I WON - Pink Paislee!!

Early February, I joined a blog hop with Pink Paislee and Epiphany Craft..They picked me from the Day 2 posts.  Yipee!  I just love Pink Paislee and Epiphany Craft.  And, together they rock.  Here is a picture of my winnings....so cool!

Lots of Vintage and lots of Mist-A-Bles.  Just my style.  Can't wait to dig in.  Color me Happy!

Let's Scrap Blog Around the World Day 14

This is the last day for me on the Let's Scrap Leap Around the World Blog Hop....here are the last 5 of the 50 cards I made this month.  Whew.  This was a lot of fun and I'm going to miss going on the site everyday.  So let's begin:

Card 46 is made with glitter and stickers.  On the flower sticker, you take off a section at a time and add the glitter from dark to light.  So, I took off all the sections of the dark green first...then glittered that...next the brown, etc.  You use double sided glue sheets and they are heavy duty so the glitter just shines.  This technique uses little glitter, but you will have it all over you for a couple of days and all over your craft room for weeks.  I just love this glitter and play with it as often as I can.

Card 47 uses the same vinyl stickers as card 46, but this time I didn't glitter it in.  I placed the sticker on a piece of acetate and filled in the back with alcohol ink.  The papers and ribbon are from my stash.

Card 48 uses scrap paper and a stamp from Outlines.  Take a moment to check them out.  I love their stamps and they are so original and clever in showing you how to use them...a lot of layering.  Here I colored the hearts and flowers with alcohol ink.  I made 3 stamps of the heart and layered it with pop dots.  I added liquid glass in the center of the flowers and liquid pearls all over the heart.

I make cards and send them to the troops through Mothers Cookies - a group of women that send out packages every single month.  These cards go to the troops for their use.  Something to write in and send home.  I used sizzix dies to cut the flower and pocket, a Close To My Heart stamp for the stitching and a wood stamp I had for the sentiment.  Stickles were used to add a little bling to the flowers.

My last card is a card I made for my mother.  I used the masking technique.  First I stamped the House Mouse onto the paper.  Then I covered it with another image of the same stamp and cut out.  Then I stamped the Close To My Heart band-aid all over the card...then filled in the spaces with another CTMH stamp.  I used water color pencils to color the mice and hearts.  I finished this card by using my black writer to write the words Get W....on the mouse's tail.

Alcohol Ink Tutorial

I was asked to put a tutorial together on Alcohol Inks.  This is by no means a complete review of everything Alcohol Inks can do.  It is a starter tutorial only.  Supplies:

Well the first thing on your supply list will be Alcohol Inks.  These are Tim Holtz Ranger.  You will also need their blending solution.  The blending solution is the key to alcohol inks.  It blends, lightens and removes the color from the alcohol inks.  I also have a stamp with loop tape so the felt sticks to it.  I cut the felt to fit the stamp.  You will also see 4 x 4 sheets of glossy paper....this is not glossy photo paper but a clay coated paper. When I play, I cut my sheets 4 x 4 so I can see what spot I want to stamp.  I'm using a piece of acetate and archival ink.  Archival Ink is an oil base and won't smear on the alcohol inks.  All of these supplies can be purchased at most craft supplies stores.  I got all of my from Michael's using my 40% coupons.  Cover your work surface with a craft mat.  These inks do stain.

Choose a couple of colors you want to start with....remember we are playing so there are no wrong choices.  I chose latte and caramel.  First the latte.  I put 4 small dots on my felt.  I held the nib of the alcohol ink for 2 seconds each...very fast.

Next I added a few dots of caramel.  Noticed I alternated the dots....think random.

I then added some blending solution.  The same random technique and the 2 second rule apply when adding the blending solution.  Notice how the colors begin to blend together.

Then dab...dab...dab all over the paper....notice how the you can see through the alcohol inks....pretty.  Cover the entire paper.  Have a pen handy and write on the back the colors you used so you have a sample the next time you want to stamp.

Here I took the same two colors and held the stamp on my paper and swirled the stamp over and over...same colors...just different.

If your colors are two dark...just add more blending solution...if you want to add more color, just put some on your felt and dab away.  You can also add blending solution directly to your paper.  Try different colors.

Here are four or five different colors with the blending solution already on my new felt.  DAB...DAB...DAB

Remember, if you want a lot of a certain color, add more dots of that color to your felt....if you want less of a color, add less dots.  You can also stamp on acetate and many other mediums.

