Friday, March 26, 2010

Alcohol ink resist technique

This is a really fun technique using alcohol inks (any brand), Adirondack Alcohol Blending Solution (looks like this), glossy card stock, ink blending tool with felt pads (I use Tim Holtz's, which looks like this), Versamark watermark stamp pad, white embossing powder, and your heat tool.  The first thing you want to do is stamp your image (a bolder image works best) onto glossy card stock with Versamark and emboss it with white embossing powder. You can barely see it after heat setting it.
The next step is to place a couple of drops of two or three colors of alcohol ink on your blending tool felt pad and then a small drop or two of blending solution.  (I used Pinata's Chili Pepper and Sunbright Yellow for this example.)  You just pounce the blending tool all over the paper until you get the look and coverage you want.  Add a couple more drops of color and blending solution if you need to.  It should look something like this:
The final step is to use your heat gun and reheat the embossing powder.  The white should begin to slowly show back up.   And here is another example of a finished card - quick and easy.  For this one, I used monochromatic colors (Pinata's Sunbright Yellow and Adirondack's Butterscotch).   Make sure you cover your work surface or use a non stick mat so the alcohol inks won't stain anything.  Have fun making your own creations.  Each one will be unique and look somewhat different. 

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Hang on to You

This stamp is from Inky Antics and I used Prisma colored pencils and gamsol odorless mineral spirits (both of which can be found at your local craft store) to color in all the details. Using odorless mineral spirits can be tricky because you don't want to saturate the paper stump you use to blend in the colors; otherwise it looks greasy (and I'm sure you know how I know this...). The colors are muted greens and yellows, for the most part, because I was going for a soft look.  On the inside of the card I stamped a couple more monkeys and the saying "I think I'll hang on to you".  (This was for an anniversary card.)   For the center square, I double stamped the image, colored and cut out the monkey and pop dotted him for a 3 dimensional look.  On a separate piece of paper, I stamped the name, tore the paper all around the edges and pop dotted it for emphasis.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Smooch direct to stamp technique

For this card, I applied Smooch (Pool) ink directly to my stamp and then stamped it onto my cardstock.  The stamp is from Stampers' Anonymous and line stamps work better than solid stamps.  (At least to me - I don't have the patience it takes to color that much of a stamp in.  I started one and quickly found a different stamp to experiment with!)   It worked really well.  You get a lot of shimmer and the image is actually raised on the cardstock, so it feels a little like you embossed it.  It is much cooler in person than in the picture (you'll have to take my word for it, unless you live near me and want to see it).

I cut the stamped image out and layered onto Core'dinations cardstock and then layered on black cardstock.  I used a new purchase to cut this image out - Color Bee scissors by EK Success - LOVE THEM!!!!  I was using precision cut scissors from Fiskars and thought I really liked them.  I had been searching other blogs and noticed a few had mentioned the Color Bee scissors (these are in the same family as the Cutter Bees, but with titanium blades).  What an amazing difference!! It was like cutting butter with a hot knife. 
One other thing I tried before cleaning my stamp (just used soap and water) was stamping it multiple times without reapplying ink in between stampings.  From left to right: the first image is the first time I stamped it, the middle is the second time and the right is the third time.  As you can see, they do get progressively lighter.  The last one would be good for a subtle background.

So, I experimented with two new things today and I loved them both - a lot!  When you have a chance, definitely try out this technique (I think you'll like the results)  and you'll be really happy if you purchase the Color Bee scissors as well.  Enjoy!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Flower power

Did you know that you can actually color in an image with Smooch inks?  It's not just for highlighting certain areas (but it does do that very well).  This flower was colored entirely with Smooch pearlesence inks.  It's harder to blend in shades, but you can a little.  The camera was able to catch some of the glimmer this card throws off.
One of the cool things about Smooch inks is their precise applicator brush.  If you haven't seen them, they look like a nail polish bottle.  I think it would be very hard to make the small white dots in the center of the flower with some other kind of applicator (you can always double click on the picture to enlarge it). 

