Showing posts with label alcohol ink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alcohol ink. Show all posts

Thursday, March 22, 2012

A few sketches, blog candy winnings and a card

Well today was another lovely day and I was able to do some cleaning up of a few things that needed to be done outside.
We just had a very short sprinkle of rain and I say that loosely.

This afternoon I worked on a card I am making for my dear aunt in England. I used a metal stencil in the shape of a stained glass window. The stencil can be put through the Cuttlebug but it does not cut the paper. So after I ran it through the CB I then cut out all the little windows because I wanted a stained glass effect. I used some acetate with some of my own alcohol inks and a few of rangers to get the strong colours I was looking for. This isn't the usual nice church window with images done of course but more of an arty window and this is what I came up with. I really enjoyed making this and even tho the cutting was a bit tedious I had a good sharp craft knife and cutting mat and before I new it, it was done. The window is cut from black card stock then I inked it with some gold ink that is almost dried up but I wasn't going for really bold gold, I wanted an aged look and I think it turned out pretty good. I added some gold border to the card stock then placed the whole thing on a base card I had a supply of in my stash. I added a flower sticker and the top of the window has a corner filigree sticker. Most of the supplies came from a store just down the road from me called Ecstasy crafts, Dennis and the gang are exclusive distributors of card making items from the Netherlands and the prices are very good and the quality outstanding not to mention the customer service. I hope my Auntie likes this card, I know I do. LOL
Next up, I just received my blog candy from Helga over at her blog My Artistic Life, Helga also owns and operates Artchix Studio one of my favourite online art shops. Helga posted what inspires us to make art and I said I loved Victoria British Columbia, also where Helga resides, because of it's beauty and flowers etc. Bruno her cat picked my number and I won this little matchbox Helga altered with all these cute stickers. The little birds are so cute, they are very small and would look great on inchie art. I also received some washi papers as well and the envy was all decorated in Helga's Artchix sticker style. I  love winning stuff but rarely do, it's luck of the draw for me. Thanks Helga and Bruno for picking me.

 And 2 sketches, I had a few more to show you but they were very dark, I took the pics when it just finished raining and the light was on but was still a little dim so please excuse my lack of photography skills, I just aim and hope for the best. LOL.
This is a ballerina I did a few weeks back, I think so far she is my fav. I did another one with ballerina shoes beside her but I do like this one. Her features are so gentle and soft.
 And remember I told you I had some books out from the library and saw this exercise, running shoes??? well here they are. They were tricky but I always love a challenge. I found doing the laces really tricky, overlapping them and getting all the shading and details in. I actually like the bottom part of the one sneaker the best. Not sure why,  I got those little dimples in and they look you could touch them.
Just remember for better details, click on the pic and it will enlarge in a separate window.
Since starting to sketch late January I already see vast improvements but I still have a long way to go. I think I would like to start to do birds next. I love birds and living in the country we see all kinds and many varieties.
Well that is it for today, thanks for dropping by and I always love to read your comments. Don't be afraid to critique my work, I think we need to hear the pos and neg on things in order to improve.
Stay creative my friends,

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Did you Know?? alcohol ink tutorial, a fight with paint and......

Seems to be of late with nice weather my posts are few and far between and when I do have something to say or show you it is long winded.
I wanted to show you this quick tutorial on " Did you Know" you can make your own alcohol ink for a fraction of the cost of retail ink? Well I am going to show you how easy and affordable it is.
I bought a package of markers in the kids section of the dollar store, they do not have to be expensive Sharpie brand, you can use ones that are starting to dry up but not totally,  I bought a package of 24 for 2.00. The package contained 2 different values of each of the colours, so in this tutorial I will use 2 markers in yellow but different shades of yellow but it will still be bright enough for your projects.

What you need.....markers, scissors. alcohol, I used 50 percent because that is what I had in the bathroom but I would suggest a higher volume like 70 or even 99% if you can find it. 50 is OK but takes a bit longer to dry. The higher the percentage the faster it will dry but a heat gun comes in real handy, OK, small plastic containers for your alcohol ink, I got a package of 6 at the dollar store, and if you have forceps or tweezers then you are good to go.

 Take your tweezers or forceps and grab the plug at the end of the marker and pull it out. It may take a bit of a twist but gently remove this, then toss in the garbage.
 You may want to use gloves for this part, I didn't but maybe should have, now you have this felt piece covered in plastic that contains the ink part of the marker.
 You are going to cut this up in pieces that will fit nicely into your container. You can see the different colours of yellow but ultimately it will be yellow and fairly bright...yeah.....
 Next, pour your alcohol over the cut up pieces .....
 I covered the pieces so that it is over top of the contents and then start to swirl the alcohol and nibs around and you can see the colour start to come out. Leave these nibs in, place the cap on the container and I leave it for a few days. you can leave them in or completely remove them but use your tweezers and squeeze the alcohol out of them, then discard in garbage.
 I haven't had time to make proper labels yet so I used tape for now, make sure you put the lids on securely. These are not in a dropper container like the store bought inks but I use a q- tip for now to apply the inks to my projects with a little alcohol just like you would with the store bought brands. I need to find an eye dropper , it would make this so much easier to apply to my projects but I will have to keep my eye out for one....no pun intended. LOL 
 And here, this was done quite quickly so I just wanted to show you how they look. Next time I will only stick to one colour, I used Turquoise and pink and got a little carried away with the blending, it looks a little muddy but you can use alcohol to move it around.
I hope you liked this tutorial and hope that if you are like me, frugal is not a bad thing, I hate having to save and save or wait til the budget permits to buy 3 alcohol inks in a package for only maybe 2 I really like, and, this way you can have a lot more colour variety if you are not totally into the grunge factor.
If you make any of these, I hope you will share what you made or what colours you used. I would love to hear your feedback.

And.....I made another domino book for  a challenge over at the Yahoo group by Gecko Galz Papercrafting group. Leanne provided domino sized images for us to use so I decided to make a book with them. Since I am a little fond of books I wanted to make one and perhaps this will be a prize for an upcoming celebration. You will have to wait and see.

 I did an accordion fold, I used black card stock then I applied gold ink to the edges of the paper, then I cut the images, edged them with gold gel pen then applied to the black paper. I used a nice organza ribbon with gold edges on it to tie the book closed on both sides.

I love challenges, I never know what will transpire and that is what makes creating for me so much fun.

And....have you ever had a fight with paint???.....looks like I lost the battle here...
How did this happen you ask??? Well another frugal endeavour making my own glimmer mist with Folkart Metallic Peridot paint....I unscrewed the cap to find there was a sort of dried up glob at the top of the bottle, I pulled it with my finger and before I know it the paint is all over my hand....never had a fight with paint before.....did I get my glimmer mist made...you bet I did and it is wonderful. Love it but hate the price so me being frugal and don't mind making my own things I have to say I am quite impressed.
Til next time my friends....stay crafty and beware of your paint......
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