Simon Says Stamp - Be Brave

Hi all,

I have a new project tutorial over on the Simon Says Stamp blog today!  I hope you'll pop over to see how I created this Etcetera Tag with new Alcohol Lift-Ink.  

I love the way the tag turned out using such rich colors of Alcohol Ink and the Glorious Bouquet stamp from Stampers Anonymous.  Don't you?

To see the tutorial click HERE.

now carry on,

paula

Alcohol Ink Storage Tin

Hi all,

I am so happy I took the time to fix a problem (of my own making btw).  I previously printed out the Alcohol Ink color chart from the Ranger website and placed it in a page protector for a reference when I use my Alcohol Inks.  However, when I was working on a project, I would take out a bunch of colors from multiple tins (you need three to fit all the colors in) and then I couldn't figure out where to put them back.   So last night I decided to take the time to color code the bottom of each slot so I would know where in the heck each color goes.  Problem solved.  Thank you Ranger.
Seriously, why in the heck did I not do this right from the beginning?

Alcohol Ink color chart 

All other color charts

now carry on,

paula

Alcohol Lift-Ink

Hi Everyone!
I spent some time this week experimenting with the new Alcohol Lift-Ink that was just released from Tim Holtz/Ranger.  What an awesome new product!  It takes a few tries to get the steps down, but that is a typical learning curve on a new product.  Also released were larger sheets of white Yupo and new heavystock Yupo.

For the record, Ranger now has 4 Yupo products:
5 x 7" transparent (thinest and somewhat see through)
5 x 7" white cardstock (heavier than transparent - you cannot see through it)
5 x 7" white heavystock (even heavier - blue label)
8 x 10" white cardstock (new larger size)

Tim also has a post he created after the Facebook Live on Wednesday.  The Facebook Live video + information/samples are on his blog.  You can find it HERE.

Now sit down in a comfortable chair, pour yourself a Diet Coke or a cup of tea...this is a long one because once I got started, I couldn't stop!

Alcohol Lift-Ink Pad

I used Yupo white cardstock (my normal go-to weight of Yupo) for all of the Alcohol Ink surfaces in this post.  If you haven't used Yupo before, all you need to know is that Yupo is a NON-POROUS SURFACE...which is perfect for Alcohol Ink.  It is pricey so I usually cut each sheet in half to 3 1/2 x 5", which is what I have done for each of the cards I created.

I dripped a few colors of Alcohol Ink over the surface, then used a Blending Tool with FELT to pounce over the surface and blend the colors a bit.  Love the combination on Patina, Flamingo, Dandelion and Citrus.

Once you have your surface ready, you can use the Lift-Ink on a CLEAN stamp (like the flower below) and stamp directly over the Alcohol Ink.  The ink will "lift" the Alcohol Ink off the surface which can then be transferred to another surface if you wish.  The second surface MUST BE A POROUS SURFACE like watercolor paper, specialty stamping paper or Heavystock paper.

NOTE: I'm going to be honest, I found that I needed to have my second surface ready to stamp on right after I lifted the ink, not because I couldn't let it sit, but because I would forget and wipe the stamp off just out of habit.  That is me and maybe you would be smart enough to remember to stamp it later and not wipe it off like me.  Just a friendly warning.

So here is the freshly stamped Yupo surface.  The first thing you need to do is grab a clean paper towel and dab, dab, dab, (do not rub) turning the paper towel to a clean spot each time.  You will see the image start to appear as the residual Lift-Ink is dabbed away.   Once you are seeing the paper towel coming clean, you can move to the next step.
What happens if you skip this step?  When you buff the surface in the next step you will move the residual ink to other areas and your image could come out blurry.  That is not what you want so remember, dabbing is important!

Next, rub over the image with a soft cotton towel.  Now I'm sure you could you use another clean paper towel for this step, but I like the soft towel for the finish.  The light buffing will fully reveal the ghost image.

