Happy Anniversary to my DH....

This is my anniversary card to my husband. I have made 2 other cards that didn't end up looking like what I wanted to give him. I think it is hard to make a card that is masculine. (No bling, flowers, etc.)

I also wanted to share a technique that I think looks like marble.

I took a few pictures after the card was done to show how I created the faux marble background.

Recipe:

Start with a piece of acetate/transparency. I laid a piece of white cardstock underneath so you could see the color I applied clearly. So although this looks like white cardstock it is really a clear transparency.

1. Take a blue watercolor marker. Draw lines on the transparency all over the paper. Add branches from the main lines.

Next take your mister and spray all the colored lines multiple times. The color should bubble up and spread with feathers.

After you see the water bubbles on top of the acetate you are going to place your white cardstock on top of the acetate and you can flip it over with the acetate still on top of the cardstock. This allows you to move the color if you want. For this technique I didn't want the color moved as much as I wanted to soften it to make it look like the grain in Marble. Pull the acetate off of the cardstock and set to the side. The first sheet looks like this:

I was looking for something much softer. I added more water on the cardstock with the feathered blue images. I misted it multiple times until the surface was very moist an the inks were bleeding even further. I laid another piece of white cardstock on this paper. (2nd background created) I then lifted it up and spritzed the original cardstock again and laid a fresh piece of white cardstock on there (3rd background created). I ended up with 4 background papers each with a varying level of color. This background is similar to my card and was one of my last backgrounds:

I hope this helps. I really enjoyed creating this background. I used this as the background for my card and my sentiment. I did distress the edges of my background using my fingernail and a emery board. The paper becomes more textured from the water that was applied to it. I also used versamark watermark inkpad and a slate blue embossing powder to create the flourishes.

Products:

• Hero Arts - DesignBlock S5034 Flourish
• Embossing Powder - Stampendous Pearlustre Sapphire Opaque
• Ribbon - Michael's
• Inkadinkado - 96124 Love
• Zig Watercolor System Markers - Pacific Ink
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Brilliance Pearlescent Ice Blue
• Nestabilities - Classic Scallop Rectangle