Alcohol Ink Agates

I had a bit of time to play, so I thought I would get out my long neglected alcohol inks and some glossy card stock. With Easter just around the corner, I thought I might pull out some Lights and Brights from the color selection. My first attempt was a little too dark, but I tried stamping on it anyway.

Not thrilled - but I will be able to cut it up or use it as a mat. (Hmmmm...maybe I could find an egg

punch!) Anyway, I still wanted the same colors, but just a bit more muted. This was my next attempt:

Of course, I could not resist stamping this cool rabbit. I shaded some of the rabbit with Faber Castel Fat Brush markers. It is difficult to see in the photo, but the markers colored over the alcohol inks quite nicely. This little guy will most likely end up as a card at some point!

She...

Finally completed my art journal pages for the swap in which I am participating. I sort of had a vision of rainy days as a theme since we are experiencing our winter rains now. Since I just unpacked some new sprays, I thought now was as good a time as any to play. I did not give it much thought, and just started spraying, stenciling, painting the pages. I used a combination of Glimmer Mist, Smooch, and Dylusions. Love the Dylusions sprays - bright, transparent and reacts with water for some neat effects!
After the pages were dry, I went in with rubber stamps and inks and added some more texture and images. Finally, pulled out the images for the final layer.

It did not turn into the vague idea I had in my head. I actually like it better - and changed the theme somewhat. The page started with strips of old book and music book pages. I added some details with Faber Castel Pitt Big Brush markers. The word stamp is from Unity.

Tuesday's Tip

Now that PSL is over (last time I will be mentioning this!), I can get back to more balance in my creating. One of the things I like to do, and really not do enough, is play with my supplies. I usually do this in an art journal, but will occasionally use water color paper, tags, scraps, etc. What to do with these bits and pieces? Use them for backgrounds for other projects. You can cut down on the time it takes to create a card, collage, ATC etc.  You can also use it to create an embellishment for a scrap book page, by punching or die cutting. If you are not completely in love with what you created, you can recycle it as a background! Remember, March is National Craft Month so there's still time to get creative!

Sprays...

So, I was cleaning up after the 7 week marathon that was Club Scrap's PSL. I made quite a bit of head way, and then decided to put away some new purchases. My question: Is it possible to have too many Craft Sprays:

Brushless Watercolor

Club Scrap's Pro Scrapbooking League, winter edition, has been going on these past 6 weeks. Today is (thankfully) the last day. You can tell when I am participating - that is when you will see the few scrapbook pages I post (or parts of pages). I am so glad this will be over for many reasons. But this week we had to follow any of 6 posted sketches...for a week...so, yes I am done. 

Today, I made cards using Ranger's (and Tim's) Brushless Watercolor technique. I originally remember using this technique several year ago with Adirondak Ink pads. This time, I used 3 colors of Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge, Honey, and Forest Moss) on a Club Scrap stamp:

After inking the stamp, you spritz it with water and then stamp. The results are slightly different every time. Since Distress was formulated to react with water, it blends much easier than the Adirondak Inks. 

Chipboard Letters

So, have you ever forgotten some of the items that you have, um, bought? I have been doing a bit of cleaning out and re-organizing and found a large quantity of chipboard letters I bought at an extreme discount. So. since I was scrapbooking (for a change!), I decided to use them for titles.

For the above title, I used the Picket Fence Distress Stain and covered the front of the letters. Once it was dry, I stamped small snowflakes in Distress Ink (Tumbled Glass, I think).

For this title, I used Tattered Rose as my base, and stamped leaves in Pine Needles and Persimmon. Super easy - and I am using up my stash!

Tuesday's Tip

Ever feel like playing with your supplies just because? Ever in the mood to make cards, but do not have a real need? Well go ahead and play. There is a great organization that will take them off your hands (nothing glittery) Operation Write Home. You can review all their information by clicking on the link.

These are a small sampling of some of the cards I will be sending. I was playing with a couple of new sketches, and really do not need to store more finished cards. So, my friend, Nancy, checked the website for needed themes...So, play away and help the troops!

Sticker Play

On Tuesday's Tips, I posted some ideas for using stickers on cards and layouts - mainly for cards. One of the ideas was to use punches.  For the card above, I punched the flowers at the bottom from the edge of a set of Alphabet stickers from Club Scrap.

For this card, I just punched out the center 1/4 inch circles from the same sheet. Good way to get more mileage from your stickers - and to think outside the box!

Tuesday's Tips

I have a confession to make. Yes, as a paper crafter and artist, I love all things artsy. But, I am not, nor ever have been, a sticker fan. I have bought them, only to give them to the nearest available child!
Well, I recently read a couple of ideas that I could use (other than the obvious titles of scrap pages or journal pages). Using punches to punch out small shapes - think circles for flower centers. Or, collage them on card stock and die cut or punch. I will be giving these a try this week!

Monochromatic...

well, kind of monochromatic! This was a Club Scrap challenge - use one color at least 3 ways on a card or layout. Since I am making card sets for a friend's charity event, I thought this challenge would be fun.

 The flower was painted with Radiant Pearls (which I have not used in quite a while!)

 I used Washi tape placed back to back on the above red card. It is difficult to tell from the photo, but the dots in the corner of the black panel are red Smooch ink/paint.

Challenge yourself to create cards, layouts, or journal pages with one color. It is a great way to use your stash! Card stock used is from Club Scrap. I used rubber stamps from Club Scrap and Stampin' Up and inks from Ranger.

FInally Done

A while back, I took a free on-line class at Strathmore. I started a couple of background pages but was sidelined with real life and injury. I have finally finished it. Not sure how happy I am about it. I lost my original thought as to how the pages would go. Here's the link to the original post on January 7th.  Below is the final product:

I decided I wanted to go with primitive and circular flowers. I happen to have several dies for flowers, but like this idea better. The background butterflies were stamped with Adirondak ink and Claudine Helmuth's paints. The die cut was sponged with a couple of colors of Adirondak blues. The stamps used were all Club Scrap. Now, I can send my journal onto my friend, Kate, with whom I am doing a journal exchange.

Tuesday's Tip

I have been  busy making samples for classes - specifically, card classes. I have mentioned previously that I like to outline/edge images and panels with gray or black ink. Another tip to really make colors pop is to stamp bright colors on white card stock, and frame it with black. Looks great!

Squirrely Challenge

Last year, some friends and I have been participating in our own technique challenge. My friend, Nancy, put together several challenges using Technique Junkies newsletter. We have been on hiatus until recently. For this challenge, we used the layered masking technique in the most recent newsletter. I made a couple of different cards:

I used Distress inks for the background color (Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick and Festive Berries). The stamps are from Stampin' Up (background script) and Club Scrap. I changed the orientation for this second card:

Same Distress ink colors as the first card. Stamps are Stampin' up. Check out Nancy's Blog - she has the links to all the "Squirrel Girls"!

National Craft Month

Yesterday, I forgot to mention that March is National Craft Month. Good excuse to spend some time getting out your art supplies to making cards, scrapbook pages, art journals, etc. I have plans to write some new classes and make my samples. Soon, I hope to post some dates and times in the side bar.  I have some projects and journal pages on the back burner that need some attention. What plans do you have?

Stenciling with Watercolor Pencils

I was playing with stencils  - so nice to feel better! Usually, I use my art sprays, watercolor crayon and Gelatos. I really like the leaf stencil, but did not want to use sprays, so...

I used a watercolor pencil to sketch through the lines of the stencil. After removing the stencil, I went over the lines with a water brush. Quick and easy - and I really liked the look!