I just wanted to remind everyone that we still have a weekend full of creative classes at MDW! Saturday Sheri will have an awesome technique class, full of great ideas and holiday themed tags! 10 techniques- how can you beat that?
No secret that I'm a big Tim Holtz fan, and he's doing another round of Christmas tags this year. Today is Day 3 of 12, and you can see all of the tags and instructions on his blog (and be entered for daily prizes if you leave a comment!). Here are my versions of the techniques for Day one and Two:
At Thanksgiving we often reflect on what we're grateful for. For me, as I'm sure many of you, family tops the list. So many of our layouts are dedicated to a particular child or family member, but the focus of this book is the family as a whole.
Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and here's a quick album idea for recording thoughts of gratitude while documenting the growth of our children. Last year, my children selected a piece of cardstock (hence the bright pink and yellow), and I traced their hands and recorded what they were thankful for. I had intended to use these on a traditional layout, but they were filed away and in the chaos of the ensuing season, I forgot all about them. When I found them a few months ago, the idea struck to make an album to hold each year's tracings.
Today is the day, so if you live in the United States, make sure you exercise your freedom and vote! I vote by mail, so mine has already been cast. Therefore, today I am voting for one of my absolutely favorite embellishments, Grungeboard! This week instead of a project, I wanted to share some of the many ways you can customize Grungeboard. For the two of you out there who still don't know what Grungeboard is, here's the package description, "a compressed, flexible sheet of dingy material with a debossed texture that can be painted, inked, sanded, hammered, or grunged." But wait! Ink and paint are not the only mediums you can use on grungeboard! Take a look:
Many times in my classes I've had students ask me, "What can you do with alcohol inks?" What CAN'T you do with alcohol inks? They are the ultimate customizing tool! Alcohol inks are formulated to color non-porous surfaces such as plastic and metal. Turn the ink bottle upside down on the felt applicator pad for 5-10 seconds (no need to squeeze); dot the pad with 1 -3 colors, keeping a little bit of space between each color. Place your object on a non-stick craft sheet to protect your surface. Now, pounce the applicator all over your transparency, metal or plastic embellishment, brad, button, bead; you get the idea! You can leave the color as is, or apply a squirt of blending solution to the pad and pounce that on top of the inks. It will loosen and blend the inks, softening the color. You can see a video of Tim Holtz demonstrating how to apply alcohol inks here.
Well, I like to see what rules I can break when it comes to art materials (and many other things in life, but that's a different post...), and I found that alcohol inks are great for dying Grungeboard! For this first sample, I used the lettuce and gold alcohol inks to cover the back of a plain transparency. The paper is from MDW, and I just added some Black Soot Distress Ink to give it that spooky feel and make that great texture stand out. For the skull, I applied gold and pitch black alcohol inks, just pouncing them on (note: blending solution does not work on Grungeboard). For the wings, I started with a base of rust and gold alcohol inks, applied Perfect Medium (it's like a glue pad that will adhere Perfect Pearls and Embossing Powder to paper or embellishments) and then Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powder. It gives the Grungeboard a rusted metal look! Add a bit of cheesecloth and you've got a scary little Halloween embellishment!
Adding alcohol inks to the back of a printed transparency gives it a whole new look, and a little black turns a bright, happy print into a Gothic charmer!
Tim Holtz has some fabulous new masks, just perfect for the season! A mask is super simple to use - just apply to your paper, dab ink or paint over it, and remove! It's a stencil in reverse so it highlights patterns beautifully. For this card, I used a white paint dabber over the mask, and while the paint was still wet, poured on a little Shabby Shutter Distress Embossing Powder. REMOVE the mask, then heat the powder. Add a few letter stickers and you're done!
For the last sample, I combined all of the above techniques. First, I added black alcohol ink to a little acrylic house. Next, I added Perfect Medium to the other side, and covered it in Shabby Shutter Distress Embossing Powder. Be careful not to get the heat gun too close, or you'll end up with a wonky chimney like mine! I placed the barbed wire mask over the cooled powder (stick the ends to your craft sheet, because they won't stick to the powder) and applied Wild Plum alcohol ink over it. The grungeboard letter and keyhole were both colored with alcohol inks.
So, are you inspired? It's very easy to get carried away with alcohol inks! I've customized old embellishments, costume jewelry, even my ugly brass fireplace surround! The possibilities are endless!
Next time we'll take a closer look at Grungeboard. Until then, go break a few rules!
Casey
This week we're beginning something new here at MDW, the Designer Extra. We all need a little creative kick in the pants every now and then, and we're here to offer up our very best artistic steel toe boot salute just for you! Every two weeks we'll be offering up a technique, layout idea or small project for you to try. We'll kick things off with two easy card designs featuring Tinkering Ink papers and Chatterbox "Eclectique" clear stamps.
I have to admit, I was a little hesitant to purchase the Chatterbox stamp set. It is very different from the style I usually buy, and I wasn't sure how much use I'd get out of them. Boy, I certainly had nothing to fear! They have been my go-to stamps for the last three months! I've made at least two dozen different cards with them, as well as using them on layouts. Birthday, wedding, kids, love- they have worked with a wide variety of themes. With their bright color and bold designs, Tinkering Ink papers are perfect for summertime, birthday and celebratory layouts, but those same qualities make them perfect for cards, too! So, what are you waiting for? Let's get started!
For the "Born to Fly" card you'll need Tinkering Ink "Woodland Sprite", blue Bazzill cardstock, scraps of red, green and white cardstock, and a Making Memories button brad. Since these are just the card "faces", you will need to attach them to folded cardstock or a pre-made card.
Directions: Cut a 4.25 by 5.5 inch piece from both the Tinkering Ink and Bazzill papers. Cut away part of the Tinkering Ink paper, following the design. Attach patterned paper to cardstock background. On a scrap piece of cardstock, stamp Chatterbox bird with Archival Ink. Cut out bird and punch eye; attach bird to card and draw feet with a pen. Stamp Chatterbox "Born to Fly" on scrap; cut out and attach to card. Punch a flower from red cardstock, and pierce brad through center. Cut a thin strip of green cardstock and wrap ends around a pencil to curl paper. Attach both pieces to card with glue dots. Attach card face to folded card.
The "Lovin' Life" card is super easy! Cut a 4.25 by 5.5 inch piece of Tinkering Ink "D'Vine." Tear a page from an old book and ink the torn edges with black soot Distress Ink; attach to card. Stamp Chatterbox bird and heart on page with Archival Ink. Stamp "lovin' life" on reverse side of "D'Vine." Cut out and attach to card. Glue face to a pre-folded card and you're done!
Now, that wasn't too hard, was it? Check out all of the Tinkering Ink papers at My Daughter's Wish. They make great birthday, congratulation and kid's cards!
Cheers!
Casey