12 Tags of 2012 - July

Tim challenged us to play with our alcohol inks in this month's 12 Tags and I finally have time to join in!

As we don't celebrate 4th of July in Australia, I chose some bright colours that would help me feel warm in all this cold.  Also, I didn't have any canned air so I had to improvise there too.   I chose to use a straw to blow the ink around.  I am happy with the way it turned out.  I turned the tag each time applied ink to ensure that I was blowing in the direction I wanted it to splatter.  This is such a quick way to make a cool, colourful background!

Finally, I applied my stamps using Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black, added my embellishments and tied on my ribbon.  Easy and fun!

Some of the close up details:  As you can see here, I inked the edges of the glossy card stock with some Tea Dye Distress Ink

This addition of a chunky embellishment like a key is new to me.  I have tried it a couple of times now and have determined that I need more of this style of embellishment with new ways to attach them!  Watch out wallet :0)

I hope you liked my take on Tim Holtz's July tag.  Thank you for looking and I will get back into posting after we have moved!

xoxo

Kim

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

6 Fold Card

Each Wednesday, I get an email from SplitCoastStampers with a new tutorial.  When I saw this one, I just had to try it out.  Again, it's not as hard as I first thought although I felt I had to watch the video that is at the bottom of the tutorial page.  I am not going to repeat the tutorial but here is the link to the 6 Fold Card.

I chose to use the Kaisercraft Gypsy papers and embellishments.  The butterflies are Hero Arts stamps teamed with Sizzix framelit dies which were coloured with Smooch Accent Inks.  This is what mine looked like finished:

This is the closed front.  The butterfly was also sprayed with Perfect Pearls Mist in Heirloom Gold, edged with VersaColor Ink in Gold and then coated with Dimensional Magic and Diamond Stickles.  The ribbon is a random piece from my stash while the central medallion is part of the Kaisercraft Gypsy Chipboard embellishments.  This was sanded, inked (Distress Ink Vintage Photo) and sprayed with the Heirloom Gold.  The paper was inked with  Vintage Photo too.

First and second folds open.  The flowers and brads were inked with Vintage Photo and Gold and are from the KaiserCraft Gypsy collection.  The base paper was from DCWV brights card stock stack.

With the forth and fifth folds open.  The small butterfly was attached with foam tape.  The brads are ones I've had for ages and the thread is Memory Thread from DMC.  The centre panel is Very Vanilla card stock from Stampin' Up that was inked with Vintage Photo.

Completely open now.  The bottom greeting was stamped on Very Vanilla with Ranger Archival Ink in Plum and then inked with Vintage Photo (as were the butterflies).  The tag stamp is from Hero Arts teamed with a matching Sizzix Framelit die.  The word is from a set of Stamp It stamps I bought years ago.

All of the papers were inked with Vintage Photo but unless you see what it looked like before, it seems kind of meaningless.  So, here they are side by side:

As you can see, the act of inking has changed the look of these papers substantially.  It tones down those colours that might be too bright for you.  Give it a try on one of those pieces that you love the pattern on but just can't get past the colour now.  Also, for some reason, the colours in my photos are not accurate this time.  The card stock is more green and the pinky red centre piece is actually more burgundy as is the ribbon.  Grrrrrr...you would think I'd have that sorted by now huh?!

Oh, I thought this could be our first class project too!  Obviously, different papers and colours (ooooo, need to go shopping).  I won't have a class in January so am looking at a February date.  Need to schedule around birthdays and classes of others that I attend so will get back to you soon with the date.

And now onto the January colour challenge by Paper Secrets!  I hope to have a scrapbook page for you soon.

xoxo

Kim

A Stationery Box, A Bookmark and a Card

Hi all!

I have been sitting at my craft desk more regularly lately but I have been quite slack in showing you what I have been doing.  So here is a little catch up on it all.

It seems from September onwards, the days just start to run together.  There are birthdays galore and then there are holidays that, although are not Australian, I still celebrate as I did growing up.  It just doesn't feel right if I don't acknowledge them in some way.  However, this month, there were two special birthdays to be marked in our calendar - my friend Dayna and her daughter.

Dayna was gifted the stationery box.  She told me to tell you all that she was absolutely in love with her gift although I am apparently on call for more cards when she needs them :0)  I am fine with that!  So what is this stationery box I hear you asking?  I found the tutorial on my ever faithful source - Splitcoaststampers.  You can get to it from here.  Most of the large cards are modified copies from other's websites too...sorry, not too original as I had limited time!

This is what mine looked like after I finished.  There are a few pictures as I have chosen to show it both full and empty.  There are 6 cards, 8 gift cards and 8 tags in the box as a "starter kit".  All the items, including the box were made with Bo Bunny Gabrielle papers (no, it's not my favourite at all).  The stamps are a mixture of Stampin Up's Cottage Garden and Vintage Vogue.  I used Ranger Archival Inks in Jet Black, Cobalt, and Olive.  I used a combination of my Glue Glider Pro, Glossy Accents and Xpress It tape to stick it all together.  The flowers were Prima and miscellaneous and most of the embellishments were from the Bo Bunny Gabrielle range.

 For Dayna's daughter, I decided to make a bookmark instead of a regular card.  This way, she would get to see it for the whole year!  I used a technique called ghosting. This is where you stamp in a white versa mark ink and then once dry, ink over the top.  I grabbed the idea from here.

After I stamped the ghost butterfly (Stampin' Up's Great Friends set), I inked the entire tags with Distress Inks (Dusty Concord, Stormy Sky and Victorian Velvet).  Next, I sprayed it with Perfect Pearls Mist in Perfect Pearl and then stamped the butterfly from Stampin' Up's Priceless set. The ribbon was inked with the same Distress Inks and is from the Tim Holtz trims set.  The card stock is Coredination card stock in the Tim Holtz Distress Ink colours.  Finally, I added some diamond Stickles to give the butterflies a little bling of their own.

Finally, the card I made is for my Grandpa who is in hospital.  I'm going to sent some photos along with a message for him to help remind him that we love him very much.  The paper is - oh, I don't know - Bo Bunny Gabrielle?!  The trim is a random one I've had for a while.  The butterfly is cut from matching card stock and the antenna are brown memory thread.  The bling is also a random brand.

So, I hope you have enjoyed all of these.  I know I enjoyed making them and I hope to have some photo wallet ideas up for you before too long!

Have a great week :0)

Kim