moore coupon, and there is a 50% coupon for this week starting tomorrow, so I will try to pick up something then.

Pat

[Gigi]

I don't know if the Gallery Glass will work on Contact Paper - never tried it. I was talking about glitter and clear contact paper if the painting doesn't work on the acrylic but I think it will.

I don't think the design would be impossible to do with the liquid leading, but it would be tedious. I don't know why you couldn't do the design in cardstock or vinyl and fill with Gallery Glass... or even alcohol inks. Very eager to see how it comes out!

[Angel135612]

If you have or are using the transparencies for overhead projectors, why not take your design into Photoshop, or some other program and fill in the shapes with what ever colors you want, and print it out. Then you can put your cut image on top and then you can add what ever other accents you want to that. At least that was my first thought when I started to read this thread.

[pigtailpat]

Diane -

Wow! That is a great thought!! I am using transparencies, except the package I am using is a very old package I had found in my house that is at least 10 years old or more. They are transparencies for a inkjet printer, and mine is laser (I did have an inkjet printer at one time years and years ago). Thank you for the thought and advice, I really appreciate it. I might be able to find a friend with a inkjet printer to perhaps use this method. I will try.

Pat