Here I applied alcohol ink directly to a piece of acetate...I used the same felt that I used above and DAB...DAB...DAB

The colors and blending solution that I already had on my felt helped to blend my colors on the acetate.  Really, that's all there is to it.  Dot...Dot...Dot...Dab...Dab...Dab

I stamped an image on my papers and acetate.  Archival ink takes awhile to dry so set it aside or use a heat tool to dry it faster.  I let mine sit overnight only because I was tired and went to bed.  When I use acetate, I sometimes cover it with tissue paper so you can't see the glue when you put your project together.  Just paint Mod Podge all over the dried image and put your crumbled tissue paper over it....after it's dry, cut your tissue paper to match the size of your acetate.

You can use regular cardstock with alcohol inks.  Because it's absorbent, it will take more ink to cover your paper.  When you use regular cardstock, you can use regular dye base ink.  Clean your work surface by spilling a little blending solution on your stains and wipe with a dry disposable cloth.  If you get any stain on your clothes, the blending solution will take it off.  Keep in mind that it is alcohol based and is flammable until it dries...15 - 20 minutes.  Well, I hope you had some fun.  If you have any questions, please email me at scrappinvall@yahoo.com. I'll be glad to answer any that I can.  Tim Holtz also has a couple U-Tube videos that you can watch.

Let's Scrap Blog Around the World Day 13

Well I have been asked to go over step by step the use of alcohol inks so tomorrow I will be spending the day playing to come up with some good pictures.  Today, is all about the Let's Scrap Leap Around the World Blog and I have 5 more cards to post.

I turned sketch 41 on it's side and decided that the layering looked like steps so I made this three step card from a 5 1/4" x 10 1/2" piece of double sided cardstock.  I first scored 3/4" on each of the long sides then I turned my paper and scored at 2 5/8", 5 1/4", 7", 8 5/8" and 9 1/2". I took my x-acto knife and cut on the 3/4" scoreline from the 2 5/8" score to the 9 1/2" score line and did my valley and mountain folds.  The stamp and the sentiment are CTMH and the flowers are from Heartfelt Creations.  I stamped them in 3 colors to match my paper, cut them out and cupped the petals using my 8 mm McGill stylus.   Then I pop-dotted them to the steps of the card.  My flower lady was colored with copic markers to match the paper.

The hardest part about this sketch was the measurement of each piece.  I visualized this 6" x 6" card in quarters, then started with the 1" x 3" piece in the lower right hand side and worked from there.  I used all pink scraps.  One - the sketch was in pink and Two - pink is my favorite color.  After I figured out all the dimensions, I reduced them by 1/16" on each side so you could see the black.   The sentiment is another CTMH stamp.

Card 43 I made the day I was playing with my Ranger alcohol inks. This is caramel and latte on plain white cardstock.  It really uses a lot of ink.  The stamp and sentiment are mounted wood block stamps and I'm no longer sure where I got them.  The flourish is a sizzix die.  The bottle layer piece is pop-dotted.

This card uses Close To My Heart paper and stamps.  Well the girl and the hearts are CTMH.  The sentiment is a block stamp.  I used 3 heart eyelets to complete the simple detail.

I turned sketch 45 into a waterfall card.  You pull the ribbon at the bottom down and the scallops flip up and slide under the horizontal strip until you see the last sentiment.  This was fun to make.  Later this week, I will give you all the details and add some additional pictures so you can make this card yourself.   For basics, it is a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card.  I used my marvy scalloped punch and oval punch to make the 4 sentiments.  The CTMH ribbon is tied at the bottom and I used an extra circle to reinforce the paper.


Well I have 5 cards left before the end of the month.  It's been fun making so many cards and my house has suffered.  I'll be glad to get back to scrapbooking.

Let's Scrap 2-15-12

Well this week's sketch is a card but for me I could see scrapbook layout.  And, I had the perfect pictures.  Take a look.

In this layout, I used DCWV papers.  I pulled out my cricut and used the Straight to the Nest cartridge for the flower border.  Then I popped in the Elegant Edges to make the shelf.  For the name tag, I used 2 Marvy punches and ran some paper through my printer.  The ribbon is from Michaels.  She sure is a cutie and I can't wait to get more of her album completed.

Let's Scrap Blog Around the World Day 12

This weekend was a busy one.  Saturday I spent the day cropping with friends.   Sunday we all went to the Riverside County Date Festival in Indio.  We had fun on all the rides and fair food is always good.  Well, I added 4 more cards for you to review.

In card 37 I used another one of my Penny Black stamps.  Mimi is sooo cute in her green outfit...like any girl, it's all about the shoes and Close to My Heart had the perfect stamp for shoes and sentiment.  The papers are DCWV.  Mimi's hat is 100 Black.  The reds are R24 and 27.  Her hair is YR21, E30, 33 and 35.  For her skin, I used E000, 00, 11 and R20.  Her dress is G00 and G02.  I penned the floor and her shadow is C1.  As always, coloring Mimi puts me in a happy mood.

