Orange and Blue

Hi everyone.  It's already more than half way through the month, which means it's time for a reminder for the CAS Watercolour September Challenge - Complementary Colours, hosted by Jenny.  The challenge is open for just over a week, so hope you'll play along if you haven't had a chance yet.

  

I started by creating a smooshed background with Magicals (I LOVE THESE POWDERS!).  I die-cut a flower branch from mixed media paper and slooshed just the flowers with bright orange distress ink.  A simple sentiment stamped in matching orange finishes this very CAS design.

Close-up ...

I hope you'll check out the challenge blog to see the reminder cards from our fabulous Guest Designer, Anita, along with the beautiful cards from our Designers.  Come join us for this fun challenge!

Stamps:  Essential Sentiments (Maker's Movement)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card Stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Magicals:  (Time Travel Teal); Distress Inks:  Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  water mister, cherry blossom die (Penny Black)

Challenges:
CAS Watercolour September Challenge - Complementary Colours

Golden Inchie

Hi everyone.  Today's card is a reminder for the CAS Mix Up September Challenge - Inchies, which is being hosted by our wonderful Designer, Joanna.

The inchie is a piece of chipboard that has been "encrusted jeweled" with gold embossing powder, gold glitter, and a little gilding flakes added for good measure.  It is so sparkly and shiny in person.  I acetate smooshed a background using Evergreen Bough and Pine Needles distress inks as well as splattering gold acrylic paint.  I thought the Pine Needles was a good match to bring out the greeny-blue in the gilding flakes.  A simple sentiment was stamped and heat embossing in gold to match.

Close-up ...

We're so thrilled to have Stephanie as our Guest Designer this month.  Come check out the reminder post to see Stephanie's fabulous inchies card, along with the cards from our amazing Designers.  There's still nine days left to play along before the challenge closes.

Hope to see you in the gallery!

* * * * *

Jessie

(Falling asleep waiting for me to shut down the computer for the night)

Stamps:  Happy Messages (Stampendous)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); white card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Versamark; Pine Needles Distress Ink (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  chipboard, gold embossing powder, heat tool, seed beads, gilding flakes (Cosmic Shimmer), water mister, gold acrylic paint (Lumiere), peek-a-boo window die (AliExpress)

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up September Challenges - Inchies

Wisteria

Hi everyone.  Today's card has a new-to-me stamp that I bought recently.  I think wisteria is so beautiful and romantic.

It didn't take me long to watercolour this.  The most time was spent on what colour my card stock would be. :)  I used wisteria wonder from Stampin' Up!  The colour in the photo above is not exactly as it is in real life, but as close as I could get.

The wisteria is stamped in archival shadow gray (light gray) and is painted with a mix of two distress inks:  wilted violet and broken glass.  I mixed them on my palette so it was easy to do.  Added just a little bundled sage for the leaves (love this colour, which I have never used before!).  And some brushed cordoroy was used for the branch at the top.  The sentiment is stamped with Versamark and heat embossed in white.

Here's a close-up ...

I'm entering this into The Flower Challenge #36 - Anything Goes.

Stamps:  Wisteria Circle (Stampendous); Many Everyday Messages (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Mixed media (Strathmore 140 lb.); Wisteria Wonder (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Archival Shadow Grey ink (Ranger); Distress Inks:  Wilted Violet, Broken Glass, Bundled Sage, Brushed Corduroy (Tim Holtz); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  water brush, Circle nestabilities (Spellbinder); white embossing powder, heat tool

Challenges:
The Flower Challenge #36 - Anything Goes

Alcohol Lift Pad Success

Hi everyone.  I get together with some card making friends once a month and we experiment with techniques and products.  This last session was led by Christine.  She had played around with her Alcohol Lift Pad and figured out how to get the best results.  I had just tried it by stamping to remove colour and didn't have much success.

So the trick is to ink your image well with the Alcohol Ink Lift Pad and once stamped, the "lift" formula leaves a lot behind and your image is quite wet.  Make sure to blot it well or dry it thoroughly before buffing the image (with paper towel or cloth) to get the best result.

We decided to go a step further and use the ink lifted from the image to create a second image.  So I inked my flowers with the Lift Pad, stamped onto the alcohol inked Yupo paper, added a piece of plain card stock on top and stamped again, transferring the ink as well as absorbing any "lift" solution with the back of the card panel.  I did this about three times per image.  The result above is awesome!  And below is the image I made from my lifted alcohol ink ...

A true Twofer! :)  I'm really happy with them both.

So I did a second set using different colours ...

... and the lifted ink image ...

Now that I know you need to make sure the first image is completely dry before buffing, it makes more sense.  Repeat stamping always removes more ink and makes your image stand out better.

Thanks for the help Christine!

Edited to add ... to diana ... this is a fairly new Penny Black stamp (from the summer release).  Click HERE for the link.   Anytime you have a question, I'm happy to help if I can ... please leave your email address in the comment OR send me an email using the form on the sidebar.  Thanks diana!

Stamps:  Together (Penny Black); Good Wishes (Penny Black)
Paper:  Yupo, White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Alcohol Inks:  Mermaid, Stream, Clover (Ranger); Tangerine (Pinata), Wild Plum, Sunset Yellow (Ranger)
Accessories & Tools:  Alcohol Lift Pad (Ranger), blending solution (Ranger)