I decided to try a technique that I'd never done before, Soot Stamping! I wanted some color on my background piece though, so I used the Spotted Background Technique on my glossy card stock first. Enjoy!

Supplies
- Extreme Guitar, page 88, $8.95
- Fundamental Phrases, page 157, $37.95
- Playful Pieces Hostess Level 3 Set, page 15, available in Clear-Mount and Wood-Mount, free to qualifying Hostesses
- Certainly Celery 8-1/2" x 11" Card Stock, page 167, $6.95
- Brights Assortments 8-1/2" x 11" Card Stock, page 166, $6.95
- Glossy White 8-1/2" x 11" Card Stock, page 170, $5.95
- Brights Assortments Classic Stampin' Spots, page 166, $19.95
- Subtles Assortments Classic Stampin' Spots, page 167, $19.95
- Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad, page 169, $5.95
- Glimmer Brights Brads, page 36 of Holiday Mini, $4.95
- Paper-Piercing Tool, page 198, $3.50
- Mat Pack, page 198, $9.95
- Stampin' Dimensionals, page 197, $3.95
- tissue or paper towel
- candle
- matches or lighter
- clear acrylic sealer (I used Plaid Acrylic Sealer Matte Spray)
- scissors
- adhesive
Directions
1) Cut a piece of Glossy White Card Stock to 3 1/4 x 4 1/4".
2) Randomly press Certainly Celery Classic Stampin' Spot all over the glossy card stock. Leave some areas uninked. Wipe the card stock with a clean tissue or paper towel so that it smears slightly.
3) Randomly press Old Olive Classic Stampin' Spot onto the glossy card stock. Overlap the areas already inked with Certainly Celery and leave some areas blank. Wipe with tissue or paper towel to smear.
4) Press Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Spot onto glossy card stock, filling in empty spaces and overlapping the other colors a little. Wipe with tissue or paper towel to smear.
5) Light the candle and hold the inked up glossy side of the card stock right on top of the flame. Move the card stock around. Be very careful as the edges of the card stock in particular catch fire very easily! You can also burn a hole in the center of the card stock if you hold the card stock too still.
6) Coat the surface of the card stock with soot from the flame until you are happy with the coverage. This can take a little while.
7) Firmly press the clean Extreme Guitar stamp on the bottom left corner of the sooty card stock. Remove the stamp. It will have picked up most of the soot and left the image behind.
8) Firmly press the star image from the Playful Pieces Set randomly onto the sooty card stock and lift off.
9) In a well ventilated area, spray the card stock with the acrylic sealer to seal the remaining soot in place.
10) Set the glossy card stock aside to let it dry thoroughly.
11) Cut a piece of Certainly Celery Card Stock to 5 1/2 x 8 1/2". Score and fold in half to make card.
12) Make sure your star stamp from the Playful Pieces Set is clean. Ink it up with Certainly Celery Ink and stamp randomly all over the front of the celery card.
13) Cut one piece each of Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, and Certainly Celery Card Stock to 3 x 4".
14) Cut a piece of Tempting Turquoise Card Stock to 1 1/2 x 4".
15) Stamp sentiment from Fundamental Phrases Set in Early Espresso Ink in center of turquoise strip.
16) Tear the ends off the stamped turquoise strip so it is about 3" long.
17) If your glossy card stock is dry, tear the edges as desired.
18) Adhere the glossy card stock to the Certainly Celery 3 x 4" rectangle at a slight angle.
19) Adhere the celery rectangle on top of the turquoise rectangle at an angle.
20) Adhere the turquoise rectangle on top of the olive rectangle at an angle.
21) Adhere the sentiment strip to the upper right corner at an angle.
22) Use the Paper-Piercing Tool and Mat Pack pieces to poke holes in the upper left and lower right corners and along the bottom right side of the sentiment strip.
23) Insert Glimmer Brights Brads and secure on the back side.
24) Adhere the rectangles to the card front using Stampin' Dimensionals.
Tips
I am not responsible for any burns or fire damage from the Soot Stamping Technique. Please be careful!
Try not to touch the sooty card stock with your fingers or you will pull the soot back off.
If you mess up the images while pulling the soot off, you can wipe the soot off the glossy card stock with a clean tissue or paper towel and then try again. You will have to add the soot again by holding it over the candle again though.
Be sure to use the acrylic sealer in a well ventilated area that won't be damaged by excess spray. I prefer to use acrylic sealer outside!
You may want to keep baby wipes or a damp paper towel handy to clean soot off your fingers as you work with this technique.
Clean your stamps as soon as you can after using them to remove the soot from the glossy card stock. Our Stampin' Scrub (page 198, $16.95) and Stampin' Mist (page 198, $4.50) are the easiest, best way to clean and condition your stamps.
You can find a great tutorial on the Soot Stamping Technique by clicking here. Click here for a tutorial on the Spotted Background Technique.
