Cracked Glass

Cracked Glass is a fun little trick. Here’s how you can create this look:

Copyright Stampin' Up!® 1990-2006

View the card and see the supplies I used here, at my gallery: Cracked Glass.

Typically, when you do a technique such as Cracked Glass, you use a product called UTEE (which stands for Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel). I didn’t have any on hand, so I improvised! Instead, I used a few coats (five in all) of clear embossing powder and I achieved the same effect.

First, I stamped my image in brown Petal Points Chalk ink. I recently discovered that this ink is waterfast, which means that it doesn’t smudge when you watercolor with it. I painted my petals and leaves and then I sponged some brown ink around the corners of my image.

I then inked up the entire surface of my cardstock with Versamark (a tacky ink I like to use for embossing), coated my cardstock in a layer of clear embossing powder and applied my heat gun. After melting the embossing powder and letting it cool for a second, I reinked the surface of the cardstock with another layer of Versamark. If you are quick, you can sprinkle more powder on to your cardstock before it cools off. The new powder will stick to the warm, tacky surface of the melted embossing powder. It saves you some time if you don’t have to keep layering on the Versamark.

When you have built up several layers of thickness, place your cardstock into the freezer for 5 minutes. Then remove the cardstock and quickly (but gently) bend the paper. The glaze on the surface will crack! If you make a mistake or accidentally pop off a whole chunk glaze, simply reheat, refreeze and recrack. Add some finishing touches with some ink sponged into the cracks to create more of an aged look.

Oh! And one more thing: the greeting you see here is not a stamp. It's something I printed off my computer. See Putting your Printer to Work for more ideas.

If you have any questions about how I made the above card, please feel free to ask me!