Card 38 was another fun card to make because I got to play with my alcohol inks.  I used caramel with my blender ink on my stamp pad and just bounced my way around a piece of shinny cardstock.  Then stamped with one of my mounted stamps.  Thinking of You is another mounted stamp and the sentiment is raised with pop-dots.  The papers are all scraps.

Again, card 39 uses paper from my scrap bin.  The stamps are mounted.  I'm not sure where I got my mounted stamps....I bought them quite awhile ago.  I rounded the corners of the card to soften the edges and added 3 pearls as shown on the sketch.  I colored the leaves with copics YG11,17.

The sketch for card 40 used eyelets.  But, to tell you the truth, I forgot how to set eyelets in the middle of the page.  I've used my crop-a-dile for so long now and they can only be set so far in....  I used a CTMH stamp for the faux stitching and sentiment.  My stamp was longer than the area I needed to stamp, so I masked each side so the stamp would be just where I wanted it.  Instead of eyelets, I used buttons.  Most of them are black, but the center and 4 corners are navy blue.


Only 10 more cards to post and then I'm done.....whew 50 cards in 29 days....needless to say, I'll have my cards completed for the whole year.

Let's Scrap Blog Around the World Day 11

Well another day another card...or should I say cards.  I was up late last night and early this morning making cards.  I'm really having a lot of fun following the blogs and making cards from the sketches.

This was a fun stamp to color.  I used scrap paper.  The Love stamp is from Oulines.  I love their stamps.  I used copic markers YG11, 17; V12, 15, 17 and R 81, 83 and 85.  I used liquid glass to color in the flower to make it shine.

When I was putting my scraps on my card it looked like a layer cake so I made it a cake and added the appropriate stamp.  The stamp is CTMH.

Card 33 uses CTMH papers and some scraps from K & Co.  I used a circle cutter and pop-dotted the butterfly.

Card 34 uses the same CTMH papers as 33.  This is just layering all the different papers.  The center post card paper is from my scraps.

I bought this frame set from QVC a few years ago.  They were supposed to be for my scrapbook, but I found them to be to ornate. I think they work perfectly for cards.  The ribbon is CTMH and I made the flowers using a stamp set from Heartfelt Creations.  If you have some time, please visit their site.  They have wonderful stamps and dies to match.  After I stamped the image, I cut them out and used my McGill 8mm stylus to cup the petals.

The last card today is for my grand daughters birthday.  I used the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the banner and my circle cutter to cut the circles.  I found the tag in my stash of Tag-lets (also from QVC many moons ago).  The Happy Birthday is a rub on and the '10' is a sticker.  I love these happy colors and I think she will too.

Let's Scrap Blog Around the World Day 10

Here we are with another day of the Let's Scrap Leap Around the World Blog.  I got a few more cards under my belt and I thought I would share them with you.

The papers on card 27 are from my scraps.  The stamp is Close To My Heart and the circles are Memory Makers Pebbles..  I used a corner rounder to soften the edges.

On card 28 I used CTMH papers and stamps.  I used my circle cutter and added a couple of buttons.

I've been following the sketches from the blogs and this was another easy card to make.  The paper is K & Co.  The ribbon and stamp is CTMH and the flower punch is Marvy.  I used deckle edge fisker scissors to trim the paper.

The sketch on card 30 called for something I haven't done in awhile so this one took a little time.  The CTMH stamp was stamped on acetate with StazOn ink.  The back of the acetate was painted with Folk Art paint.  Then I used brads to attach it to a corrugated piece of paper that I had from a cookie box.  The rest of the papers are from my scraps.  The beading is Ranger's liquid pearls.  I would like to get the liquid pearls to be rounder but that's not happening yet! 

Let's Scrap Blog Around the World Day 9

Well today is the 14th and it's almost half way through the month....and I'm half way though the goal of 50 cards.  Don't forget to visit Let's Scrap and take a look at all the wonderful sketches.  Take some time to visit the blogs to see all the wonderful inspiration and the talent that is out there.

This card went pretty fast.  I used paper from my scraps (I have a lot more since I started these cards)  Anyway, the circle border punch is Fiskers - did you know that they have a lifetime guarantee on their punches?  The two oval punches are Marvy and the sentiment is a Close to My Heart stamp.

YEA!  Card 25...half way there!  I really like making this kind of card....a little frilly and a little punch.  I used my Cheery Lynn Dies to cut everything except the butterflies.   The papers are from my stash and the butterflies are stickers.  The larger one is pop-dotted.

The sketch for card 26 had a lot of flowers on it so I decided to just make the card a flower as well.  Card Maker magazine was my inspiration on this one.  The pink paper is sanded.  The embellishments are K & Co.  The fabric flower and brad are from my stash.  I'm having a lot of fun leaping around the blogs.  These girls are amazing with take on the sketches.  Take a look!

