By Alison Heikkila

Greetings! One of my favorite products from Imagine is Tear It Tape. That may be surprising, considering all of the fantastic inks and colors they offer. But, Tear It! Tape is an exceptional adhesive that has some cool properties you may not be aware of, namely the fact that it is heat safe. That means you can emboss right on top of it, so I decided to make a plaid, embossed background using it. This doesn’t take too long, but you do need to be precise, which is something I don’t normally try to be when I’m crafting.

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Time to Complete: Approx. 30-45 Minutes
Skill Level: Intermediate to Difficult

Step 1: Lay your Craft Mat with the grid side up. It’s going to be necessary to use it to not only make sure our lines are straight, but also evenly spaced.

Step 2: Lay your cardstock at an angle on the grid. The angle doesn’t really matter.

Step 3: Apply a strip of Tear It! Tape at every horizontal grid line. I placed mine above the line consistently.

The panel will look like this when you’re done.

Step 4: Cut off the excess ends to make the tape flush with the edge of the panel.

Step 5: Begin to partially remove the release paper from the Tear It! Tape. I found it to be easier to only pull it off part of the way, so that I could still move the card around without getting my fingers on the sticky tape. When you finish lifting a bit of each strip, finish pulling off the release paper.

Step 6: Pour Copper MBoss embossing powder on to the panel. I put a piece of copy paper underneath so that I can pour the excess back into the bag. I recommend rubbing your finger across the panel to ensure good coverage of the powder.

Step 7: Shake off the excess powder on to the copy paper, and heat set the powder that’s on the panel.

Step 8: Begin applying Summer Sky Memento Ink in the middle of the card panel using the applicator of your choice. Admittedly, my brush wasn’t thoroughly clean, so my inking doesn’t look exactly like the ink color.

Step 9: Apply Nautical Blue Memento around the Summer Sky Ink, in a “U” shape.

Step 10: Lay the inked panel back on to the grid at a different angle from before and begin laying down more Tear It! Tape. This time, I only applied the tape where the lines were bold, so every inch.

When done applying the tape, this is what the panel should look like.

Step 11: Remove the release paper, sprinkle on Shimmering Night Sky MBoss, shake off the excess, and heat set.

Pro Tip: You may be wondering why we didn’t ink the panel after the second layer of MBoss was applied, instead of before. The Shimmering Night Sky powder has glitter in it, which could cause some drag or pulling on your ink applicators when you blend the ink. To avoid that, inking before applying a sparkly powder is advised. The Copper powder is metallic, so there’s no drag, and excess ink can be buffed away with a cloth or paper towel.

Step 12: To make perfectly coordinated cardstock for your sentiment, ink up a piece of white with Nautical Blue. Die cut the sentiment. Cut the shadow layer from vellum.

Step 13: Shake up the Summer Sky Fireworks Spray, unscrew the bottle and flick the straw on your card base to create splatters. Let dry.

Step 14: Assemble your card with Tear It Tape for the panel, and On Point Glue for the die cut sentiment.

I love how this card came out! It’s got lots of shine, but with a masculine vibe. You can change the powders and ink colors however you like to suit your needs. I love the indigo tones we’ve got going here. I hope that you’ll try making your own plaid. Thanks for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

Supplies:
Imagine:
Tear It!Tape
Craft Mat
On Point Glue
MBoss Embossing Powder in Copper
MBoss Embossing Powder in Shimmering Night Sky
Memento Ink in Summer Sky
Memento Ink in Nautical Blue
Fireworks Spray in Summer Sky

Other:
Pinkfresh Studio: Classic Words Die Set
Blending Brush (or other ink applicator)
Strathmore Smooth Bristol Cardstock (for focal panel)
White Cardstock for card base