Another Inspiration Deck Done!

Just finished another round of deck-making! If you're quick, you can still make the September 15th deadline! (See details at http://www.carddeckswap.com.)

All in all the project took me about 8 days, usually between an hour or two each of those days. This time around I followed Jessica's tutorial and glued my cards to scrapbook paper with gel medium, to have a pattern for the backs of the cards. It worked a lot better than the freezer paper I used last deck! It kept my cards flat and neat throughout the whole project. Then I added gesso until the card images were covered up and added some color.

After that I decided to add some Golden Iridescent Pearl with some sponge shapes I found at Pat Catan's (a local craft store). The effect was stronger than I expected, so I did another light wash of acrylic color over top.

Then I added some dots with drywall tape and white acrylic paint... it produces an effect similar to stamping with bubble wrap, but with much less mess!

After that I stamped on some stars using a foam stamp, and cut up my song lyrics while waiting for it to dry. Once each coat of paint was dry to the touch, I stacked the sheets together, placing a sheet of wax paper in between; it kept everything from sticking together.

I also added some washi tape, pre-printed with music notes (made by Tim Holtz), torn and stuck down in random spaces.

After that I glued on the lyrics and gave the cards another coat of gel medium as a sealer.

Then it was time to cut them out. Here is a sampling of the finished cards...

I was really happy with the way these turned out... almost sad to give them up! But I know I'll be getting some awesome cards in return.

To recap, here's the steps I took from start to finish:

• Day 1 - Got the cards glued down to the papers.
• Day 2 - Gesso
• Day 3 - Color
• Day 4 - Sponging On Iridescent Pearl
• Day 5 - Stenciling and Stamping
• Day 6 - Cutting Up Lyrics
• Day 7 - Washi Tape and Gluing Lyrics
• Day 8 - Cut Out & Ready to Mail!

I can't wait for the next round! Thanks to Jessica Brogan for all her hard work in organizing these swaps!