Let's Scrap Blog Around the World Day 8

Woo Hoo Today is Monday and every Monday is craft day at my house....it's overcast and raining and every rain day is craft day at my house....I woke up feeling good and feeling good is craft day at my house....just about everyday is craft day so here is what I have to share today.

The background paper is card 21 is from my scraps.  The dot paper is Heidi Grace.  The two green pieces are Provo Craft.  Ribbon is Pebbles that I picked up at Tuesday Morning - 6 spools for 99 cents.  Flowers and butterfly embellishments are K and Co.  I used a Close To My Heart stamp for the sentiment.  This was a pretty easy sketch to use.

Card 22 was a difficult card for me.  The sketch was really busy and I had a hard time with the embellishments.  There are 7 of them here and I must have had 10 different items out trying to figure out which one of them worked.  The background paper is Bo Bunny.  The red dotted and green papers are from my scraps.  The bling is from my stash and the stamp is CTMH.

OK I wanted to try something different, so I pulled out Dreamweavers embossing paste and template.  This came out better than I expected.  I taped the embossing plate to the paper with removable tape on all 4 sides.  I then took a pallet knife and swiped the embossing paste and filled in all the holes.  I removed 3 sides of the tape and carefully lifted the plate away from the paper.  It took about 3 hours to dry.  I liked the purity of the white so I found a soft green paper in my scraps to use in the background and two white pieces of Provo Craft scraps that I cut with a circle cutter.  The stamp is CTMH.  I like different and this technique was definitely different.  Try this one yourself and let me know how it goes.

Let's Scrap Blog Around the World Day 7

The 7th day is a day of rest and I got to play all day in my craft room.  Couldn't ask for anything more restful than that.  Yesterday, I got two stamps delivered from Outlines and can't wait to use them.  But, today I get to share more cards from the Let's Scrap Leap Around the World Blog.

Card 18 is 98% Close to My Heart.  I did use a Giant Marvy punch to make the tags.  The colors I chose for this card are Hollyhock, Sunflower and Sweet Leaf.  The stamp I chose is Brushstroke Flowers.  I used direct to paper technique on the background using Hollyhock ink on Hollyhock paper.  I then took a white piece of CTMH cardstock and stamped in first and second generation.  After stamping, I punched out my tags with the color combinations I wanted.  I used CTMH hemp to tie the tags together and then pop-dotted them to stay in place.  A CTMH writer was used around the tags.

In card 19 I used paper from my stash.  I cut out a two 6" stripes from a sheet of paper.  One of the stripes I glued to my dotted paper BEFORE I used the Cheery Lynn Die.  The second strip I cut to use on the background sheet.  Since both pieces were from the same 12" piece, I was able to line them up perfectly.  Thanks is a CTMH stamp and I used a CTMH writer for the faux stitching.  My fiber is yarn from Michael's that I had in my stash.  The round sentiment is pop-dotted.

In this card, I used the Cheery Lynn Dies again.  They have a see through element which lets you line up the design you want to cut out.  This mum screamed that it wanted to be on this card.  The chocolate cardstock is CTMH.  The label is from Spellbinders Nestabilities.  I antiqued the edges using CTMH sunflower and the stamp is another CTMH .  I have over 100 of the CTMH sets so you will see them all over my blog.

Let's Scrap Blog Around the World Day 6

Here I am again and I have 3 more cards to share with you.  That's a total of 17 out of the 50 I need to complete by the end of the month.  I'm guessing 3 cards a day will give me a little wiggle room.

A couple days ago, I spent the day with my daughter in my craft room.  She wanted to make an envelope valentine's album for her DH.  We first pulled the paper and then the embellishments.  After that I pulled out my stamps and inks.  I was still inspired by everything we did and came up with this card after she left.  The red paper is from my stash, the black paper, Love stamp and inks are CTMH, the black striped paper is DCWV.  Simple but packs a punch.

Card 16 is sure to please your feminine side.  The background paper on this 6 x 6 card is from my scraps.  I used Martha Stewart punches to make the lace border, marvy punches for the leaves and a Pine Cone Press sticker in the center.

 HEHEHE...it takes me the longest to color the Penny Black Mimi stamps, but I have to admit they are the most fun....this card just screams fun to me.  In this 6 x 6 card, I used Bo Bunny papers for the background and Copic markers to color Mimi.  Her hair is YR21, E33, E35, and E37.  Her face is E000, E00, E11 and RV21.  For her dress, hair ribbon, stockings and cherry, I used R22, R24, R27 and R29.  The cupcake frosting and liner are R81, R83 and R85.  I used Y02 for the center of the flower and on the cupcake beading.  I also used G00 on her wings and cupcake beading.  Celebrate is a CTMH stamp.  I hope you like her as much as I enjoyed coloring her.