~ A rare moment ~ UTEE

 

This is a pic taken of my oldest 2 while we were on vacation in hluhluwe (national Game reserve in SA). The 2 of them were walking up ahead of us while on a hike and I thought they looked so sweet holding hands. Like with so many siblings,  it's such a rare and precious moment to see them getting along that I just HAD to capture it on film. Unfortunately I just couldn't think of a suitable title so I've left the LO untitled until I think of something......suggestions welcome.

I made a quick visit to my LSS the other day to pick up some cardstock and stumbled upon this FABULOUS product called UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel). They only stock the Ranger brand and the owner had a few sample pieces out using various techniques and I instantly fell inlove. So I walked in to buy a few pieces of carstock and walked out spending a small fortune on a couple of tubs of this wonderful product...LOL!! But definitely worth every cent!!

Believe it or not, I only used 2 pieces of plain white cardstock for this LO.......NO PRINTED PAPERS!!!

For the background paper I first distressed the edges of the white cardstock with my TH paper distresser. I then used some Black UTEE together with my Large Elegant Word Stamp from Heartfelt creations. For the actual words I only used one layer of UTEE but for the distressed corners I randomly applied some embossing ink to the corners, sprinkled the UTEE, dusted excess off and then heated. I repeated this process 3 times until I had achieved the end look I wanted. Once I completed the embossing, I inked the bg using walnut stain distress ink.


To finish off the bg paper I water distressed opposite corners. For this particular project I used a paintbrush to wet the BACK SIDE of the carstock as to not spoil the inked side. Once the cs was wet enough to manipulate I pinched and scrunched the paper until I achieved the look I wanted. A helpful tip is to use a heating tool to dry the paper as you go along so it keeps the shape you've moulded.

For the center "frame" I cut the shape from another piece of white cs, distressed the edges, inked the cs using black soot and walnut stain distress inks. I then water distressed all four sides. Once that had dried I began applying the UTEE. You follow the same steps as with other embossing powder, i.e. apply embossing ink, add embossing powder, remove excess powder back into container and heat. I repeated this process 3 times until I had a nice THICK layer of UTEE which I then stamped into with the same stamp on the bg cs while still hot. The UTEE cools quickly so you need to do this fast. The best thing about this product is that you can reheat it over and over if you make a mistake.

I used some Black UTEE on the Dusty Attic piece. Again I did about 2 layers for this then just lightly painted over it with some gold liquid pearl using my finger.

Here's also a close up of the stamped UTEE letters. You can hopefully see how the stamped bits are raised and look plastic like. It's really lovely IRL

Again I made some of Lisa Gregory's Ribbon Rose Buds which I'm just loving. This time I used plain satin ribbon and I really love the finished look of these. Because I only had green floral tape I painted the floral tape using some Chocolat Shimmerz paints (another favourite product brand). The cardstock leaves behind the vine are made using my Leafy Swirls Stamp from Heartfelt creations (they have some FANTASTIC stamps!!!) A big thank you to both Lisa Valentine and Lisa Gregory for pointing me in their direction.

I made another Distressed Camelot Rose using a tutorial I've featured previously in my DIY challenge. These are really great and very easy to make. Still a favourite for me.

TFL