Fall Colors ATC

The theme for this ATC at the Altered Designs Yahoo Group was Fall Colors. I had made a bunch of alcohol ink backgrounds a while back. I layered them with quotes that I printed on acetate. The colors on this one definitely fit the theme, now I needed a few other things to complete the ATC. I brayered a background using a Ranger hand made rainbow pad. Not much of it shows but I wanted to make sure any part that did fit the theme. I cut out the extra off a few leaf die cuts to make them look more realistic. I layered them with the quote and then use a clear Sakura glaze pen to highlight portions of the leaves, pine cone and acorn.

Until my next post,
Diane

Red, Yellow and Orange ATC

Last month on the Stampers Corner Yahoo Group the ATCOTM theme was red, yellow and orange. I carefully applied Ranger Distress Inks directly to the Stampers Anonymous stamp. After the ink dried I went over it with blending foam in a contrasting color. I used Ranger Alcohol Inks in themed colors on the silver word "dream" to make it fit in and I'm done.

Until my next post,
Diane

Two flower card

I made this card at a class where the focus was on alcohol inks. For this card we inked an embossed background and then assembled the pieces to create two flowers. The paper flowers were folded in half and then in quarters with mini glue dots to hold them together. I used a bit of Sakura glaze and glitter pen to add some dimension to the leaves and grass.

Until my next post,
Diane

Some make good pets card

I sent this card recently with an ATC from the Altered Designs Yahoo Group. I used a Sheetload template and paper by K&Co and others. The image is from Domestic Goddess collection by Crafty Secrets. The final touch is a trio of buttons that I changed color by using a bit of alcohol ink.

Until my next post,
Diane

Numbers ATC

I made this ATC for the Stampers Corner Yahoo Group ATC of the month club. I used a Stampers Anonymous Stamps that I embossed with clear powder on glossy paper. Next I swiped three colors of alcohol inks in diagonally. I added a bit of gold ink too. The final touch was the addition of the "believe" word.

Until my next post,
Diane

Ruler of the Remote Card

Here's a card I made for my father-in-law. I used a base of glossy cardstock that I had applied alcohol inks to. I then used a stamp by Stamp Camp which really makes it look like marble. The stamps I used are by Crafty Secrets.

Until my next post,
Diane

King of the Castle Birthday card

I made this card for my brother. Sometimes it's tough planning a card for guys. Last year I did the nut and bolts, screwdrivers and tools thing. This year it is a bit different. I went with a background of Farmers Market Alcohol Inks. The stamps are from Crafty Secrets that I layered a bit using a Spellbinders die as the base. I also used a McGill punch.

Until my next post,
Diane

Boys and Their Toys Birthday Card

Here's another birthday card I made for a guy using alcohol inks as the base and Crafty Secrets Stamps. The background stamp by Stamp Camp really helps give the alcohol inked background a granite feel. The patterned paper is by Marcella. I used two Spellbinders dies to highlight the happy driver.

Until my next post,
Diane

Getting Grungy

Last Sunday I took another class from Tina at Beach Scrapbooks. This time we played with Rangers Grungeboard and Grungepaper. It was another technique class so there are finished items but not really a finished "project". It was another instance of me having the stuff but not having played with it too much. We applied Mod Podge to a Grungeboard letter and then applied an old dictionary page. We sprayed with Glimmer Mists. We used Ranger Distress Inks and we used Ranger Alcohol inks to make a Grungepaper flower. We embossed with the Cuttlebug too. All in all it was a fun class. Tina stared a "contest" where each student would guess a number and whoever came the closest got the project board as a gift. I came the closest so I've got the originals she made for the class and since she gave the OK I'll be using them in upcoming projects and giving her proper credit.

Until my next post,
Diane

Altered Playing Card ATC

ATCs are basically the size of baseball and other trading cards. They are also the size of many playing cards. At the Altered Designs Yahoo group recently we had the theme of Altered Playing card. I used some alcohol inks and cut out the jester and cards from another card and used pop dots for elevation/dimension. I lathered on a bunch of Rock Candy Stickles.

Until my next post,
Diane

Distress Inks Class

Almost a month ago I took a class at Beach Scrapbooks from Tina on Ranger Distress Inks. We practiced using them with the blending tool on a tag. Then we used some mini-masks on a pre-stamped tag. Next we made this 12x12 layout that I'll end up cutting for cards. Most of the stamps I used on this page are from Stampers Anonymous. The final project was a card. It was a fun time and my only "complaint" was that it wasn't a bit closer to the house. I'm signed up for another class using alcohol inks. Even though I've played with Distress Inks and Alcohol Inks before it is always fun to take a class with others. You never know if you'll make a friend or pick up some great tips.

