Creative Chemistry 101

I have been taking Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 101 online class.  Today was the last 'official' day of class and I am sad because it has been one of the most interesting and informative classes that I have ever taken.  And now I understand and can reason with anyone as to why I NEED to have all of the different inks/reinkers/crap supplies I do - it's all in the chemistry.  And it's not that one is universally better than the other, they just have different properties that make each one better for a particular technique than another.  So, let me just let me share what Tim mentioned in one of the videos - "You need it all", lol!  I {heart} his thinking.

Day 1 we learnt all about the different properties of various inks - lots of things learnt that day and consequently a few dollars spent too! 

Day 2 we learnt all about Distress Inks and these are my samples of the techniques we learnt.

Blended Distress/Spritz & Flick

The tag I used is a manilla one that is as old as the hills.  I think if I had of used a better quality of cardstock, it would have turned out a bit better, ie more intense colours.  They seemed to get sucked into the paper.  I also wished I had used red in the top RH corner.  I didn't think I had one but I had forgotten about the Winter Trio of Distress Inks I ordered and had sitting in my cupboard.  I also cannot spritz & flick with my left hand.

Brushless Watercolour

Got a little over excited with the edging.  I guess it's something I need to practice because I keep getting this line thing going on even though I am applying in a circular motion.

Wrinkle-Free Distress

This was fun.  Again, should have used a better quality cardstock.  This is an old manilla folder that I cut to the same size as the first tag.  Don't really like those big brown blobs, but as Tim mentioned, it's all about practising the techniques, not making masterpieces.  Told you I {heart} his thinking.

Day 3 we learnt all about Alcohol Inks.  I must be the last person on the planet not to already have these,  but the effects are cool and I will be getting some more colours.

Alcohol Ink Agates

These two are my favourites, but I can decide on which I like best.  The white 'spots' are the pearl mixative I used, it was the only colour that I could find in stock in Australia.


Archival Resist

I wish I had have used a darker ink (brown) over the top of this.  It's a bit light.  Too impatient to wait for my order to arrive.  I found that the Jet Black Archival is very, very slippery on the gloss card.

Stamping with Reflections

Would have loved to have some of Tim's reflection stamps, but had to make do with what I had on hand.  In hindsight, I wish I had of stamped a text background ever so lightly before running through the Big Shot.  Think that would have set it off a bit better.  See that brown line around the outside, having trouble with that.  I guess it's just practice, hope so anyway :)

Day 4 we learnt all about Reinkers.  One of the techniquese we learnt was Watercolouring with Reinkers.  Since I am already familiar with this technique, I haven't done my tag yet, figured I'd work on the things I'm not familiar with so I can ask any questions I may have before the forum closes.

I haven't done the Layered Misting yet, but it looks like it's going to be a fun one.

Another technique was the Custom Stamp Pad.  I've tried this twice now and I've not been overly happy with my results.  I'm not sure if it's because the images I've used are a little too detailed or if it's because the opening to my reinker (I'm using SU! ones at the moment) is a little too big, meaning that I can't control the flow of ink that well.  I'm planning on getting a few of the Distress ones and will try this technique out again once they arrive.

Well, that's about it.  I'm hoping to get crafty again tonight and try out some more of these fabulous techniques.

If you have any questions about what I used, please leave me a comment or send me an email.  It was a swag of stuff and since most of it isn't SU! I can't recall the names of everything.  I will get around to updating at some stage.

JAI #111 - Just Add Easter

AKA Massive Fail.

This week the challenge at JAI was to Just Add Easter.  Simply enough task, wouldn't you think.  Not so much, as you will see.  I knew that I wanted to make some sort of 3D item to hold easter eggs.  This was probably a mistake, but since I don't really have any easter stamps, I figured I could at least put 3D item to good use.  I have a few tutorials pinned, as I am BAD at 3D stuff, so I figured I'd give this one a whirl.  This in itself was a bit of a mission - it took me AGES to work out why my edges weren't lining up perfectly like they were in the tutorial.  Then when I filled it with eggs I found it was just a teensy bit to small and I really, really disliked the image I stamped on the clear top.  So I retreated back to the craft room tonight to start over.  Unfortunately I went off on a bit of a tanget and this is what I ended up with.

 And here's a photo of just one

Now, all in all, I don't mind them, but they're not very 'Easter', are they?  I mean, if I took the eggs out and had stamped a different sentiment on the back of the tag, they could have been for anything.    I guess it's because I changed my mind mid stream.  Originally the boxes were going to be purple with gold embossing, to co-ordinate with the Cadbury eggs I had on hand (school fundraiser).  But I didn't have any gold ribbon and I forgot to pick some up today at lunch.  And, despite the metres and metres of ribbon I do have, nothing I had was going to do the trick.  So I picked a different ribbon, which lead to picking a DSP instead of embossing, which lead to this. 

