You're So Sweet (High/Low Technique)

Morning all!  This is a really simple card which I did to simply show off a lovely technique that I have been enjoying of late.  I didn't want to cover it all up with flowers so that you would really be able to see how it was done.  I started with a piece of black card then covered it with a piece of sticky self adhesive sheet.  Using the background from my Italian Collection, I ran it through the Grand Calibur.  Since the sticky sheet adds a layer of thickness to the card, the pass through the Calibur will easily cut through it, but probably not through the black card.  This is actually what you want for this technique.  If, however, it does appear to have cut all the way through in spots, before removing it from the die, place some cello tape over those spots so they will all stay together, then remove the die cut.  The back of it won't show and you want the entire piece in tact for this technique.  Next, using your pokey tool, simply lift away the parts of the design that would be the fall away bits, in this case,the roses and swirls.  It does take a bit of time, but the results are very pretty in real life.  Once they have all been removed, cover all the exposed sticky areas with gilding flakes (or glitter or mica if you prefer).  I used the Summer Meadow gilding flakes here for this project.  Burnish them into place using a Rubit Scrubit pad and lightly remove any excess flake.  Dust it away with a tissue before moving on the the next step.  Next peel up the remaining bit of the backing paper revealing the actual die cut pattern.  I used micro beads and dipped the entire piece to coat all the remaining sticky areas.  Using my finger, I burnished them down well, which also brings the background colour up stronger.  Now you have the results of the High/Low technique with the high being the micro beads and the low being the gilding flakes.  It makes for a spectacular bit of texture on your backgrounds, you will just want to run your hand over it, trust me!  I stamped my sentiment, embossed it in gold and cut it out with the tag from the California Collection.  I cut another tag in black, split it and used it as a shadow behind the original.  I mounted it with foam in the lower corner so it wouldn't cover too much of the background design.  I finished the card with a white pierced mat and a final solid white mat.  The finished dimensions are
6" x 7 1/2" in size.  Just a reminder, the weekly card giveaway winner will be posted on Monday's blog this week.  All for now, Sue x