Beautiful Buds

This week I have made some cards our of the alcohol ink backgrounds I made a few weeks ago.  This one is a small A6 card with a matching envelope!

I will admit to really liking this piece of cardstock and wanted something fairly simple to bring out the colours.  

I used Yupo cardstock and it is glossy and quite slippery, so need to use an oil based ink, in this case Archival Ink.

I used the Fairy Bud stamp by Lavinia Stamps and then painted the flowers in alcohol inks (purple twilight, raspberry and sunshine yellow)  I had to use really tiny amounts of each to stop them bleeding on the Yupo card, as this is what they are designed to do.

Once I had done this I used the Words of Faith stamp, also by Lavinia Stamps, to stamp around the sides of the buds.  Finally I stamped the buds on the inside of the card and also on the envelope, just so that it pulled it all together.

I hope you liked the card and I will be back soon with some more creations.

Until then please stay safe and well.

Ginny x

Fairy Bonnets

I think these have become my favourite stamps from Lavinia Stamps!  This is an A6 card where I used some of the background prints I did a couple of weeks ago.  

This really was a very simple card to make.  I started by stamping the Fairy Bonnet Stamp in Versafine Claire Blue Belle (another favourite colour!)  

I used the word 'love' from the Inspire Me set, also by Lavinia Stamps.  This was stamped with Versamark and I brushed Copper Mica Minerals to highlight the word.

To finish off the card I used the See a Fairy words to fill in the background, this was done with Versamagic Pretty Petunia, which highlighted the light purple colouring in the background.  I also used this colour to edge the card before layering onto black cardstock and placing on the card base.










I hope you like what I did with the first alcohol background - and not a fairy or rabbit in sight lol!!!!

I should be back soon with another card taken from the alcohol background, this time on the Yupo card.

In the meantime, please stay well and safe.

Ginny x

Alcohol Ink Backgrounds

Last week I managed to summon up enough energy to have a play with some alcohol inks, using different types of cardstock and alcohol lift ink and blending solution.

To start with I chose some alcohol inks and popped these onto Yupo cardstock.  Yupo is a synthetic card that is waterproof, it is also shiny and needs to have a Archival Ink to stamp on it.

These were a bit brighter than I expect so have no idea what I am going to do with these but watch this space 😀

Next I used alcohol inks on the Yupo cardstock again, but this time I used the Ranger Lift Off solution to take a print off the card!   Once the inks have been applied to the Yupo card, blended with the blending solution, once dry I applied the Lift Off Solution to the top of the card and brayered this across the card.   I then applied to the normal cardstock to the Yupo card and pressed it down to take a print.

This tends to give a slightly more muted look and you still have the Yupo cardstock that you can use again, by applying more inks and repeating the process.  This is what the original Yupo card looked like after I had taken the print:

The following picture shows a number of prints that were all taken off the same piece of Yupo card, which I reinked a number of times!

In the coming weeks I will have a play with some of these backgrounds and see what I can do with them.  I really enjoyed this process and found that I used inks I have had for years, so it was nice to get some old crafting items out to play with 😇

Anyhow, that is all from me this week and I hope you are all keeping well and safe.

Ginny x

Beautiful Butterfly

My blog has recently been promoted by the lovely people at SETcraft in Haverfordwest, so if you are visiting as a result of this I would like to extend a warm welcome to you, and invite you to have a good look around my blog and please feel free to leave a comment.  I purchase a lot of my dies from them and they are always really helpful, friendly, efficient and offer excellent value for money!

Well for this evenings post I have used the stunning Sue Wilson butterfly frame which has been cut from white glossy cardstock.  The backing sheet I have used alcohol inks on acetate which gives a really bright and vibrant background, and have to admit that this is becoming one of my favourites!

I decided to use a muted cardstock to use as my mats which I feel tones it down a little and hopefully has struck a bit of a balance!  I have not yet added a sentiment as thought I would do this at a later date, once I decide what I am going to use it for; however I do also like the it quite clean but wander whether it feels like it is missing a little something.  What do you think?

I love the butterfly and this looks really nice layered with the alcohol inks on acetate background, again with the white gloss cardstock.

Alcohol inks are becoming a bit of a favourite of mine, and find myself being pulled towards the really bright colours, so will have to make an effort to try some others! 

For this card I used the following:

Sue Wilson Butterfly Frame

Foundation white glossy cardstock

Foundation periwinkle cardstock

Heat resistant acetate

Alcohol inks - raspberry, sunshine yellow & pool party

That is all for this evening but will be back soon with a monolith that I have been playing with.  I am also attending a workshop with Sheena Douglas this weekend so hopefully will have something exciting to share with you next week!

Until next time, with love and crafty hugs.

Ginny xx

A Smelly Tag!!!!

Back to cardmaking this week and sadly leaving my horsey antics behind!  This week I am sharing a tag that I made during a class I attended in Bristol.  It was made using pixie powders, shaving foam and alcohol inks!

Firstly I started by putting shaving foam into a container and sprinkled with sun yellow and peacock green pixie powders.  When they started to mix with the foam I then took a straw to swirl them together, I then laid the card onto the foam and removed it.  It was covered in foam and when you take off the excess with a ruler it leaves a very interesting pattern on the cardstock.  Once this has dried ............. and by the way it smells gorgeous! ............. I then cut out the tag and embossed it to add a little more texture.

To make the butterflies I stamped a Visible Image butterfly with matt medium and heat embossed it with black powder.  Once this was done I let it cool down and then took clover and sunset yellow alcohol inks and spread them over the back of the butterfly.  By putting the inks on now and cutting later I didn't have to be too careful with applying the inks!  Once this had dried I hand cut the butterflies and placed them onto the tag, folding them up slightly to add some dimension.

The back of the tag is clear to write a message and I thought it best not to put a sentiment on the front so it could be used for any occasion.

Finally I popped some ribbon through the top so there was something to help attach it to a gift.

For this tag I used the following:

Alcohol inks - clover & sunset yellow

Cheap shavng foam

Pixie Powders - peacock green and sun yellow

Heat resistant acetate

Visible Image Butterfly Beginnings stamp

I hope you enjoyed this project, so until next time I will leave with love and crafty hugs!

Ginny x

Playing with Alcohol Inks!

Last weekend I went on a workshop with Julia Watts and had a really great time.  The day was spent playing with alcohol inks, which is not something I had used before.

For this card we started by placing 3 different coloured alcohol inks onto the felt and attached it to the applicator tool.  I used botanical, indigo and stream inks.  Using the applicator tool the ink was applied to gloss card by dabbing the ink on and doing this across the whole sheet of cardstock, and reinking when necessary.  This was then left to dry.

Next I cut the Sue Wilson Birthday Shadow Box in coconut white cardstock. 

 

The very small elements (balloons, cake and present) I inked up with distress ink whilst in the die to add some definition.

Finally I made a frame from the Stitched Lattice frame and then assembled the card, layering it up with foam pads to add extra dimension.  As I had a slight mark on the left hand side of the frame I decided to add a flower which hides it well!!!

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed playing with the alcohol inks and how different everyone's cards looked in different colours.  I think you may see me using this technique quite a bit, as it was so fresh and the glossy card added a lovely sheen.

Until next time .........................

love

Ginny xx