I also made the boxes slightly bigger than the 4x4" listed in the tutorial to fit a few more eggs in.  The bottoms are 5x5, scored 1-1/2" from each end.  I kept the top the same dimensions as the tutorial because I had already cut the the acetate and they still worked :) 

You may notice that my eggs are not Cadbury purple and gold - problem with making the boxes bigger is that you fit more eggs in. Turns out I didn't have enough Cadbury eggs to go round so I had to substitute - just another bump in the road.

Anyhoo, I intend to give these to Harry to give to his teacher and the ladies at after school care.  Hopefully they will enjoy them.

Well, I'm off - I normally schedule these posts but this one is actually live and it's late.

Have a good one and thanks for visiting.  Oh, and be sure to check out what the rest of the DT came up with.  Unlike me, they can actually Just Add Easter.

Supplies Used:  (All Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:  Take Three - Spring (PTI), Vintage Something (the current SAB set - I will update with its proper name)
Cardstock:  Naturals Ivory, SAB DSP (sorry, can't remember its name either), Clear binder covers (Officeworks)
Ink:  Pool Party Marker, Lucky Limeade Ink and Marker
Accessories:  1/16" RD Hole Punch, Take Three die (PTI), Bigshot, Pool Party ruffled ribbon, Lucky Limeade organza (SAB), Sticky Strip

JAI #109 - Just Add Beach

Howdy All

This week at Just Add Ink, the challenge is to add a Beach Theme, i.e. fish, shells, sand etc.  I really struggled with this one as in my masses of stamps it seems that I do not have any fish or shell stamps to speak of.  I was wracking my brain, thinking that I would have to go with a beachy colour theme when I remembered that I have this surfer stamp.  So here's what I made.

Originally, I was going to make this as per the sketch for Retro Sketches #2 as unless I make my cards to double duty, I never get around to entering any of the challenge blogs that I follow.  This is NOT the sketch, so I guess it's back to the drawing board for that, lol!

The main panel is SU! watercolour paper.  I've stamped the surfer using Versamark and embossed with black embossing powder.  I then dropped a couple of drops of Pool Party reinker onto my SAMJ imaging sheet, spritzed it with water and then used a Tim Holtz Distress Ink applicator to apply the ink to the centre of the image.  I used the same technique with Island Indigo around the edges.  I embossed a frame around the image for a bit of added interest.  The cardbase has silver Smooch sprayed quite heavily on it, it kind of makes it look like sand if you squint a bit :)  I originally wanted to use my Vanilla Smooch but it didn't really show up at all, so I went over it with the silver (and silver probably isn't it's proper name either but you get what I mean).  The sentiment is from PTI and stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black.

Then in my usual fashion of wanting to add something to an already finished card, I wondered what effect I would get if I spritzed the main panel with some water.  Unfortunately my aim isn't all that good and the whole card got wet, luckily it was only water but it did give it some nice 'spots'

Well, that's it from me, thanks for visiting and be sure to check out what the rest of the Design Team have come up with.  I look forward to seeing your creations.

Supplies Used:  All Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted
Stamps:  Extreme Surfer (retired), Grunge Me (PTI)
Ink:  Versamark, Pool Party reinker, Island Indigo reinker, Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, Watercolour paper
Accessories:  Embossing Buddy, Black embossing powder, heat gun, MS Scoring Board, SAMJ image sheet, Smooch spritz, Tim Holtz Distress Ink applicator tool, dimensionals

JAI #107 - Just Add Nikki Spencer

Howdy

This week at Just Add Ink we have a super fun challenge and that is to Just Add Nikki Spencer.  I had a lot of fun doing this, although chosing just one of Nikki's gorgeous cards was a little difficult.

This is my take on Nikki's super cute card

Now I have to tell you, when I was cutting my cardstock and punching my owl bits & pieces, I delusionally thought that I would be able to make four of these cards in the 1-1/2 hrs I had to spend in my studio.  Delusional, I tell you!!!!!!  It took me the whole 1-1/2 hrs just to put THIS ONE together.  I seriously need to be banned from using any type of liquid glue.  We just do not get along!  After a getting glue all over everything, and I mean everything, I decided to stick this owlie together with Dotto, so I could place the pieces (and move them) where I needed to!  I also decided to use my gel pen to finish off the eyes, managing to smudge one in the process (arrgh).  Anywhoo, after all the mess, I'm quite happy with the way it turned out, and I have all the bits & pieces ready to make another 3 cards.  Not quite sure how much time I will need to complete those though, LOL!

The Design Team have got some fabulous interpretations of Nikki's gorgeous cards. be sure to check them out and I look forward to seeing what you choose to CASE

Thanks for visiting and have a fantastic weekend.

Supplies Used:  All Stampin' Up! unless noted otherwise
Stamps:  Bitty Baby Blessings (PTI)
Ink:  Versamark
Cardstock:  Bashful Blue, Soft Suede, Whisper White, Bashful Blue DSP, Red Glitter Paper
Accessories:  Owl Builder punch, Dotted Scalloped Ribbon Border punch, White Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, White Gel Pen, 1-3/4" RD punch, Corner Rounder (retired), Big Shot, Limitless Layers 1-3/4 RD Die Collection (PTI)