Faux Cloisonne Technique

The latest issue of Scrapbook News & Review has been posted! This month, I have an article on embossing posted in the stamping section. You'll need subscribe in order to read the entire piece but it's only $4.99/month to join and have access to hundreds of layouts, tutorials, and techniques so get on over their and subscribe! Included with my article is a tutorial on the faux cloisonne technique. For those of you who don't know...I didn't...Cloisonne is an ancient, multi-step metalworking technique that is used to produce jewelry, vases, and other decorative items. The technique can be used for enamel or for gemstone inlays. In either variety, the shape making part of the design is surrounded by a thin metal edge to form a compartment. With enamel, liquid enamel is poured to fill the compartment with gemstones, a pre-cut matching piece of inlay is then hammered and glued into place. Whew!! That's seems like a lot of work...Good thing all you need is a few old magazines and a jar of gold embossing powder to recreate the same look. Creating a cloisonne look is super easy and a great way to add bold, colorful images to cards and scrapbook pages. You'll need to read the SNR article for the entire tutorial but I will provide you with two helpful hints; 1) I found that using a picture with lighter colors worked better than darker and 2) this technique is meant to work with outline stamp images.

And here is my finished card, complete with two faux cloisonne flowers! The floral images are from Papertreyink and I believe (this card was made a few months ago) that the paper is from Bo Bunny, which was purchased at my local scrapbook store, Wholly Scrap. I loved trying out this technique since I never have before...how about you? Have you done this technique before, did you like it, have any cards you'd like to share?? :-) Feel free to leave a comment with a link back to your gallery...I'd love it see your work! Enjoy your Friday!!