For those of you who are curious about the way I store my Smooch Spritz (see previous entry for an example using Smooch Spritz), it's the Mini Mister tiered organizer.  They fit in there perfectly!!  I'm going to have to get another one for the new colors that just came out. We'll expore another way to use Smooch inks soon.   Enjoy.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Lady in Yellow

Shades of purple and yellow.  This week, I'm experimenting more with Smooch inks and spritz.   The image is from Dog Gone Stamps and I colored her in with Copic markers (my favorite).  After coloring, I made a mask of the image and used Smooch Spritz (grape) to create the background.  I love Smooch Spritz' because of the glimmer you get without lots of splotchiness and you can always make it darker by spraying more layers.  The jewel toned brads match the shades in the dress perfectly (almost like I bought them specifically for this image).  Enjoy.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Window flower box

This card has lots of layers!  The flower box stamp is from Dog Gone Stamps and is lots of fun to color.  I used Flower Soft to fill in the flower box after coloring everything with Copic markers.  The paper is glossy paper, so the colors are very vibrant.  I also wrapped fiber around the next layer to bring out the yellow from the shutters.  The pink and purple layers are used to coordinate with the flowers.  Enjoy.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Girlfriend


This card has a number of elements to it.  The dark background, which was die cut using Label Three from Spellbinders, has a layer of Opalite Glacier Blue pigment ink swirled around the entire area.  You have to use Opalite on dark paper to get it's full effect.  The stamped image is from Inky Antics, which I cut out and colored with Copic markers and Marvy LaPlume markers (the stool).  A Corner Adorner (Graceful Heart) was used to accent the corners of the base card and sticker borders were used in the background.

Since I wanted to accent the cut out hearts, I attached rectangles on the inside of the card and then added to it from there.  I had a great clear sticker about friendship that I added as the finishing touch which says: Friendship is born at the moment when another person says to another "What You, too?  Thought I was the only one."  Enjoy!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

St Patty's Day


This card is for the RubberStampChat March sketch challenge.  I used Spellbinder Labels Three to cut out my background shape.  Then I fussy cut a heart stamp from Unity several times to make my glittery shamrock.  Score Tape and glitter was used to decorate two of the corners as well.  Lastly, my banner says "Kiss Me {heart} I'm Irish".

Monday, March 8, 2010

Happy St. Patty's Day

May the luck of the Irish be with you.....So what could be more lucky than to find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow?  This card is a little different because none of the stamps were originally intended to be for St. Patrick's Day.  The cauldren was for Halloween, the money for a pirate theme and the rainbow was just that.  It's really fun to think of new uses for existing stamps...try it and let me know what you come up with!

I airbrushed the background, pale blue for the sky and pale greens for the grassy area, using my Copic markers.  I stamped  and cut out all the images, including stamping the coins and the rainbow (for the clouds) several times..  I made a slit in the lip of the cauldren so I could tuck some of the coins inside, so it would look like they were overflowing.  Smooch inks were used to highlight the coins and to color in the rainbow.  Distress stickles (Rock Candy) was used to make the clouds look more dimensional.  My original intent was to use Flower Soft for the clouds, but I didn't want THAT much dimension.  (Isn't that why we have so much product ...so we can change our mind?).  I also stamped a couple of shamrocks on the inside of the card as well.



Saturday, March 6, 2010

a rose is a rose

I used watercolor crayons and an aqua brush to color in this stamped image. Make sure you use StazOn if you're using watercolor crayons or pencils.  The background was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder, after distressing it with a couple of Distress Ink pads.  I also used a Spellbinders oval scallop die to cut out the center of the paper.  Lastly, I distressed the edges of the paper before adhering it to black cardstock. 
 I "fussy" cut out the rose from watercolor paper and pop dotted it in the center.  I used tall pop dots to make the rose really stand out on the black background.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Flowers

I'm trying to get an early start on my Mother's Day cards even though I haven't made my St. Patty's Day or Easter cards yet.  Since my mother-in-law's favorite color is purple, this is what I created for her.  The stamped image came from Unity Stamps; Spellbinders oval and scalloped oval dies were used to cut out the image.  Prismacolor pencils and OMS (odorless mineral spirits) were used for the coloring.  I also added a few Distress stickles (thanks for the reminder Donna) to the center of the flowers.  The background strip was punched out with one of the many new Martha Stewart punch around the page punches on the market. 

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

birthday dog

Most of the birthdays in my family are all within a month of each other (except two in the summer), and this is one for my brother-in-law.  The stamp is from Doggone Stamps and I colored him in using watercolor pencils and an aqua brush.  He is a very light golden, but is as bit darker in the actual card. The card base is from a Sizzix die cut.