Something new for me..Greyscale Coloring...

I like the adult coloring books but this is the first time I've tried a "greyscale" coloring book. It's not what you think of when you think of a coloring book... it has some of the shading done for you in grey scale. You then color the image but let me tell you it's not as easy as it sounds. Yes, the basic shading is done for you but just coloring won't get you a good look. You have to rethink how you color. I still use several colors for each area but work it a bit differently than you would if you're straight up shading. The grey changes the colors you're using... it's fun and challenging. I really enjoyed this.

The coloring book is Enchanted Magical Forests by Selina Fenech. I bought several from her because I like the realistic looking style of them. I also have mermaids and another I can't remember right now. They are pretty fun and I can't wait to color more.

I used Arteza colored pencils with baby oil to blend and finish it off.

A little of this...

In an attempt to catch up on several posts I've missed this month I wanted to share a few cards I made for Lost Coast Designs challenges. Although the "Anything Goes" challenge is now past (first two cards) Challenge #82 - Wood is still going on. You have a few days left to join in the fun :)

My first card has a bit of dimension to it...I started off by spritzing my craft mat with Ivy Cottage, Bamboo Leaves and Gold Shimmer Spritz. I then dipped a piece of the Craft Plastic into the ink mix and heated to dry. I continued this process until I was happy with the look.

I stamped the Sketchy Cone Flower onto the Craft Plastic with Piano Black StazOn Pigment Ink.  I stamped the flower a second time onto white cardstock using VersaFine Clair Nocturne. The cardstock flower was colored using a variety of colored pencils, fussy cut and popped onto the Craft Plastic panel using double stick foam tape.

My second card was stamped over an alcohol inked background. This was really fun because I started off just playing with the AI's - sprinkling a bit then blowing it around until I was happy with the design. I then stamped the bicycle chick over the AI's, created a mask and then stamped the grungy background stamp over top. The sentiment is from one of Prima's books of sentiments.

Challenge #82 - Wood

My final card for the day is for the current challenge...Wood.  I'll bet you won't believe it but the background stamp (stamped with blue ink) I used on the Find Your Path card was stamped on the right side panel of this card! Looks totally different using Memento Desert Sand ink huh?  Anyway, that's the inside of the card - I used the Trees background stamp for the main image and a sentiment from Carmen's Veranda as well as a bit of wood pattern paper from Moda Scrap.

You can find the current challenge entry post here - #82 - Wood.  

Your project can be anything related to wood...stamped wood(s), trees, a creation crafted on a wood product, wood pattern paper, etc. Just as long as there is stamping somewhere you're good to go!

Hope you join in on the fun.

I'M BACK!!!

Whew!!!  Did you notice I've been MIA?  Well our crappy Frontier internet went on the fritz at the beginning of August. Which was also the same time as a major family crisis was taking place so I didn't notice it until my post on August 7th - which as it turned out was the last time I was able to upload a photo!!!  I tried and tried to get things uploaded and posted but we were getting speeds of 1.67 download/.10 upload on August 12th to .31 download/.0 upload since about the 17th.  

Talking to anyone at Frontier is about impossible - your call gets answered by someone in India who is reading from a script and that's only after a 30-75 minute hold!! I saw a technician at a house in our neighborhood and I stalked him until he came out of the house...  He told me that he likes to tell people that, "This ain't your daddy's Oldsmobile!" I was dumbfounded that he had the balls to say something like that.  My dh said I should have asked him then why are we paying for a Cadillac?

Needless to say we switched to Mediacom cable internet (the only other game in town) and things are just whizzing along now. We've never had internet this fast before and it's wonderful!!  Full size photos load in seconds. It's amazing and I'm so excited about it.

I have lots of catching up to do...lots of projects to share with you as well as some other just for fun pics I've been taking in my spare time (that I haven't been on the net). 

Hope you all are doing well and have had a lovely August.

Mer-mazing Card!

Hello Friends

Sorry I have been a bit MIA...had to take care of some sad family matters this past week/weekend and then on Monday my internet went out :(  I am so tired of Frontier Communications but alas living in a rural area we have 2 choices and neither of them are very good (the other is Mediacom and they cap their internet!!! eeek).

Today I want to share a fun card I made using Rinea Foiled Papers paired with the awesome goodies from Imagine (inks, embossing powders, etc).

The background mermaid scale stamp is from Joy Clair. Isn't it adorable?  I just love it!

The sentiment is from a Unity stamp set - which happens to be perfect for so many cards.

and I used a variety of different foiled papers from Rinea to fill in the "gaps" I made.

For complete details on how I made this card please see:

Create a Fun Mermaid Scale Friendship Card

on the Imagine blog.

Have a lovely day friends!

Stay Inky :)

Aloha! Quick & Easy Banner using Rinea Foiled Papers

Aloha Friends!!

I wanted to share a quick and easy die-cut banner for a fun summer greeting to all your guests.

