'Dirty Pour' technique - my way

A couple of months ago, late to the party as usual, I fell in love with a card made by Viv using the 'Dirty Pour' technique. I had lots of encouragement from Viv to give it a try, with the warning it was messy but good fun. Then I watched loads of videos on line with my mouth hanging open in horror. I already had the Yupo, umpteen tubes of acrylic paint, plastic to spread over the work area, wooden coffee stirrers (why do I always pick up a few extra of those?) aprons, latex gloves - and could obtain the pouring agent and paper cups on line. But, as I often say, I'm not truly a fan of 'messy', as well as the added factor that if there's an accident going to happen then I'll certainly be first in line.

However, after prevaricating for weeks, I finally came up with this card. Make sure you read right through to find out how I did it:

I used:

- 5" x 5" square white card blank, side opening

- snippet of black card for the 'frame' - the core and back of the black card is white so I just ran a black Pro marker round the edges

- then I trimmed my 'dirty pour' piece to just slightly smaller than the black piece of card and glued it on top using Collall All Purpose glue

- some while ago, Robyn had enclosed a lovely die cut flower in with a Thank You card. It was cut from white card so I used a black Pro marker to colour the whole flower black and then glued it onto the 'dirty pour' panel using a glue pen- thanks again Robyn! x

- next I glued the image panel onto the card front using Collall All Purpose glue again

- the sentiment is a sticker from Claritystamp's 'Word Sticker Collection - Christmas and Celebrations' - which I popped onto a little frame of the same black card, again with a black Pro marker run around the edges

- stuck the sentiment in place, using narrow pieces of thin sticky pads

- final touch - three black gems in the top right hand corner

And how did I make the 'Dirty Pour' piece? I could say it took several attempts, a full waste bin, a lot of mess to clean up, one ruined t-shirt, paint splatters on the walls and a near miss with Dudley.

However, I cheated - big time! Joanna Sheen sells two different pads of semi-glossy patterned paper called 'Faux Pour'. 24 8" x 8" papers in a pad, 2 x 12 designs. Here's a link to the pad I used. The papers are prints from actual 'dirty pours' done by Joanna - and she produced the pads for wimps like me, who love the technique but not the mess. So, if you're hovering and too scared to try the actual technique - that could be your solution, at just £4.99 per pad ☺ So, unless you already have lots of the materials needed, it's loads cheaper too.

And, as I used the 'Faux Pour' paper pad for the very first time, I'm joining in again with Darnell's NBUS Challenge #14 for May. - if only to be cheeky!

Having said that about avoiding the mess, it still intrigues me and I do admire those who bravely tackle the technique (Viv plus Bonnie, Loll and Darnell I think, to name a few) - so perhaps one Summer day I might just strip off and have a try for real, in the middle of the back garden.

Thereby scaring all the wild life away and causing mass hysteria amongst anyone unfortunate enough to see the crazy English woman working away 'naked as a jay bird'.