Adding another layer of stamping is easy.  This time I used the fabulous script stamp from the Entomology set.
Again, follow the steps:
1. Ink CLEAN stamp with Alcohol Lift-Ink (a dirty stamp will contaminate your stamp pad).
2. Stamp over a NON-POROUS Alcohol Ink Surface.
3. Dab, dab, dab with paper towel (DO NOT RUB...only dab)
4. Buff with a soft cloth.
5. If you wish, stamp a secondary surface before cleaning the stamp with Archival Ink Cleaner and water.  (This is the part where Paula cleans her text stamp before stamping the image on the secondary surface - insert crying emoji).

 I used the Stamp Platform to add an sentiment to the front (from Glorious Bouquet set)

To create the easy card, I used foam squares to mount the Yupo card onto Distress Watercolor cardstock and then added it to the card backing.  I used Tim Holtz Craft Thread to wrap around the side three times and tie a tiny metal heart into the bow.

So, remember I created this piece using Specialty Stamping paper and the stamped images from the last card (sans the Etomology script that never made it to the card front - uggg)

 I used the Stacked Deckle and some metallic cardstock to make a frame for the flower images.

I saw Audrey Pettit scuff metallic cardstock in a diagonal direction and then repeat it going the opposite way so it creates a kind of crosshatch effect.  I loved it then and I'm still using that technique today.

As you can see, I used a stencil, Blending Brush and Gathered Twigs Distress Ink to add a background around the flowers.
The sentiment stamp is from the Stampers Anonymous "Pennants" stamp set.
An easy card created from the "lifted" Alcohol Ink...that's what I call a great "twofer".

 The hanging heart is from the Adornments Milagros set.

The next Yupo surface was created using some darker colors of Alcohol Ink: Willow, Patina, Stream and Wild Plum.  So fun to experiment with the colors!

Here we go with the same process.
1. Ink CLEAN stamp with Alcohol Lift-Ink.

2. Stamp over a NON-POROUS Alcohol Inked Surface.   This is what it looked like just after stamping...just a slight image.

3. Dab, dab, dab with paper towel removing the residual ink.

4. Buff with a soft cloth.

And the finish result using the Flourish stamp.

5. If you wish, stamp a secondary surface before cleaning the stamp.

Can you get a second impression?  Yes you can, it is just very subtle over Heavystock tags.  If I had stamped on Specialty Stamping paper it would have been brighter (see With All My Heart card up above...you can see the secondary stamps mixed with the original stamped images).

To create another easy card, I die cut the Yupo sheet with the Mixed Media Thinlit to get the harlequin pattern.  I added foam squares under the Yupo and mounted it on black cardstock.  The metal prize ribbon which I thought was appropriate for the card is from the Adornments Ribbons and Bows pack.  I used Rose Gold and Mushroom Alcohol Ink to color the silver metal.

The word Thanks is from Shadow Script 2 set.  Black cardstock for the shadow and watercolor paper for the word.  I used a Waterbrush and Distress Ink to color it.  From the Heart is from the Clippings stickers (BEST sticker pack in the world - I can ALWAYS find the right saying on one of the four sheets).

 

 

 Now remember this?

 

I put that piece to good use, using the Stacked Archway Thinlit dies to cut the stamped tag as well as metallic cardstock.  I inked edges then rubbed Collage Medium over the stamped surface and sprayed Antique Linen Distress Stain Spray right into the glue, then dried it with a Heat Tool.

The flowers were created using Watercolor cardstock and the Funky Florals 2 Thinlit set.
To color the flowers, I used a Waterbrush a Distress Ink in Victorian Velvet, Faded Jeans and Scattered Straw.  All the green is Peeled Paint (the best green ever).
Collage Medium and Clear Rock Candy were added for a sparkly look.
The metal 4 leaf clover is from the Adornments Treasures...same pack as the small heart found on the earlier card.

Butterfly - Layers Botanical
Lucky - Quote Chips
My grateful heart - Clippings stickers

 So that is four cards using Alcohol Lift-Ink in the pad form...but there is also liquid Lift-Ink!

