Products Used:
- Zippy Laser Designs “Mandala 1”
- Tonic Studios Specialty Paper
- Avery Elle Sentiments
- Distress Oxide Inks: Squeezed Lemonade, Cracked Pistachio, Salty Ocean
Inking up a laser cut mandala can be a tricky task with such a delicate piece. I used a non-permanent spray adhesive on the back (spray carefully into a cardboard box) to adhere it to a card panel.
Using a blending tool of your choice, ink up the mandala with Squeezed Lemonade in the centre, Cracked Pistachio in the middle layer, and Salty Ocean on the outer edge.
Gently peel the mandala off the cardstock, any remaining adhesive can be rubbed off with your finger.
I added shine to my mandala by heat embossing it. You can either spray it with shimmer and clear heat emboss, use a sparkly embossing powder, or even Tonic Crystal Glaze, although that last option may be a little time consuming.
To heat emboss the mandala, I got a scrap strip of cardstock, reasonably wide, and temporarily adhered the mandala to one end – there are repositionable tape runners out there which are perfect for this.
Press the Mandala down into the Versamark ink pad, add powder and heat emboss carefully with the heat gun. Let it cool for a minute or two, and repeat the process. You’ll see with the second application, the embossing powder melts into a far smoother and more rounded finish. You could do this for a third time if you wanted to. Carefully remove the Mandala from the handle.
I then glued the Mandala to a piece of light blue cardstock – Ocean Breeze by Bazzill and trimmed it down to 4″ x 5.25″. I trimmed the Specialty paper piece to fit my card base and adhered the Mandala panel to it.
I stamped and white heat embossed some black sentiment strips to suit, you could use anything in your stash. I used foam strips to lift them slightly for dimension.
Articles in Best of the Basics Series:
Adhesives Cardstock Ink – Stamping Die Cutting Machines/Trimmers Heat Embossing Colour Handy Tools
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