Alcoholic Angel

The latest challenge at Paper Artsy is on the theme of alcohol inks. I don't play enough with them although they are wonderful so I pushed myself to create something.
I loosely followed Helen's post but I had to replace the Yupo by glossy cardstock when I couldn't find it!

I was a bit surprised at how much the glossy cardstock absorbed the inks (it shows at the back) and it took a long time of adding inks and alcohol before I got the same sort of effects Helen achieved.
Next time I will choose colours that are closer on the colour wheel, instead of this complimentary red and green scheme (blame it on Santa) which is easily transformed into mud colour.
Apologies for the lacklustre photo I'm using my phone and indoor lighting.

The star stamp is JOFY Mini 06, which I have stamped with white pigment ink and embossed with WOW Pearl Blue embossing powder.
The Pearl powders are translucent and combined with the white pigment ink give a semi-opaque look that doesn't totally obliterate the background. I wasn't entirely satisfied and decided I needed to get some of the stars, at least, to show up a bit more. I heated the card again and sprinkled white detail embossing powder on and around the stars, obtaining a flurry of snow in the process.

The sentiment is from the All Occasion Sentiments #4 set (Uniko Studio) stamped and embossed in the same way.
In this next picture I'm trying to show you the Blue Pearl effect (excuse the lightbulb's reflection):

The card called for a bit of something in the sky and That's Crafty gave me the solution with their "Angel" challenge theme. I finally used this lonely angel in my stash and gave it the alcohol ink treatment before hanging him from silver cord (hence my title...).

Thanks for coming by,
Also entering the Uniko Studio and WOW embossing powders challenges.

Tag-A-Thon Part 4

Today another batch of Christmas tags but in a very different style to Saturday's offerings.

My base were already tags... received last year, where one side had the handwritten message and the other side was blank. I cut identical tag shapes from scraps of Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium 12x12 paper and die-cut Merry Christmas from the middle.

I placed Double sided tape behind the patterned paper tags, making sure to at least cover the die-cut space.

I cut the Merry Christmas die 3 times again, this time using scraps of white paper, 2 from glossy and one from standard cardstock.

Taking off the protective paper from the doubles sided adhesive, I then placed the patterned paper tag onto the handwritten side of the base tags adding the white die-cut into the "holes" to complete the inlaid technique.

The explanation sounds a lot more complex than it really is, I'm sure you get the idea just by looking at the photo. The great thing about this design is using up scraps...

Will there be a part 5 in my Tag-A-Thon?  Possibly... I'll just see how the mood takes me, so watch this space...
Also linking to the Tagplorations hop and the SSS Monday challenge.

Star of Thrift, Tag-A-Thon Part 3

Welcome to my second DT creation on the theme of Stars, chosen by Rachel for November, at Country View Challenges and the 3rd instalment on my Tag-A-Thon...

Stars and Christmas for some reason go hand in hand, so my tags today are for Christmas.

I did something similar in the past (see here) and not only enjoyed it but also relished the thought of using up supplies that would have finished in the bin. I made Christmas tags for the many (now I'm being hopeful) presents we will have to wrap in December.
And yes, I know the tags will end up in the bin soon enough but at least they will have been USED!

These are the supplies I had gathered at the start of my crafting session.

Transparent Texture medium (Ranger), Grungepaste (PaperArtsy) , glitter and Perfect Pearls to mix in with the pastes and a new star stencil from Creative Expression.

Smaller stencils are great if you want to use them in different areas on a project without disturbing your previous work (ask me how I know...). They are also cheaper and take less space... perfect excuse to buy more!

In the photo the offcut of watercolour has already been stencilled and you can see there was already some colour on it but I didn't mind.

I decided to use powders and selected green and red (for Christmas) Brushos and my favourite Infusions Stormy Violet and Golden Sands.
I use a small brush to pick up and distribute the powders. I changed the colours as went along so I would get different looks.

I adapted the shape and size of my tags according to the placement of stars and colours to minimize any waste. You can see top left the bits that didn't make the cut. Not much waste there...

If you have a tag die, by any means use it but I used the 45 degree angle markings on my paper trimmer.

Next I added some stamping and in keeping with the thrifty theme I only used "free" stamps. They are all from Craft Stamper. I do keep them all and although I don't use them often I do use them. For a start, their smaller size make them ideal for tags.
The more recent ones are acrylic and like all acrylic stamps, they need a light sanding before they'll accept dye ink [using pigment inks, chalk inks or Crafter's inks they work fine].

I took a lot of convincing before taking sandpaper to my stamps so I am including a demo below.
On a scrap piece of paper I stamped an acrylic stamp that I had never used before. Not very good! These stamps being so small I took the stamp to the sanding block and rubbed it a few times in all directions.

I stamped again with red ink on the scrap piece and black on the back of one of the tags and you can see the difference. (click on the photo to get a bigger image) The effect is more pronounced in solid images.


