Alcohol inks and Brayer cards!

I decided to play with the alcohol inks and the brayer again after getting a few cards done for the challenge I'm hosting over at ISC. I grabbed some of my Hero Arts silhouette flower stamps after getting some nice colors of alcohol inks done on my glossy cardstock. These were inspired by Tim Holtz and all the fabulous things he creates. I stamped the flowers in black Stazon and just kept them very simple. I really like on the purple card how there are those big circles of lighter colored ink- I just dropped the blending solution on after it the multiple colors dried. Then I tried to get the head of the flowers highlighted in the circles for some wow factor!
 Here is a tip for keeping costs down when using the alcohol inks. I just buy a few pieces of plain white felt at Michael's and cut them up myself- it's so much cheaper than buying the premade packs by Ranger (I think they were 99 cents for an 8x11 sheet).

Next up is the brayer card I did using a stamp by Clear Dollar Stamps. I've had this stamp set with 2 covered bridge scenes for a few months and never really made anything with it yet. I brayered the top of the sky but then came back with sponges also to get in and around the tree and roof of the barn, I also added a darker blue ink on the top of the sky. I added some snow flakes with my white gel pen and some other snow here and there, and even added a few white stickles also. I turned out pretty good for a first time inking up that stamp. I might try to do a fall version of this card- but i want to get some flowersoft or make my own flowersoft for some leaves on the tree. I'm due for a trip to Michaels soon to restock on black cardstock and see if there are any new and fun Studio G Valentines stamps out yet.

Thank for stopping by!

First Challenge of the new year!

This week I am the challenge hostess over at Inspire Swap Chat. I gave the players 2 options depending on what they had for supplies. Either make a creation using a brayered background or create something using alcohol inks. I made this card quick today pulling out the alcohol inks. It was kind of inspired by some new artwork in my bedroom (I recently repainted it so I had to get some new stuff for the walls). I used the colors ginger, caramel, and latte and also added some of the copper mixative too. I took a close up shot so you can see the copper shimmer. I used my fave set "Lovely as a Tree" from SU for this. No sentiment yet, thought I would wait to add one once I figure out who to send the card too.

Please come and play along in this weeks challenge- the prize will be an assortment of stamped images from my stamp collection- and a bunch of Spellbinders Nestabilites die cuts also!

Here is my brayer card I did for the challenge. I actually stamped the image a long time ago when I was visiting my cousins stamp studio- the butterfly and foilage was stamped and then embossed in clear powder. I just decided today to try to brayer over the background for a nice blue sky. I'm a bit out of practice with the prayer, not really happy with my sky (looks kind of splotchy to me). These kinds of cards are my favorite to make- right in my comfort zone- and for me they are actually the easiest and least time consuming. I'm not a huge fan of lots of layers and all sorts of patterned papers- I struggle with that often. I'll try to make some more alcohol ink  and brayer cards this week- it was fun to dabble in that again. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate all your wonderful comments you all leave me!

Anne

One more creation!

This week over at Inspire Swap chat Heather had a "just for fun challenge" to make a card using tissue paper as part of your card. She included a tutuorial found over at SCS for "faux silk" so I follwed the tutorial and came up with this card. It's hard to see but I did stamp the Hero Arts image on white tissue paper- then heat embossed it with clear powder. Then I crinkled up the tissue paper and layed it flat and glued it onto my textured cardstock. You can hardly see any of the wrinkles......but it still came out nice. And I used up the very last little bit of my favorite plaid paper on this card- boooo hoooo now it is all gone. I love plaid paper and need to find more like this with all the great colors. That is all I've had time for.....my son has been home from school, my huuby has had this week off of work, and my father in law has been here visiting so I've had practically no time to craft. I'm also patiently waiting for some new rubber to come in the mail-  I did some online shopping at Impression Obsession and Verve this past 2 weeks- I can't wait to see my new stamps! Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you all soon!

Anne

Here are some recent creations!

I didn't have much time to create anything over Christmas, but I did manage to get a cute box made for a set of cards I was giving my sister for Chritmas. I had so many cards made and lots of cards from swaps just sitting here so I thought why not give some away as gifts. So one day I got out my Martha Stewart score board and sat down to create a box for a dozen cards. I didn't write down the dimensions I used (sorry I was in a hurry) but I did it with 1 piece of 8.5 x11 cardstock for the top, and another full sheet of cardstock for the bottom. I picked out a sheet of 12x12 patterned paper and just measured and cut it to fit. Then I goofed up as I tend to do often, and cut up the piece of paper I had set aside for the top of the box- darn it! So I had to change my mind at the last minute for the design on the top of the box- ooops! That's why it is has a different color of paper added- oh well..... It turned out pretty good for just winging it with no directions. My sisiter loved the cards and seemed to appreciate all the work and time put into the handmade box.

Happy New Year 2010!

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy and healthy new year! There were no exciting parties at my house last night....I'm  much too old for that. We just watched a movie and had a big bowl of popcorn after cracking open a bottle of champagne with dinner. We were going to go blow up some fireworks, but it was only about 5 degrees outside and I was to wimpy to go stand out in the cold. BRRRR!

We had a great Christmas here in WI! It  warmed up for a few days for and we gots lots of snow and even a bit of rain- which made everything like an ice rink outside. Santa was very good to us all - he even brought me a new digital camcorder (yipeee!)  so once I figure out how to edit movies I would like to make some video tutorials for you to all enjoy. I have had a few requests over at ISC to do some tutorials on sponging inks to create backgrounds, so once my dear son Joe is back in school I'll try to find the time to get that done. I''ll be back in a bit to add some creations I made over the Christmas season.

Anne