I don't know about you but I love to change up my door decor to fit the seasons/holidays. I wanted to come up with something bright and eye catching for summer and this is what I came up with!

I used a flamingo die - Cottage Cuts,  a pineapple die from Gina Marie and a set of banner dies from XCut/DoCrafts plus all the lovely foiled papers from Rinea. These papers are simply amazing. You know how I love shimmer and shine well these foiled papers have that in spades.

This banner is so easy to make, simply cut, glue and add it to the twine. Cutting all of the parts and pieces is what takes the most time but it's well worth it once you put the banner together.

close up of the individual banners.

Supplies:

Rinea: Violet/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper; Turquoise/Turquoise Starstruck Foiled Paper; Fuchsia/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper; Gold/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper; Copper/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper; Mocha/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper; Emerald/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper; Jade/Jade Starstruck Foiled Paper; Ebony/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper

X-Cut - Straight and Ruffled Banner Cutter

Gina Marie - Pineapple Cutter

My Favorite Things - Alphabet Cutter

Cottage Cuts - Flamingo Cutter

Twine

Adhesive

Playing - Masterboards!

Recently I decided I just wanted to play with inks and embossing powders and well, let's just say I wanted to get inky. I decided that making a masterboard would fulfill my needs.

I started out from a page from an old atlas...the pages with all the city listings. I love these pages - so much potential!  I started inking...scraping the ink across the page with a squeegee this way and that. Dragging lots and dragging a little.

Next a bit of stenciling

Some stamping, some embossing even a bit of pen work and doodling.

And I ended up with a whole sheet of inky goodness to create with.

I made 5 cards, 2 ATC's and I even had left overs that I'm going to use as book marker/tags.

If you'd like to see the full tutorial, please check out -

See How to Create a Mixed Media Master Board with Mboss

Stamp - Craft Consortium - Wildflower Meadow - Fresh Cut

Stamps: Sunny Studio - Lemons; Rubber Stamp Tapestry - Sentiments

Stamp - Unity - flower; Stamplorations - Leaf Stencil; Circle Grid - vintage unknown

Stamps - Rubber Stamp Tapestry

Stamps - Sunny Studios

Collage Images & Sentiments - Finnabair

Have a lovely day friends!

Alcohol Ink Comparison - Marabu, Ranger, Brea Reese

Hello Friends -

I've been reading lots of comments on FB about the various Alcohol Inks that have hit the market recently. I thought I'd do a little side by side to show you what they look like on various materials.

The first thing I want to mention is that each bottle is different as far as the dispensing tip so this is going to make a huge difference on the control and how much ink actually comes out in a single drop.

The tip sizes from smallest to largest -

Marabu tips come sealed and they tell you in the instructions so pierce the tip with a push pin. That gives you some idea about how small it it.

Ranger's tip is about 3-4 times larger than a pin prick for the AI and much larger for the Metallic Mixatives.

Pinata's bottle for the AI is the same size as the Metallic Mixatives dispenser and is difficult to get just one drop.  This ink also has a tendency to shoot out when you're tipping the bottle.

 Brea Reese's tip is huge and VERY hard to control. Most of the time you get 2, 3 or more drops  unless you are extremely careful.

Here are the colors I used:

Marabu

Ranger

Pinata (didn't have their black)

Brea Reese

Glossy Cardstock 

Marabu - all single drops

Ranger - Blue 2 drops, rest single drops

Brea Reese - Blue 2 drops, Red 3 drops, Black 1 drop

Pinata - Blue 2 drops, Red 1 drop

Craft Plastic from Grafix

Marabu - All 1 drop

Ranger - Blue 3 drops, Red 2 drops (plus a drop that shot up by the Marabu Red), Black 1 drop

Brea Reese - Blue 2 drops, Red 3 drops, black 2 drops

Pinata - All 1 drop

Yupo

Marabu - Single Drops

Ranger - Single Drops 

(plus 2 extra tiny drops that shot out as I was tipping the bottle)

Brea Reese - Blue - 2 drops, Black & Red Singles

Pinata - Singles

As you will notice the "spread" for the Marabu was consistent on all 3 materials - similar in size, shape and color. The black is more of a charcoal rather than pure black. 

Ranger's spread was all over the place from one material to the next. On one material it kept it's shape, on the other 2 is varied widely and feathered more than spread.

Brea Reese - I can't explain it but the spread varied the most of any...I have no idea why but it was just so random.

Pinata - Spread the least of any of the inks...they are fairly thick. Not sure if my inks are old stock or ???  It didn't fair very well in this test.

Metallics

I wanted to compare Marabu's Metallic Alcohol Inks to Rangers Metallic Mixatives. I did this to show you why it's not a fair comparison (because so many people are comparing them).  You should also keep in mind dispenser tips....Marabu - Pin Prick; Ranger - Large Hole.

Marabu's Metallic Alcohol Inks are just that...alcohol ink. They are thinner therefore they don't have as much metallic colorant to them.  

