Compendium of Curiosities Finale: A birthday Card for Tim

What a perfect way to end this series of challenges by Linda Ledbetter over at Studio L3.  Although I have not had the opportunity to participate in many of the challenges this year, I have been following along and watching the fabulous work submitted by the participants.

I chose the Dabber Resist technique on page 37 of the Compendium of Curiosities Vol 1.  It was one of the first videos I watched by Tim - I still laugh at the fact that he is using Shell Pink as the colour for his resist!  I chose to use Snow Cap for mine and the ubiquitious Umbrella Man which I adore.

I chose not to add an obvious birthday reference on the outside but instead included a personal message inside.

My favourite bit of the card is the sentiment.  I tried something different, altered it, scrunched it and in the end was very happy!  The sentiment is from the Lost and Found set and says "Not all who wander are lost".  I stamped it in Versamark and then embossed it with silver.  As it is a mostly solid stamp, the words didn't show up to well but I thought "I wonder if?!"  So I rubbed black acrylic paint over the entire surface.  It made the sentiment look more grungy and metal like look.  It also made the words come up out of the embossing!

I can't say a big enough thank you to Linda for running these challenges this year and of course to Tim Holtz who revitalised my love of craft and ink with his unique take on all things artful.  Here's to a fabulous birthday Mr. Holtz and another year of fantastic inspiration!

**UPDATE:  I forgot to show you the inside!  It's manila cardstock with walnut stain Distress Ink and some corner stamps!  TFL.

Alcohol Ink Monoprint Technique

First, I just have to say I have the BEST husband.  He has taken my Tim Holtz addiction on board and purchased me both Compendiums (both autographed too) along with the funniest email to Tim to get them for me for our 15th Wedding Anniversary.  It just goes to show that he does pay attention each time I squeal at a new technique or product!

These cards were made using one of the techniques from the first Compendium called Alcohol Ink Monoprint.  Essentially, you put a few different colours of alcohol ink on your craft mat along with some Metallic Fixative and blending solution, swipe your glossy card stock through and voila!  So easy yet it makes a fabulous background.  Using the same inks, you get some very different results as can be seen here:

Yes, the exact same colour inks were used to make these backgrounds - just in different concentrations.  So now what?  Well, this is what I did with these two.

This card was stamped with a combination of Bo Bunny Gabrielle stamps and Stampin' Up sentiment.  You have to use a dye based ink pad like Memories or Archival Ink on top of the alcohol inks.  It will dry on it's own but I am always in a hurry so I use a heat tool.

These stamps are from Gina K. Designs and I created the scene by stamping the horse first, masking it and then stamping the trees and fence.  The colours of this background just really suited the theme.

Talk about easy cards!  Just a bit of swiping and stamping and you have a stunning finished product!  I was having so much fun though, I created one more.  I have the same problem with my alcohol inks as I do with my Distress Ink - similar colours.  I will need to make sure I get some colours outside of my usual palette next time.  Here is the last card:

This is a Gina K. Designs stamp set too.  I stamped the image onto silver card stock and added the sentiment before punching it out and adhering it with foam tape.  I added some KaiserCraft pearls to the flower centres and used my Distress Stains to colour some Tim Holtz trimmings to match.  Again, simple card but effective!

Thanks for looking and I will be bringing you a more constructed card soon!

xoxo

Kim