Experimentation with Mica Powders

I've been spending money again! I have seen mica powders demonstrated a few times on C+C - the lovely Sheena Douglass (http://www.sheena.tv/) and Ali Reeve (http://clevercrafter.blogspot.co.uk/) do some fab demos, and give loads of inspiration. Finally, I decided to take the plunge, and give them a go.

Then, they sat in my crafty stash ... for about a month! Despite all the TV I'd seen, they still made me nervous. Yup, I know, I'm a wimp. I did pluck up the courage to give them a go. On a piece of stamping that hadn't gone quite right. I know that mica can be tricky to work with, so I didn't want to try it on a piece I was planning for a card.

I mixed the micas with a little water, so I could use them as a paint on the embossed image. And you know what? It went really well.

And I couldn't have been more disappointed, lol. It's hard to see in this picture, but the text was ghosted from slipping when I stamped the image. I couldn't use this as a topper on a card.

So it sat on my desk for about 3 days ... mocking me. It narked me more and more every time I saw it - this lovely image that I couldn't use - grr! In the end,  I took some scissors to it, and chopped out the flowers, or at least as much of them as I could salvage. My dexterity isn't great, and I'm left handed, so I usually avoid cutting anything out unless I have to. I did manage to get two nice looking corner images out of it, which I used for these

 The images are a little blurred, I apologise. Think I need the camera cleaning a little. Anyway, both cards are finished with a sentiment heat embossed on white vellum in the aperture. The landscape card is decorated using more mica'd flowers (painted in the same way as the original image) and a couple of the leaves I salvaged from the frenzied scissor attack! The portrait image had a butterfly added. I made this by mixing some mica powder with some PVA, and painting this mixture onto the back of a piece of acetate. I let that dry overnight, then put a black peel off on the front of the acetate sheet, and cut round it (wielding scissors twice in one project? I must be ill!). As I type, the butterfly is desperate to make its escape from the front of the card ... I shall have to investigate better sticky stuff!

It seems I've managed to swipe victory from the jaws of defeat on this one. And I know it won't be the last time the mica powders see the light of day ... I'm even considering getting some in different colours!