Ranger's Metallic Mixatives have far less alcohol and larger and more metallic particles.

Metallics on Glossy Cardstock - You can see right off that Marabu's Silver looks more pearl. They spread like a typical alcohol ink would.  Ranger's Metallic Mixatives are a bit different - not nearly as much movement.

Craft Plastic - Again Marabu is typical AI movement - Ranger's thicker Metallic Mixatives not as much movement but further spread on this as opposed to the glossy cardstock.

Finally the Yupo - basically the same as Craft Plastic Results which makes sense since they are similar substrates.

You can make your own observations by the pictures.

Hope this is helpful for all you inky folks out there.

Mosaic Tile House Number Plaque

Happy Monday Friends!

Our local library has a craft therapy session each month (sometimes more than one) and last month they offered a class to make these fun mosaic house number plaques!

I've done mosaic pieces before but I needed a new house number plaque and I thought this would be the perfect time to make one. Of course I made one in blue - in this photo it is in half sun, half shade which is why the last one looks white and the 6 & other 1 look like they are light blue.   I used black grout for this plaque.

I also made a second one using my second favorite color green! The numbers are all beige - (took this photo inside so it all looked the same) and white grout. I thought the white looked better with the green.

We started off by penciling in the letters/numbers we wanted on the plaque; everyone then decide on colors and gathered up shards left-over from a stain glass class they hosted earlier in the year. If you do this get more glass than you think it should take. I was surprised at how much it actually took - far more than I would have thought.  Then you begin assembling it like a jigsaw puzzle. Quite a few of the pieces I chose fit my plaques as is but I also had to break several into smaller pieces to "fill it in". I can't remember what type of glue we used but it was similar to E6000.  

Everyone used different techniques to make their plaque - some people just picked up a piece of glass and glued it on, others took lots of time to fit everything together perfectly... I decided to do something in between. I added large focal pieces that fit the design first and then I went back and took more time breaking and filling it in. It's totally up to you but it did take much longer than anticipated. The original class was 2 - 2 hour sessions. It ended up taking much longer.  We were no where near finished after the first session so we were allowed to take all of our materials home to finish gluing the glass down. 

The second session we grouted them, let it dry a bit and started cleaning them up. I was able to grout and clean both plaques during the 2nd session and did a bit of cleaning up at home once they had dried completely.

This was such a fun project but I must warn you the glass is sharp. Of course I didn't cut myself until I was wiping off the grout along the edge of one of the glass pieces right before we grouted them.. Slit my finger right open. Aside from that it was really easy.  

I have no idea how I'm going to display mine...it turned out being soooo heavy and we just had our siding replaced last year. Eric would crap if I drilled holes in it. LOL!!  Any ideas?

Hope you all have a great week!

Midsummer Dream Gothic Arch

Good Morning my Inky friends!

I have been playing with more Gecko Galz collage images but this time I paired it with an alcohol ink background. I started off by sprinkling a variety of Brea Reese Alcohol Inks on a piece of Craft Plastic by Grafix.  It's a really cool plastic paper that is (IMO) more sturdy than Yupo and far less expensive. 

After I was satisfied with the look I hand cut a gothic arch shape from the inked plastic/paper.  I edged it with the StazOn Pigment ink and mounted it onto a larger gothic arch that I had covered with Sapphire/Sapphire Starstruck Rinea Foiled Paper.

I fussy cut the lady from her background (from one of the Ophilia collage sheets) and gave her a set of  lovely blue butterfly wings (Butterfly Wings).  I really wanted to highlight the fairy and AI background so I kept the embellishments to a minimum and added the sentiment and a bit of gold thread.  

She looks so serious but lovely at the same time...

I think she's trying to solve the world's problems.

Have a lovely day my friends!

Gecko Galz - Midsummer Dream

Hello Friends -

I hope you've had a lovely weekend up till now.  I have been playing a bit with stamps and inks and collage images. I created this card for a friend using one of Gecko Galz images from the Spirit of the Fey collage sheet for the Midsummer Dream challenge this month.

I just loved the pink and green so I went with it.  I used a new set of Rubber Stamp Tapestry stamps - Crows in the Cornflowers which I stamped using a few Kaleidacolor ink pads (Fresh Greens, Blue Breeze and Berry Blaze) and VersaFine Clair Paradise and Verdant.  

I added a bit of washi tape and some little gemstones for a touch of sparkle.  It is mounted on a piece of Ebony/Ebony Starstruck Rinea Foiled Paper.

Supplies:

Gecko Galz - Spirit of the Fey

Imagine - Kaleidacolor - Berry Blaze, Fresh Greens, Blue Breeze; VersaFine Clair - Verdant, Paradise

Rinea - Ebony/Ebony Starstruck Foiled Paper

Rubber Stamp Tapestry - Crows in the Cornflower

Cardstock, Gemstones, Washi Tape