Ingenious Inkling

Pop Rocks Happiness

Today I am Guest Designing at the Jaded Blossom Blog with products from their new "I Love the 80's" release.

 

 

I wanted to play with the blending properties of some new Distress Archival Inks and the Jaded Blossom 80's Stencil ... I love the inky tie-dye effect of blending these colors using Alcohol.

 

 

I started with two scraps of watercolor paper and three colors of Distress Archival Ink - Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade & Mermaid Lagoon.  I applied the ink directly to my blending surface and then sprayed with Isopropyl Alcohol (I keep one bottle filled with alcohol just for ink blending) before dragging my paper through the ink to pick-up the colors.

 

 

I repeated that process until the ink was all picked-up from the surface, and then did it a second time for my other piece of paper ... and these were my finished pieces of inky paper.

 

 

Next I sprayed my Jaded Blossom 80's Stencil with Pixie Spray for Stencils and positioned it over the inky paper.  I used Dusty Concord Distress Archival Ink for one and Black Soot Distress Archival Ink for the other.  I used my blending brushes and found that on the different swirly parts of the stencil, its best to ink straight down (vs. brushing across), so you don't move the inside pieces of the swirls for a cleaner impression.

 

 

Next I die cut both pieces of stenciled paper using the Jaded Blossom Fancy Topper Die ... I just love the stitched edge around the die ... makes it perfect to use as both a Topper and a card mat.

 

 

I initially planned to use my Fancy Topper as intended, but it covered-up the word "Pop Rocks" which I wanted to be visible to the recipient.  So I solved that problem by adding a staple to each side of the Fancy Topper and made it into a Pocket Holder instead ... the Pop Rocks Packet fit perfectly.

 

 

For my sentiment from Jaded Blossom Pump Up the Jam & Falling Star from Jaded Blossom 80's Icons, I used the scraps of inky paper leftover from die cutting, and stamped on the inky back of the paper. I finished with a mirrored star embellishment in the center of the star.

For the card, I attached the die cut Fancy Topper as a mat on a black card base.

 

 

I stamped a second sentiment from Jaded Blossom Pump Up the Jam and the same Falling Star from Jaded Blossom 80's Icons on the back of the inky paper.  I finished with some epoxy dots and another mirrored star embellishment.

I hope these projects gave you some ideas about how you can have some inky fun with this month's Jaded Blossom "I Love the 80's" release.

Howl at the Moon

The current Stay Crafty with Hero Challenge #staycraftywithHero is to watch a Card a Day with Hero Arts video at Creativebug and make a card inspired by it.  I chose Day 16 - Color Layering because I knew I had several Hero Arts Color Layering sets in my stash that had yet to see ink.

 

I bought this Hero Arts Color Layering Howling Wolf Stamp Set and Die because my sister loves wolves.  I used several of the tips from the video including using a die template in my MISTI to position my stamps and dies for the various layers.  For my Wolf I used Sand, Watering Can & Onyx Black for my layers.

 

I tried several color combinations for my moon, but finally settled on another tip Libby gave, which is just to use only the detail layer of the stamp (on a lighert grey cardstock).   After stamping, I used a brush to add some golden ink to the edges for a little moonlight glow.  The sentiment is from the same set.

I used my new Cloud Edger Stencil with Watering Can Ink to create both the ground and the sky (love it) and then attached the wolf and moon with foam tape.

Focus on Gloss

Today I had the joy of attending the Focus on Gloss Class by Dina Wakley.  I only had four colors of her Gloss Spray (Night, White, Lime & Fuchsia), but I made the best of them and had a lot of fun.

I used watercolor paper and mixed media paper ... but I think I had the most fun with some Ranger Kraft Tags. 

 

I used several stencils from A Colorful Life Designs, with my favorite being the Circles Make Circles ... I used both the stencil as well as printing from the negative from the paint on the top of the stencil which gave a punchinella effect.

