"It's all about the bling" at Pan Pastels

I must admit that this challenge had me a bit flummoxed to say the least, as couldn't think of a starting point for my project, which then led to a little frustration. So I did what I always do in these situations .... just create and make a mess.

Going to apologise from the start for two reasons:

1] load of photos, so this is a long post

2] My photographic skills really do not show off the pearlescent shine

 you achieve using the pearlescent pan pastels.

I began by using the fab stamp set, Postcard from Premium Art Brands  and randomly stamped the postcard image over my background. I then embossed the image with Cosmic Shimmer white embossing powder. Next, I covered the canvas card with "blobs" of pan pastels in magenta, orange and purple. I then blended the colours together using the equivalent pearlescent pan pastels to create a very shiny background. The light bulb suddenly went off in my head at this point as my background now had a certain "bling factor" about it ...!

Next using Perfect Medium, I took images from the Postcard stamp set and also the Roses stamp set and randomly stamped them over my background. Using the pearlescent pan pastels, I coloured the stamped images in. As a final step, I stamped the butterfly image from the Postcard set with Rangers Archival black ink pad.

 
Now, whilst I do not unlike my background, being me I thought it still lacked something. (Please believe me in real life it does have a pearlescent bling factor to the background) ... so with this in mind, I went a step further (as you do) and covered the whole piece with Perfect Medium and clear embossing powder, (see photo above).

I was a little giddy at this point and rather chuffed with myself and went off to make a coffee, thinking of different ideas I could do with my background. However ..... as I sat down, I felt my background needed some more bling ... ! Out came the Perfect Medium again and another layer of clear embossing powder but this time I added random bits of gold embossing powder and mica flakes.

Now here is my final "blinged" background and am chastising myself as my photography skills are dire, pants, plain blurgh as it really does not convey the shiny, layered bling fest my background truly is ... deep sigh.

Now on to using the background .......

My background is LARGE, (just shy of A4 in size), so I have cut it down and will use it on 2 different projects. Here is the first card I made using a portion of the background .....

I made a 6" x 6" card base from white card, adding my background. I then added some Doobadoo soft board honeycomb to the left hand side, tying 2 hand cut hearts (which had the same treatment as the background regarding pan pastels and embossing). Next I stamped the butterfly images twice and again used the same techniques that I used on my background.

The sentiment is from the Postcard stamp set, which as only a pan pastel edging in magenta and pearlescent pink. As a final touch I added some chip board flowers I found and clear Doodle Gems.

Phew, think that's everything and I am hoping that you can see the shine and bling in my last 2 photographs so it has made it worth your while treading all my descriptions etc.

Many thanks for your perseverance and I hope you enjoyed how a panic session turned in to a messy, productive one.

Lou
x x x

Products I used:

Pearlescent Pan Pastels	Pan Pastels	Premium Art Brands, Postcard stamp set	Roses Stamps
Perfect medium	Dutch Doobadoo Softboard Art Honeycomb	Bright White WOW! Embossing Powder Ultra High

I am entering my card in to the following challenges:
Pan Pastel UK Challenges - bling
Challenge Up Your Life - anything goes
Treasured Time Stamps - anything goes
Moving Along with the Times - sparkle and shine
A Crafty Mess - anything goes
Sister Act Card Challenge
Dragons Lair - autumn colours
Party Time Tuesday - anything goes