Welcome to the exciting countdown to the new Papertrey Sets!  I am very excited today to show you something so special to me.  Something I learned from my Grandmother growing up.  She was an expert at decoupage and repousee.  When she passed, I inherited all of her supplies.  The gold leaf I used in today’s countdown post was hers.  Little did I know I would ever be using it.  What a special moment realizing the gifts she gave me just because I watched her as a child.  Lesson of the day:  What you do in front of children may be recalled much later in their lives!  Please make sure you go over to visit Lauren and Nichole, as she has something to share from First Fruits as well!

SUPPLIES NEEDED:  Papertrey Ink “First Fruits” and ”Warm Hospitality”  Stamp Sets, Any Color Ink ( Moulin Rouge Palette Ink used here), Tsukineko Glue Pad (available through PTI for this month’s release), Gold Leaf (23 Karat leaf was used on this project), a soft brush (A clean blush brush from your make-up kit is just perfect) EDITED TO ADD:  PTI will be carrying gold AND silver leaf for this months release!!!

 

First, stamp your image in the color ink of your choice (Moulin Rouge Palette ink was used here) but it would look equally nice in black or any other bold color.

 

Then clean your stamp and with the same stamp, line your image up and stamp over the same image again using the glue from the Tsukineko glue pad

This is what sheets of gold leaf look like.  There is a thin layer of crushed gold on one side and a plain sheet to make it easy to handle on the other.  You will want to use a sheet that has alreay been used to make this project a little easier to manage.

On the left is a sheet of leaf I used for another project.  On the right is a clean sheet.  The used one is easier to work with to get a distressed look because it naturally has missing space, which is great!

Now lay your sheet of leaf (leaf side down) onto the glued image.  Do you see the spaces that are naturally left with the used sheet?  So easy!  Now…just gently rub your fingertip over the parts you want the gold leaf to adhere to.  You can keep pulling up the sheet and putting it down on the areas you want covered.  It is very forgiving stuff!

Now, this is what it looks like when you are done this step.  Not too pretty!  Well…not yet!  Now is where the magic happens!  Take your soft brush…

and remove all of the excess leaf by brushing the image (over a trash can is best since the leaf will fly everywhere).  Keep brushing until you can see all of the detail in the image.  This will only take a couple of seconds!

Voila!  Your distressed leafing is finished!  To top it off…I added my favorite technique of stamping on ribbon….except with the gold leaf!  Just stamp your ribbon with the setiment you want using the glue pad and apply the leaf, brush it off and you have a incredible custom look that is great for an invitation like I used in the following project!  This is a brunch you wouldn’t want to miss!!

First Fruits and Warm Hospitality Brunch

First Fruits and Warm Hospitality
Stamps: Papertrey Ink “First Fruits”, “Warm Hospitality”
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream, PTI Dark Chocolate
Ink: Palette Moulin Rouge
Ribbon: PTI Dark Chocolate Satin
Other: Gold Leaf, Tsukineko Glue Pad (available this release from PTI), Scor-Pal, Corner Rounder Punch EK success