 

I also tried spraying on top of my Karin Marker Backgrounds I made a few weeks ago, which also produced some fun effects ... I really love how opaque the sprays are.

 

After the class, I used several of my favorite tags to make sure cards.  The first one uses the Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge at Paper Craft Crew Challenges - Masculine, Thank You Card & Twine.

 

I used new stamps I got this week from The Greetery ... this one is from Sentiment Suite: Thank You Stamp Set.  

 

 

I liked it so much, I decided to make a second feminine version with Stamps & Dies from The Greetery Destination Stamp Set.

 

This combination of colors is just dreamy.

Makeover Monday ~ Crayon Emboss Resist

Today's Makeover Monday is a Technique from this card I made in July 2008.

 

I decide to do a re-take on the Crayon Resist Technique ... this time I used a Peacock Feathers Distress Crayon with Twisted Citron Distress Oxide Spray for my background with the Taylored Expressions Splattered Embossing Folder (which I realized when I was done sort of has a Corona Virus look, which seemed oddly appropriate).

 

 

I cut my panel into pieces using this week's Just Add Ink Sketch and inked-up my new Simple Strips Meow sentiment together with one of the Cats from the Cattitude set as an ode to my sister's cat Simon. 

 

And since this card is masculine and stamped in black ink (and Simon does indeed believe he is always the "star" (I know, a bit of a stretch for the third one), I'm also linking-up at the #TEMakerChallenge.

 

You Inspire Me to Be Better

Today I discovered that the PinkFresh Studio Facebook Group has a Sketch Challenge, so I decided to join the fun.

 

I used the PinkFresh Studio Floral Cluster set for my card.  I stamped the Floral Cluster image in Versafine Black ink on Watercolor paper.  Next I used a transparency sheet and three colors of Distress Ink (Speckled Egg, Evergreen Bough and Wilted Violet) to do some Watercolor Smooshing ... i just love, the messy free-form effect that you get.

 

I used my MISTI to curve the top sentiment and then hand-cut the large word and popped it up with foam tape, so it wouldn't cover-up too much of my beautiful watercolory blooms.

This card is so true of many people in my life ... but it's also true of my many artists in the paper crafting community who take time to share tutorials and videos that allow me to learn and grow my own artistic skills ... so very grateful that people are willing to do that.

Impression Obsession Flowers

The theme at the Impression Obsession Challenge is Summer Flowers.

 

 

I spent my afternoon creating alcohol ink panels, so I decided to stamp some Impression Obsession Hollyhocks on one of my alcohol ink panels using this week's CAS(E) this Sketch!

 

The sentiment is from Impression Obsession There for You Set.

 

 

Here are a few of the other Alcohol Ink backgrounds from my play session ... I love the bubbles you can get on the Yupo paper.

 

Karin Marker Play

Yesterday I gave myself permission to just play with my Karin Brushmarker Pro Markers.  It felt like third grade art class ... or at least what I think third grade art class would have felt like if I had not been such a perfectionistic anxious kid at that age.  Even though I loved it, art scared me because I didn't know how you could tell if it was good, and I only wanted to do things that were perfect and good.  Yesterday, I let myself let go of good and just focused on playing with color, water and watercolor paper.

 

I cut up mostly 3" x 4" pieces, so I could try lots of different colors and blends without feeling too overwhelmed.  I have the large set of the standard markers, as well as the Neon Markers and the Metallic Markers.  I was most amazed at how the metallic markers moved on the wet watercolor paper ... it was cool how the metallic pigment almost flowed in the water.  Here are a few more of the colors.

 

It was so relaxing to just blend and play and go back and blend some more.  I did notice some pilling with some of the watercolor paper when I got it overly wet ... and some colors were easier to blend than others ... but that was all part of the fun of play.  Not sure what I'll do with them, but it was relaxing to just take time to play with some of my art supplies with no particular end game in mind.

I did take the time when I was fun to turn one into a card using the lovely AlteNew Dog Rose Panels die cut from heavy white cardstock.