Liquid Alcohol Lift-Ink

Start with an Alcohol Ink Non-porours surface just like last time.  The colors here are Citrus, Patina, and Coral.

Using a Blending Tool with a FOAM pad, add a SMALL amount of the Alcohol Lift-Ink.  I took a picture just to show you how little you need to add to the foam.  A little goes a long way! 

Pounce the foam on your surface a few times to distribute the ink into the foam pad.

Lay your stencil over the Yupo and pounce the Blending Tool over the stencil.  Again, it does not take much pouncing to product a light ghost image (remember this is only the first step).  Just a note, if you had added an excess of the Lift-Ink to the Blending Foam, the ink could seep under the stencil and blur the edges.  So beware...you don't need much to get a clear crisp image.

Now you are ready for Step 3...dab, dab, dab.

and step 4, rub with a soft cloth.  The ghost effect is awesome and so easy to create.

I added the text exactly the same way as I did before.  

Super Easy to create this little piece using the Yupo background and a Baseboard Frame.  All the other idea-ology products can be found below.

Well, I hope you took something from this post that will help you once you get the Lift-Ink.  I am quite sure I have only scratched the surface of this fascinating new product but I'll leave it at that for today.  

now carry on,

paula

SaveSave

Everyday Words

Hi all,

I am still on my Funky Floral kick!  After last weeks Framed Panel project I wanted to see if I could use the same idea but translate it to a smaller scale card.  Follow along and I'll show you what I did.

I started the process with a piece of Distress Woodgrain Cardstock.  I colored the cardstock with various colors of blue like Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon and Evergreen Bough.  I mean who says woodgrain has to be brown?

Once the cardstock was dry, I use the Stacked Postage to create a frame for my card.

You'll get three pieces...one for today and two for another day.

I used my Blending Tool to ink the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I used Distress Resist to give the frame a more polished look.

Remember to spray in a protected area like a trash can and to wipe the nozzle when you're done so it does't clog.

Once dry, the frame will have a sheen to it and an almost plastic coated feel but with a bit of texture. You have to try this to really see what a cool effect the Distress Resist Spray can create over a surface.  I am quite sure we will see more of this technique in the future!

I created a card base from pink cardstock.  Then I ran a piece of Watercolor cardstock through my Vagabond using one of my favorite Texture Fades - Tiny Dots.
I added foam tape to the back of the woodgrain frame and then added it to the card front.

To create a sentiment, I used Shadow Script #1.   I colored the "shadow" layer with Mustard Seed Distress Ink to give it a pop against the blue frame.  I left the top layer "lucky" white and just added Distress Glitter (sorry it's hard to detect in the photo!).

Simply add the Shadow Script to the frame with Collage Medium.  I added a few words to support the word Lucky using Clippings Stickers.  I love how that Shadow Script looks!

Next up the Funky Florals...I'm still using set 3 today, but I'm sure any of the sets would do.  The last time I colored the flowers I used Distress Spray Stain and water which was super easy.  This time I used the ink pad mini's to a create colorful palette on my glass mat.  I spritzed the ink with water and began smooshing (technical term) the flowers into the colors.  I liked this way of coloring the flowers because it was easier to mix colors on the same flower.

Once again, I was compelled to use Clear Rock Candy over the flowers because it just looks spectacular!
Having the frame lifted off the card front was helpful to create dimension.  I also used three small foam squares behind the three larger pink flowers. The orange flower and the daisy at the bottom are glued directly on the frame.
You might notice I cut up the flower that has the little round dots at the top.  Last weeks project was bigger so it worked.  This weeks card has less space to fill but I still wanted to use that flower so I just cut up the flower and added each dot flower individually.  Easy trick.

You can see the dimension a bit better in this photo.  You can also see the sheen the Distress Resist Spray left on the frame.

So there you have it, my translation of last weeks project into a simple card.

Honestly, I am not much of a card maker (it stresses me out) but I love this one.  It might be my favorite card I've ever made.

now carry on, 

paula