Rose - The little red bunny....

If you haven't hugged your furry friends today, please do so for me.

Last night something (I think our neighbors cat) got into Rose's cage and killed her :( She was my little furry Hereford bunny. She wasn't really a Hereford but she was colored up just like our cows!!

Here she is all laid back ~

she loved to walk on a leash and kick back & relax...

Rest in Peace Sweet Rose!

TYV Collage & Altered Arts Book - Prize Photos!!

As promised, here are the choices of artwork from the book that you have the chance to win in conjunction with the "Teach Yourself Visually - Collage & Altered Arts" book give-a-way!

One lucky winner will win a signed copy of my book and get to choose one of these original pieces of art work from the book!!

Your Eyes...

Cowgirls...

Beauty...

So Blue...

Shy Beauty...

Cherished Memories...

Sunflower Set...

AND

Once the winner has chosen his or her goodie I will draw out 6 additional winners who will receive one of the remaining pieces of artwork!!!!

Which means I will be drawing out 7 winners instead of just 1!!!

Good Luck Everyone!!!

Lumiere Resist Examples

Here is an assortment of cards incorporating the Lumiere Paint Resist technique I shared with you yesterday... Hope you enjoy!

Jill ~ thanks for the peroxide tip...It WORKED!!!

I no longer have yellow yucky nails ;)

I don't mind inks or paint or even glues but man I'm telling you onion stained fingernails are just awful!

Tomorrow I've got a fun template that can be made into a card holder or with a few extra creases it could be a cute little purse/gift bag!

Lumiere Resist

Today I have a great background technique to share with you...Lumiere Paint Resist. If you're unfamiliar with this paint, it's an amazing vibrant paint with a hint of shimmer that withstands heated techniques very well and is very versatile (as you well know if you've got the Collage book!).

Unlike many paints, once Lumiere paint is dry it will resist dye inks and retains it's bright luminescent colors. We're going to be taking advantage of this particular property in today's background technique.

Lumiere Resist

Supplies:

Lumiere Paints

Glossy Cardstock

Ink Blending Tool & Foam

Non Stick Craft Mat

Dye Ink (Distress Inks)

Plastic Wrapping (to apply the paint)

Heat Tool

Instructions:

1. Squeeze out a small dab of Lumiere Paint onto the Non Stick Craft Mat.

2. Crumble up the plastic wrapping into a manageable size.

3. Dab the plastic wrap into the paint and pounce off the excess. We're going for a "dry brush" effect.

4. Pounce the paints onto the glossy cardstock in a random pattern. Turning your cardstock periodically helps maintain a random design.

You may add as much or as little paint as desired.

You may also choose to work with more than one color. I usually don't use more than 3 as it gets a bit distracting but that's totally up to your personal taste.

This image shows off a bit of the shimmer quality of the Lumiere Paints...

5. Heat the paint to ensure it is completely dry or let it dry naturally. The paint must be totally dry before moving on to the next step or it will smear and ruin the blending Foams.

6. Apply desired color of dye inks to the cardstock using the Ink Blending Tool and Foam. I am using Distress Inks but any dye ink will work.

The Lumiere Resist paper is now ready for use!! It's great for making cards, scrapbooks, tags, and so much more! It can be die-cut, stamped etc.

Here are just a few examples of some Lumiere Resist backgrounds....

Different angles of the same example...

You might also choose to use more than one color of ink....

So there you go...

a great background paper technique to add to your little bag of inky tricks!!

Tomorrow I'll share a few examples of finished cards using these background papers.

TTFN Friends!!

Newspaper Clippings Preservation Technique

This technique is in answer to Sue's question about how to preserve newspaper clippings without using a store bought solution.

There are a few good mfg'd sprays to use on acidic ephemera (Archival Mist & Make It Acid-Free) but when you are short on time, funds or you simply can't find these pre-made solutions, here is a little trick to get you through!

Recipe for Preserving Newspaper Clippings

Supplies:

Club Soda

Milk of Magnesia Tablets

Large Cookie Sheet

Newspaper Clippings

Towels or other absorbent surface

Iron (optional)

Instructions:

1. Dissolve 1 Milk of Magnesia tablet in 1 quart (.95 liters) of club soda.

2. Let this mixture stand in the refrigerator over night.

3. The next morning, stir the mixture and pour it into a large baking sheet.

4. Place the news paper clippings into the solution for 1-2 hours. Since you're working in a baking sheet you may soak more than one clipping at a time. Whatever space allows.

5. Carefully remove the clippings from the soda/M.O.M. solution and place on the paper toweling (or other absorbent surface). Allow to dry completely.

6. (optional) If you would like you can run a warm (NOT hot) iron over the clipping to flatten.

Your clippings are now ready for use!

Aura Inking Examples

Here are the additional examples using the Aura Inking technique I shared yesterday.

The first image is a card I created with a multi colored stamped image....the image it's self was colored using watercolor pencils and Stickles Glitter Glue.

This sunflower image was aura inked using Broken China and Peeled Paint Distress Inks....

Up till now I had mostly used this technique with lighter concentrations of ink...giving the illusion of a soft, dusty appearance. For this example I decided to go with a much heavier coat of inks and as you can see it REALLY made the masked stamped image pop! Quite a difference than with lighter coats.

and the last example is the same stamped image I used on the first card but instead of using intense colors I wanted to try an almost filmy layer of color. I used just two colors of ink for the aura then I added colored chalks to the image.

So there you go...it's fun to experiment and see how colors of both the aura and how you choose to color the image change the whole feel of the finished product.