Here's my tip of the day... Now remember I'm talking acrylic stamps NOT high quality photo polymer stamps which take the ink fine either after a few uses or a rubbing with nothing harsher than an eraser.

So both kinds being clear how can you tell the difference? These are my clues:

- high quality polymer stamps stain easily with dye inks, whilst most inks wash off acrylic stamps easily with water and washing up liquid including Archival ink.
- polymer stamps tend to yellow quickly whilst the cheaper stamps keep their slightly blueish tinge.
- acrylic stamps are not as "clingy" as the polymer stamps after a few uses.

I guess  should show you the finished tags too, especially if you've made it this far!

All that remains is for me to encourage you to enter your starry creations, thrifty or not, in our Country View Challenge.
See you soon for the next instalment of my Tag-A-Thon...
Also linking to the Tagplorations hop, Stamplorations, Fashionable Stamping, Penny Black and more and Stamping Sensations challenges.

Tag-A-Thon Part 2

Another day another trio of tags... this time my background papers are all different but the stamps I used, tag stamps to stay in the theme, are all from the same set,  appropriately named "Tags Time"(Viva Décor). [The set was part of my prize for winning Nefertiti's Halloween challenge]

I let the background paper decide the size and shape to a certain extent and only followed the stamp outline for the middle tag.

From left to right: acrylic inks background, Brushos and Wilted Violet Distress ink, butterflies stamped with Brushos (see yesterday's post) .

I hope you will tag along (ah ah!!), see you here tomorrow,
I am linking to the Tagplorations hop and the TIMI Craft Stamper the challenges.

Tag-A-Thon Part 1

I have been working on several projects behind the scenes for future DT posts but, at the week end, I grabbed some time to play...

Serendipity gave me my cue, the combination of Stamploration Holiday TAGploration challenge and receiving my prize from Nerfertiti for winning her first challenge with this piece:
I won't reveal too much but "tags" featured heavily in the assortment of crafting goodies...

I tend to hoard scraps of paper, card, and unused die-cuts that result from any serious crafting sessions. At some point, my scrap mountain becomes unmanageable and needs sorting out.
One way I have done that in the past is to create tags, with only one firm rule: no cutting into a new sheet of paper/card etc..

So far, I have managed to create 3 trios of similar cards and today you get to see the first one:

The butterflies background was created by stamping Crafty Individuals Butterfly plate (CI-231) with Brushos for this project:

I cut the background into the tag shapes by using some of Nefertiti's blank tags as templates.

The yellow Core'dination is the waste from die-cutting some Stitched Rectangles. You'll observe how small the central scrap really is!

For my tags I used the Wishes from the Tim Holtz Celebration Sentiments words set, For You from Occasion dies and the With Love is a magazine freebie. They were already cut, one in black  the other 2 in white and I coloured these with a black alcohol marker.

Whenever I cut small dies I always do more than I need, for instance cutting spares in scraps of white card. It's a good idea to have already cut pieces in both light (ivory/white) and dark.
Then, when you need the motif in a hurry, they are ready to be used as is or can be coloured to match your project with a marker.

I will be back very soon with a second instalment...


Also entering the Stamplorations Theme& Sketch (my 3 are my layers), Tagplorations hop and Allsorts challenges.

Thrifty Snowflakes

Lots of Christmas cards to make... lots of expensive supplies!
Fear not, I have found a supply I didn't even consume during the making of this card. So I can still use it for many other cards!!!

To read my tutorial you will have to pop over to the Craft Barn, but you can see the first card I made here:

Hope you will enjoy the step by step!

Clocking on

                 JUST A QUICK NOTE: HAVE YOU ENTERED THE CRAFT BARN ZINI GIVEAWAY YET? Hurry up it finishes tonight... Good luck!

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Yes it is time to clock on to the latest Craft Barn Dictionary challenge. My word was suggested by the Allsorts challenge, via one of the DT make which used the Gorjuss White Rabbit stamp. I have this stamp and as I hadn't inked it yet, I thought... serendipity!!!

I stamped all images with black dye ink and coloured the girl with alcohol markers. I finished the colouring with pencils.
The set comes with 2 "empty" clocks and a set of hands. I used the hands on one clock to show Alice is an hour late and stamped a few other clocks without any hands at all... thereby marking UNtime!

As usual, I added definition and letter.

Well another CAS (or very nearly) dictionary page! I hope it's OK anyway...
Also entering the Polkadoodles, Craft Stamper and Colour Crazy challenges.

Lucky Star

November is here and we have Stars in our eyes... at least for the Country View Challenges theme, chosen by my teammate Rachel.

With the end of year approaching, it is a good theme to kick start the making of the biggest haul of cards of the year. But before I get to that, I decided my starry make would be about a star much closer to home.

