... a little help from my friends ...

Hi everyone.  Another card for the CAS Stencil October challenge - Baby Wipes, hosted by the uber talented Julia!

I sponged Squeezed Lemonade and Worn Lipstick distress inks onto mixed media paper.  A flourish stencil was placed over top and colour removed using a baby wipe.  Die-cut with a stitched hexagon and stamped the silhouette image in black and added the sentiment.  I thought the hexagon looked better as a square card, so cut it down.  Fun card to make.

As I mentioned in my title ... a little help from my friends ...  This card was possible because of the generosity of two of my lovely friends.  Christine gave me a set of stitched hexagon dies, and Barb gifted me the lovely Uniko stamp set. :)  Thank you so much Christine and Barb!!


Close-up ...

I also had a small panel of the stenciled flourish left, so I create this quick and easy card ...

Cut the panel to size and stamped a NBUS image from Stampendous.  Watercoloured the flower and bee, then added crystal glaze to the flower's center for a little shine and dimension.  Popped up the panel on my card base and it was done.  Rather than adding this panel to my huge stash of leftover pieces, it's done and dusted, with a fun card to boot! :)

Close-up ...

I hope you'll join us for this fun challenge.  There's just under a week left before it closes.  For more inspiration, check out the challenge blog to see the reminder cards from the rest of our wonderful Designers and from our fabulous Guest Designer, Sarah.

Stamps:  Just Because (Uniko); Window Messages (Stampendous)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Squeezed Lemonade, Worn Lipstick (Tim Holtz); Black (Memento);

Black (Versafine);  More distress inks for 2nd card (Mustard Seed, Picked Raspberry, Mowed Lawn)
Accessories & Tools:  Sponges, Flourish Layering Stencil (Tim Holtz), Baby wipe; water brush, crystal glaze (Nuvo)

Challenges:
CAS Stencil September Challenge - Baby Wipes

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)

Barley Silhouette

Hi everyone.  Today is my reminder card for CAS Mix Up's July Challenge - Alcohol Ink Lift, hosted by Bonnie.

This time I created a softer coloured background using pink, peach and a little yellow.  Then I placed a barley stencil over top and used a sponge dauber lightly wet with blending solution.  It worked well as long as I didn't add too much blending solution, otherwise it would leak under the stencil and just make blobs.  Ask me how I know this. :)  I wanted to make this into a masculine birthday card so added a simple dark gray sentiment banner, heat embossed with white and then popped the panel up on my card base.

Here's a close-up ...

Hope you'll check out the challenge blog to see the new reminder cards from the rest of our Designers and Guest Designer, Michelle.  Come play along!  We'd love to see you in the galleries!

Since CAS Stencil's challenge this month is using a stencil with Alcohol Inks / Alcohol Ink Lift, I'm adding it to that gallery as well.

Stamps:  Nouveau Flowers (Clearly Besotted)
Paper:  Yupo; Whie card base (Neenah 110 lb.); Basic Gray (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Alcohol Inks:  Pink Sherbert, Peach Bellini, Honeycomb (Ranger); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Blending Solution (Ranger), Barley stencil (ARTplorations), sponge dauber, white embossing powder, heat tool

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up July Challenge - Alcohol Ink Lift
CAS Stencil July Challenge - Alcohol Inks / Alcohol Ink Lift

CAS Mix Up July Challenge

Hi everyone.  Welcome to the CAS Mix Up July Challenge.  This month Bonnie (Stamping with Klass) is host and she has us removing ink ...

I started by creating an alcohol ink panel on Yupo Paper with very vibrant colours of alcohol inks (purple and orange).  I then cut my panel in half (saving the other half for a future project).  I layered two pieces of folded paper towel to create a "stamp pad", squirted blending solution onto the towel and then inked up my floral stamp.  I stamped onto the AI panel, pressing hard and then removed quite quickly.  I love the ghosted image it leaves behind by removing the ink from the stamp.  I added a white embossed black banner at the bottom and framed the whole panel with a thick white frame.

Here's the close-up ... (there's a little bit of reflection from the overhead lights on the shiny Yupo panel).

We are so happy to have Michelle (Seashell Creations) are our Guest Designer this month at CAS Mix Up.  Please check out the challenge blog to see the beautiful CAS Alcohol Ink Lift cards from Michelle and our amazing Designers.

We hope you'll play along!

Stamps:  Delicate Beauty (Penny Black); Happy Snippets (Penny Black)
Paper:  Yupo; White card base and frame (Neenah 110 lb.); Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:  Alcohol Inks:  Passion Purple, Tangerine (Pinata)
Accessories & Tools:  Blending Solution (Ranger), white embossing powder, heat tool, rectangle frame die (unknown)

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up July Challenge - Alcohol Ink Lift