Villainous Vellum

I made this card for a make and take for my stamping buddies.  We get together at least once a month, but sometimes more often.  I like it when we get to play as opposed to just talking about playing (which has its merits).  The card on the right was the first card I made as my sample card.  It is a kraft card base with the background stamped in A Muse Studio latte ink with the greeting stamped over that.  I then went on to assemble the rest of the card.  After I had made the card I noticed that when you touched the harlequin background with your finger the ink rubbed off onto you.  I zapped it with the heat tool and it still rubbed off.  I was confused about that.  I never used a|s ink before, but had been told it was a fast drying pigment ink that doesn’t smear.  The weird thing is it wasn’t smearing on the card; just some of the ink would come off on your fingers when you rubbed it, but the image itself was staying intact.  I showed it to my husband who said it was like a powder coming off, like the ink was sitting on top of the card.  That should have been a clue.

 

Since I was afraid to have a make and take that might get rubbed into oblivion, I made another sample card—the one on the left—using all dye based inks.  I wasn’t as happy with that one.  I liked the subtle background of the latte ink.  I mentioned to my stamping buddies that I was bringing some cards and they could help me puzzle out what was up with my a|s ink.  Someone suggested the properties of ink might be the culprit, which made the light go on in my head.  “Or it might be the paper,” I thought.  I went right home and checked my kraft paper.  Sure enough, it was vellum styled paper.  Vellum cardstock seems to have a coating on it.  Wiki says it is made with plasticized cotton, which explains why the ink seems to sit on top of the card and can be rubbed off.  I’m glad that mystery was cleared up and I’ll be sure to use my A Muse Studio inks on linen styled paper.  I’m willing bet that the a|s paper is the best stuff to use with a|s ink!!!

Meanwhile, I have both options available for my make and take.  I still like the latte ink version better and the card will hold up just fine for the season if you don’t plan to finger it a lot. Which version do you like better?

The edges of the piece of cardstock the wheat is on are distressed.  I did that on purpose so I can show my friend how to distress edges using a small metal ruler (use the ruler to scrape the edge of your cardstock like you are trying to scrape the burnt off toast).  I even have a little metal ruler just for her (shh… don’t tell, it’s a surprise!).

The Fine Print: Stamps by A Muse Studio “Bounty of the Season” set and “Harlequin Background”, kraft vellum cs by Mohawk, natural linen cs by Neenah, French Roast twine by A Muse Studio, colored with anonymous chalk.  Ink for the card on the left: Pale Orange by Marvy and Rich Cocoa by Memento.  Ink for the card on the right: Latte by A Muse Studio and Walnut Stain by Tim Holtz.