Altered Playing Cards

Well it's February already and time for another Get Altered With eclectic Paperie challenge. The host this month is Broni and she has chosen 'altered playing cards' for this months theme. You can see the gorgeous batch of cards she has made by following the link here. I've never altered playing cards before, but I must say I really enjoyed it and with 52 in a pack, I don't think it will be the last time.
I started by painting the cards with a coat of gesso. Once this was dry, I sprayed each card with Dylusions Inks.

I let the inks dribble and drip, before drying with a heat tool. To add some background 'texture', I used a clean blending tool, and a variety of different stencils. Instead of using ink or paste, I used plain water in order to remove some of the ink from the surface. This worked well when the foam wasn't too wet. It needs to be just damp, otherwise the water seeps under the stencil and the pattern gets lost.

I then stamped each card with a single letter in black Archival ink and embossed them with clear embossing powder. The letters are from an alphabet set by Papermania.

I blended a little Black Soot Distress Ink around the edges and decided to leave it there. Initially I was going to add some more stamping, but I like the single bold letter on each card. I might use the cards to make a Valentine banner or card for my DH, so, shhhhhh, don't tell him !
If you'd like to have a go at making a project which features one or more playing cards,why not join us over on the eclectic Paperie blog. Click on the 'Get Altered' button or the picture of Broni's fabulous 'Altered Playing Cards' project, follow the challenge guidelines and who knows, you might be the lucky recipient of a $15 token for Kim's ever expanding eclectic Paperie Shop.
Here are some of the products I used on this project. Happy crafing x

Dylusions Ink Spray - Dirty Martini	Dylusions Ink Spray - Squeezed Orange	Dylusions Ink Spray - Pure Sunshine	Dylusions Ink Spray - Vibrant Turquoise	Dylusions Ink Spray - London Blue
Dylusions Ink Spray - Postbox Red	Dylusions Ink Spray - Lemon Zest	Distress Ink Pad - Black Soot	Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso	Dylusions Stencil 5x8" - Diamond of a Border
Tim Holtz Layering Stencil - Layering Stencil Bundle	Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool	Archival Ink - Jet Black Ink Pad	Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder - Clear