 

 

Sentiment is from Altenew Sincere Greetings.

 

Gina K. Designs Eye Shadow Blooms

Tonight I had fun trying to replicate the Eye Shadow Technique that Gina K. shared in this video.  My eyes are pretty much allergic to everything, so I have no eye make-up in my house, so I had to stop by the Dollar Tree and pick some up, so I could give it a try.  I grabbed the same one that Gina used and one with lots of purples.  The light colors work best on the darker cardstock colors to get the cool effect with Gina K. Designs Embossing ink.

 

 

I started with a dark green scrap of cardstock and blooms from Gina K. Designs Elegant Asters.

 

Next I tried red cardstock with flowers from Gina K. Designs Stately Flowers 10 ... this one was my favorite.

 

 

And my final one was Purple cardstock with the new Gina K. Designs Natural Silhouette Blooms.

 

Here are all three together.

 

I kept the cards really simple so the backgrounds could shine.  The sentiment is from Gina K. Designs Whimsical Wildflower Frame.

 

I used another sentiment from the same set for the red card.

Then for the purple card, for some reason, the eye shadow rubbed off and I got this sort of shadow effect.  Rather than fighting it, I embraced it.

 

 

I just burnished the eye shadow into the cardstock and stamped the same wildflower stamp directly onto the background.

 

 

The sentiment is from the same Gina K. Designs Natural Silhouette Set.

 

So if you've got some great 80's eye shadow in your stash (or you make a stop at the Dollar Tree) give this technique a try ... it was a lot of fun ... and looks super-shimmery-cool.

Sketches, Stickers, and Scraps ... Oh My

Last night, rather than doing a Makeover Monday card, I challenged myself to make cards using this week's Sunday Stamps Sketch, Orphan Stickers in my overflowing Sticker Bin and Scraps from my Paper Bin.

 

 

The sketch just seems perfect for playing with stickers and papers.  It reminded me of when I used to have a big box of things I'd cut from magazines to make collages that I would hang around my room.

I started with this cork typewriter sticker.  The background paper is something I know I stamped more than 10 years ago using acrylic blocks that I had wrapped with rubber bands (which turned out to be today's Try a New Technique Challenge at SplitCoastStampers - making the old new again and stamping with what we have on hand) ... makes me want to try that technique on a Gel Press Plate.

 

I cut two 3" circles in from coordinating cardstock scraps and then added more smaller stickers to finish the design before mounting it all on a kraft card base.

For the next card I started with that adorable orange monster.  This time I cut slightly smaller circles from two designer paper scraps to coordinate with the polka dot background.  The dimensions seem a bit more balanced in this one, especially with him grounded on the longer sentiment.  

 

I couldn't resist adding the stack of books and his own little potted plant.

Then when I had the final pink monster and scrap of pink Eiffel Tower designer paper ... I sort of fell into an 8th Grade-cover-my-binder-with-stickers creative craziness.  I have no idea who I'll give this card to (who am I kidding, I'll mail it to Lauren at some point ... probably not on her birthday) ... I had a ton of fun making it.

 

Sometimes it's fun to remember why I started this hobby ... as a creative outlet for play.   And I still like stickers as much as I did in the 8th grade (hint hint ... big sticker news coming soon).

Smile a Little Brighter

The current Stay Crafty with Hero Arts Challenge is to create a one-layer card (#staycraftywithhero).

 

 

I thought it would be fun to start my single layer with a piece of watercolor paper sprayed with Distress Oxide Sprays.

Next I stamped the large cover image from the Hero Arts / PinkFresh Studio You Make a Difference Set using three colors of Ranger Archival Ink - Orange Blossom, Poppy & Tiger Lilly moving from light around the outside to darker around the inside.

 

I used Potting Soil Archival Ink to stamp the sentiment from Hero Arts Color Layering Iris in the Center.  I finished with some orange gems in the center of the cone flowers.