Want to Learn Something New?

Happy Thursday!

Who wants to learn something new today?  I have a fun little trick to share with you using some alcohol ink and a can of Compressed Gas Duster (or a straw and your own air blown through it).  This is super easy and a lot of fun to do.

(Ultra High Gloss White)

 



Stuff you will need:

1.  Paper - I used Ultra High Gloss White Cardstock for one card and Luxury Centura Pearl Cardstock on the other one.  This technique works best on a shinier surface.  You could even use gloss photo paper.
2.  Ink - I used a couple of Spectrum Noir alcohol ink refills. But you could use any alcohol ink that you have.
3.  A Can of Compressed Gas Duster - I used 3M Dust Remover but you could even use a straw and just blow through it.
4.  A Sentiment Stamp - I used Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy EZMount Stamp Set - Always Floral and Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy EZMount Stamp Set - Only Words - From The Heart

 



That's all you need so let's get started.  First I trimmed my paper down to a manageable size.  I didn't actually trim it down to the exact size I needed because I like to see what I come up with and then trim the paper to include the part I like the best.  (smile)

(FYI -Alcohol ink dries incredibly fast so you will need to have everything ready to go before you start dripping ink on your paper.)

Next you decide which color of ink you want to work with on your project.  I went with super bright colors as you can tell  and I used two different types of paper to show you how it looks on each.  So play around and see what you like best.  This is the fun part!!

(this is ink on the Luxury Centura Pearl )

 



Here we go with the easy as pie directions - lay down your paper on top of a covered work surface (this can be messy).  Then make sure you have your Duster ready to go (or your straw handy) and dip down drops of ink randomly on your paper.  Immediately start blowing the drops around with your Duster (or straw).  

(this is ink on the Ultra High Gloss White)

 



Next you pick another color of ink and drop it down on the card and blow it with the duster.  You can add more colors of ink if you want but I find that 2-3 works best for me. 

That's it!  See how easy it is?!  Now you just decide which part you like best and how you want your finished card to look.  I decided it was better for me to go very simple since the design I made is so eye popping but if you used more muted colors you could easily work with patterned papers and more embellies.

 

 



I decided to stamp my sentiment directly on top of my "art".  I used StazOn Ink in Jet Black after my alcohol ink had dried.  This ink will take a bit of time to dry or you can heat set it with a heat  tool.  Stamping the sentiment was one of the last things I did.





So I made my card base and layered some matting under the "art".  Then I stamped out my sentiment.  To finish I added some Skittles in coordinating colors.  I'm obsessed with these Skittles that my friend, Carri at DoubleClick - AKA Abusybee , makes and sells.  I've been using them on all my projects.  If you want some for yourself, you can get them HERE.

 ( Luxury Centura Pearl)

 

You can tell by looking at the two cards that on the card using the Ultra High Gloss White cardstock the ink is brighter and the one using the Luxury Centura Pearl cardstock has softer and more muted colors.  You can tailor your project by the papers and ink colors you use.

Have fun with it!!

Until next time...happy scrapping!

Stacy

Fun CAS Cards To Share

Hi everyone!  Oddly since I have a house of sick kids, I've able to scrap a bit.  Maybe because they have all sleeping so much. :-O  Anyway, I have been on a CAS (clean and simple) card making kick.  And some of the new stamps from Crafters Companion's Stamp It Australia -Imagine collection and the new Sheena Douglass - A Little Bit Sketchy collection have some really great sentiment stamps that work perfectly for this type of card.

I have 3 (yes, I said 3!!) cards to show you.  The first one is a nice card using Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy EZMount Stamp Set - Only Words - Through The Rain.  I wanted to go with just an all black and white theme.  I started with a white card stock base.  Next I cut out a piece of black card stock just slightly smaller than the base card.  Then I grabbed the white card stock again and my Tuxedo Black Memento ink and stamped out the sentiment.  After trimming it to be slightly smaller than the piece of black card stock, I rounded all the corners on all the layers.

 



I adhered the sentiment layer on top of the black layer and then wrapped some black bakers twine around it.  I tied the twine in a knot and trimmed it.

I stamped out the sentiment once again and fussy cut the umbrella out and using double sided adhesive squares adhered it to the top of the stamped sentiment.  It is always great to do this to give a little added interest and dimension to a card.

To finish I used the same double sided adhesive squares to adhere the black and white topper to the card base.  And voila...it is done.

 



Wow, all that description seems like it took forever to make this card but it went together really very quickly.

On these next two cards I used a similar technique of stamping on the card base and then masking a topper and cutting out the space for the sentiment to show through. This is a very easy technique that I learned in a class at Onlinecardclasses.com.

My next card also uses a Sheena - A Little Bit Sketchy stamp.  This one uses Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy EZMount Stamp Set - Only Words - From The Heart. 

 



First I made my card base.  Next I cut a piece of card stock slightly smaller that the base.  Then I laid a mask on the top and sprayed Glimmer Mist lightly over it.  Now you just have to let it dry.  While mine was drying I got out an edge punch and punched along the edge of some green card stock.  Then I stamped and heat embossed a sentiment and trimmed it to the exact width of the topper.  This piece will be going directly under the opening I create when I trim out the space for the main sentiment.

 



After the topper was dry, I stamped out my sentiment on it in the place I want it to be on the card. This will be trimmed off.  It is just to help you know where to trim your paper.  After you stamp it, then cut along the top of it and the bottom.  Then place these two piece where you want them on your card, and using a pencil lightly mark along the inside edges.  Now take the two pieces off the base card and stamp your sentiment between the pencil drawn lines.  Erase your pencil marks.  Pull out some double sided adhesive squares and adhere the two masked pieces to your card.  Adhere the green sentiment on top of the bottom masked piece directly under the main sentiment.  I finished up by drawing some stitching lines in black marker.

 



This next card is made exactly the same except instead of cutting the middle out of the card I used a die to cut an oval along the side.  I masked the topper and stamped the sentiment where I wanted it on the card. Then I used my oval die to cut the sentiment off the topper.  Then placed the topper on the base card and using my pencil traced along the inside edge of the oval.  Take off the topper and stamp the sentiment inside the oval and erase pencil marks.  Adhere topper to base card with double sided adhesive squares for dimension. 

To finish up this one I stamped and heat embossed another small sentiment in green and trimmed it like a flag.  I glued it across the bottom of the oval.  And then with a red marker, I made a line of faux stitching around the oval.

 



The main sentiment is from Stamp-It Australia EZMount Stamp Set 60 - Friendship Sentiments.  I am finding a million uses for these Stamp It Australia Imagine stamps!  Don't tell my hubby but I had to get them ALL! ha

So here are all my CAS cards for today.  I actually had time to make two layouts too (!) but I'm sure you are tired of being here by now so I will share them tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping and looking.

Until next time...happy scrapping!

Stacy