I made my base card with half a sheet of black cardstock folded in two. The background is brayered with a multi colour inkpad (Kaleidacolour), is in fact the left over from another inky session... Well I didn't want to waste all this ink and, as it turns out, it is quite usable.
I stamped the Jofy Mini 06 with Memento black ink on the background and when dry I lifted the colour with a water brush from the stars.
I added some shine with iridescent medium (Winsor & Newton) but if you have a Wink of Stella glitter pen or similar would be ideal. And whilst I had the medium at hand I also splattered some, because as any crafter knows, you can't have too much shine...
I added white highlights on the "bubbles" with the Graphmaster Acrylic Paint Marker.

A black and a white "Lucky" die cuts (Sizzix Thinlits - Handwritten Celebrate by Tim Holtz) and a handwritten sentiment with the white marker pen finishes the card.

When the iridescent medium catches the light, the shine is suddenly revealed:

Come and join us with your Starry makes at Country View Challenges, you could win a £20 voucher.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Monday Challenge and Paper Artsy challenges.

Tricks or Treats ?

Tonight's the night... the most spooky of nights is upon us and I am revealing my sorceries... mmmmmwwwwahahahahahahaha...

It is also the last day to enter our CountryView Spooky challenge hosted by my DT mate Corrie so get on your brooms pronto if you want to be in with a chance to win a £20 voucher to spend on crafting goodies!

Here's my 2nd DT make for the Spooky theme:

I started by preparing my tag with a layer of Gesso, applied lazily with a wipe. After drying I scribbled Gelatos in Orange, Red and Violet, blending with my fingers.

 

I then placed a stencil (Sunburst by DecoArt over the tag and sprayed water all over. Dabbing with a wipe I removed the colour, in places.

The stamps are 3 images from the Toxic set (Stampendous) inked with black dye ink and a freebie stamp from an old Craft Stamper magazine, a black cat.
Sometimes with clear stamps, especially the cheaper acrylic versions, it is difficult to get a good impression.

My first trick for you today is to sand lightly the stamp surface so that the ink has somewhere to grip onto without beading. This is especially essential when dealing with solid images such as this cat.


The second trick deals with slight defects on the back of the stamps (a bubble of air during manufacturing) preventing a good impression of a particular section.

Place a piece of paper to the rough shape of the defect underneath the stamp as shown in the photo. Here there is still plenty of surface for the stamp to adhere onto the acrylic block without problem.
Be sure to apply more pressure on top of the defective area.





Finally I stamped both texture images from the same Toxic stamp set using the method shown here:

There you have it, my best tricks...

They do work a treat and I hope they were a treat for you too!

Happy Halloween!





I am entering Nefertiti, That's Crafty, Stamplorations Mixed Media, Inkychicks, SSS Wednesday and Vintage Journey challenges.

Dictionary challenge

The latest Letter of the Craft Barn dictionary challenge is V (no twist) and I chose Vintage. Before you think Vintage images, lace, Victorian, distressed... no not this time! There are many meanings attached to the word and Vintage is both a noun and an adjective. Here is the complete dictionary definition if you're interested, but for space purposes on my pageI have only printed my chosen meaning.

I have used a single stamp set from the magazine Creative Stamping (at least a year old if I remember correctly) and black Versafine.
I coloured the images with watercolour pencils (Stabilo) and a water brush.

The stamps are acrylic and do not stamp well if not "prepared", which I did, with a light sanding of the top surface. But considering how cheap they work out they were a good buy for a theme I am not going to use regularly and I would recommend them for a beginner to dip in the stamping waters.

So Vintage done, only 5 letters to go...
Thanks for coming by,
Also entering the That's' Crafty and Stamplorations CAS  challenges.

Pumpkins

Another spooky make...

This one is featuring at the Craft Barn today where you can catch a step by step.

Do pop over to see the details here,

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Fashionable Stamping challenge and Nefertiti's first challenge.

E is for...

The letter for the latest Craft Barn Dictionary challenge is E, and there was no hesitation for this one, I had known the stamp I wanted to use for a long time...

I First stamped the Elephant (from the African Animals plate by Rubber Dance) with black dye ink and used masking fluid to protect it.
Then I over stamped and embossed a small diamonds texture (also Rubber Dance) with Vanilla EP (WOW).
The texture under its feet is from the Toxic set by Stampendous, chosen because it reminded me of parched earth.

For colours I used 3 shades of Brushos at the top, graduating from Orange to Lemon via Yellow, going the full Autumnal colour scheme... For the ground, I used Infusion in Golden Sands and a little bit of Moss Green Brushos.

I coloured the elephant with watercolour pencils (Derwent) and a water brush.

I then had an irresistible urge to add this tree silhouette (Flonzcraft) and partially stamped it with dye ink,  dragging some of that ink with a wet brush to create a hill for it to "live" on.

As usual, letter and definition complete the page.

Once in a blue moon, a creation turns out the way I saw it in my mind and, luckily, this is one of those times... so I'm quite pleased with it!
Whether my vision was any good is another matter.... perhaps YOU can tell me...



I am also entering the  Rubber Dance, Inkychicks, Penny Black and more, Stamping Sensations and Craft Stamper TIMI challenges.