I think I have the Ink Stains logo thing fixed! I couldn't figure out how to get the "copy & paste" code up there but Dan was able to fix it for me...he's such a whiz at that type of thing!

Thanks Dan!!

Now, you if you would like, you can copy and paste the green code under the banner for your own Ink Stains link :)

I think I did it!! - Mini Ink Stains Banner

Do you guys see the banner link to the right? It's above the book info. I *think* you can copy and paste the properties and past it to where ever you want and it should bring you back here. I tried it and it worked but not sure if I did it so other people can do it or not.

If someone tries it and it works can you let me know ~ otherwise it's back to the drawing board - digitally speaking - LOL!!

Also, does anyone know a way to remove onion stain from fingernails? I cleaned, diced and froze almost a bushel of onions we harvested from our garden yesterday! I finally got rid of most of the smell using lemon juice but my nails have been involuntarily dyed yellow. Now, there is nothing wrong with yellow but it's not a good color for fingernails ~ it just looks plain nasty.

I'm glad everyone is liking the Aura Inking...I'll be sharing some finished examples a bit later :)

Aura Inking

Good Monday to Everyone!

A few people have asked me about a blinkie or banner to add to their facebook or my space site as well as to add to their blogs. Is there anyone out there that knows how to do that? I searched the web and all I can find are blinkie makers for "cute" stuff using predetermined choices...dolls, and other cute stuff. I just want it to be my blog banner but I have no clue how to make it or how to get the computer language to make it link back here... I'm so not good at computer things!!!

On to today's technique!

Aura Inking

I've heard this technique referred to as shadow inking but it just doesn't cut it...shadows are dark ~ usually black and this technique is so much more than that. I recently saw it referred to as Aura Stamping...well there really is no stamping with the aura part so I termed it Aura Inking!

Now, I have to tell you being a kid in the 70's everyone was into "auras"...I always thought it was silly but I found a fun and funky web-site about that very thing...Crystal Links - Aura. It even gives instructions on how to see a persons aura - how fun is that? LOL!! The same site also has a great link about color meanings. That's pretty useful when you want to make your own color book or other personalized projects.

Supplies:

Cardstock

Masking Paper (I use JudiKins Eclipse Tape) or Scrap Paper

Rubber Stamp (B-Line Designs)

Ink (Ranger)

Ink Blending Tool & Foam (Ranger)

Instructions:

1. Stamp image on cardstock and on either Masking Paper or scrap paper (this will become your mask). (**Note - I'll have more about this masking paper in the near future.)

2. Trim the image you stamped on the masking paper or scrap paper. By doing so you'll create a mask that we will use in later steps. Trim as close as possible to the stamped design for a nice clean aura.

3. Carefully place the mask over the stamped image - pay close attention and be sure to line the mask up with the original image for the best results.

4. Apply desired color of inks using your Ink Blending Tool & Foam. Now this is where the fun comes in...you can use one color, two or more! Anything your heart desires!!

5. Carefully remove the mask from the original image ~ if you're careful when you remove the mask you may reuse it several times.

Now, check out the results....

This is a fun technique to experiment with...notice how changing the color of ink changes the whole feel of the image.....

Here is what an image looks like after it has been colored and embellished a bit....

Pretty cool huh? It's relatively quick and easy and yields amazing results every time. The most time consuming part of the whole technique is taking the time to cut the mask out but as I mentioned before if you're careful when you remove it the mask can be used over and over.

Tomorrow I'll share a few finished examples of this technique in action!

Now, go get Inky people ;)

Postcards 20090802

Another installment of postcards...

Today ~ summer all the way :)

So how was your weekend?

Good I hope!

We ended up harvesting our cabbage ~ We had approx. 16 heads and it took me about 6 hours to chop, blanch, drain and package it all up! We ended up with 30 fairly good sized bags so we'll have a nice treat this winter :)

Also dug our onions as they ended up growing on top of the soil this year. It's been such an odd year the combo of temps, moisture and whatever other weather phenomenons we ended up with made all sorts of weird garden experiences this year.

Thanks to everyone who has posted about the book...I keep hearing more and more about how much people are enjoying the book! It's so great to hear ~ I'm so pleased that you all like :)

Tomorrow I'm going to post a fun technique that isn't well known or used so I'm kind of excited about it! Can't wait to share it with you all!

Have an inky evening!!

Win a copy of my book ~ Teach Yourself Visually - Collage & Altered Arts!!!!

Here is your chance to win your very own signed copy of my new book ~

Teach Yourself Visually - Collage & Altered Arts!

In addition to winning a copy of my book you'll also have your choice of a piece of art made specifically for this book!! (I'll get photos of your choices up soon).

What do you have to do to win???

Spread the word...

You'll receive 1 chance to win by posting a comment here...

PLUS

You'll receive 2 additional chances to win if you post a link from your blog to here

PLUS

(No worries if you don't have a blog)

You can earn 2 more chances to win if you post a comment and link back to here on a forum or group!!!

In order to earn the extra chances you will need to post a comment here with a link to the comments you posted on your blog, forum or group. Otherwise I won't know you posted.

You are limited to one chance for posting a comment, two chances for posting a link on your blog and you have limitless chances for posting on various groups & forums.

EXTRA NOTE....If there is a large enough response I'll give away 2 books and 2 pieces of artwork!!!

You'll have until 8-22 to post comments here and elsewhere! At that time I will draw a winning name from all entries :)

So go forth friends and post, post post...help me spread the word of my new book and possibly win yourself a signed copy and piece of original artwork!!

Good Luck Friends!!!!