Until my next post,
Diane

Fun and Games ATCs

Like last time Sid and I decided to allow ourselves two months for the final swap of the year. I picked Fun and Games for the theme.

My first ATC uses a Tim Holtz designed, Stampers Anonymous stamp of Bingo. I colored it in with the Ranger Distress Inks and then used another stamp of just the ticket and raised it on pop dots. I got the image of the sulky lady from Tack-O-Rama and then printed up my own words with a very small font. The final touch is the bingo chip.

For my second ATC I used the card game Mille Bournes as my inspiration. The object of this game is to complete a 1000 (mille) mile journey. Along the way you might have car trouble, get a flat or be subject to speeding zones. I shrunk down some cards distressed them and glued them down as a collage. I stamped and embossed a Crafty Secrets image of a man driving and "Enjoy The Journey" on vellum to complete the card.

The last one uses another Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamp as the background. I stamped that with VersaMark and embossed with detail white embossing powder then I colored it with Ranger Alcohol Inks. In the foreground I used a Ouija board stamp StampCamp on vellum with StazOn. The final touch uses some Just Rite stamps with the beginnings of the types of questions you'd ask the Ouija board: will I?, does he? and is she?

Until my next post,
Diane

Friends are the Flowers...

Here's a card I made using a technique from Tim Holtz. Drop some alcohol inks onto glossy paper and immediately squirt with a burst of compressed air from a can. After that I stamped with an image by Impression Obsession. The phrase is also from Impression Obsession and I stamped that onto vellum and adhered it to the card using my Xyron.

Until my next post,
Diane

Trees ATC

This Stampers Corner Yahoo Group ATC had the theme of Trees. I took an extra piece of background paper (watercolor) that I had used a gesso wash on. I used two leaf stickers as a mask with Ranger Distress Inks and stamped an Impression Obsession stamp with the same inks. I then used a fine mist spritzer to mimic the Tim Holtz watercolor stamping technique. I outlined the edge with a red Krylon marker and used Ranger Alcohol Inks on a pewter colored leaf embellishment.

Until my next post,

Diane

Black, Ivory and Touch of Red ATC

The title of this post was the theme for this Stampers Corner Yahoo Group ATC Mingle. I used a stamp from Hero Arts and then layered it on red and black cardstock. I used a couple of tags that I colored with Ranger Alcohol Inks to accentuate the words "art" and "life".

Until my next post,

Diane

Over the pond Non Paper ATC swap

These three ATCs were the latest monthly swap I did with Sid "over the pond" in England.

This month it was my choice to pick the theme. I decided to go with an idea I wanted to do for a bit. The main surface can't be a paper based. If you need to use paper/cardstock as a support base that is OK but we were to decorate on a non paper surface.

The first one (in green) uses Claudine Hellmuth's sticky back canvas and her studio paints. I used regular stamps and stamped with the multi-medium and then used a series of greens mixed to get darker and darker as I made subsequent stamped impressions. She recommends using foam stamps for this technique but I had a bold image and I wanted it to be subtle. I think it works. The top two stamped images in black are by Stampers Anonymous designed by Tim Holtz.

The middle ATC was created by weaving the aluminum flashing tape you get at home improvement stores. After weaving the tape on chipboard to get some rigidity I used alcohol inks on the background. I cut and embossed some Cuttlebug images and also colored them with alcohol inks.

The last one is a a dried baby wipe (smells nice and fresh too!) that I inked with Ranger Distress inks. I tapped them to the craft sheet then spritzed it with water and colored the baby wipe. When it was dry I used another Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz image. The final touch was a shiny embellishment that I toned down by sanding a bit and coloring with Distress Stickles.

Until my next post,

Diane

Homeless ATC's get adopted

One of the neat things about joining Yahoo groups is "meeting" people (via the internet) you have a common interest with -- like creating cards or ATC's or mini books. I posted an image to the Altered Designs group of one of my TGIF ATC's and got a comment back asking if I wanted to do a swap apart from the group. These previously homeless ATC's are now in the hands of Stephanie of Joyulision. She does some neat digital creations with Photoshop -- give her site a look/see and I think you'll like it. She also has a keen photographic eye and has some beautiful photographs on her site. Two of the ATC's (the middle and right one) were already featured on previous posts. The were colored with Ranger Alcohol inks and the phrases printed in acetate. The one on the left is another of my recycled cereal boxes with gesso and Portfolio Oil Pastels. The stamps on that one were from...you guess it Studio G.

Until my next post,

Diane

Playing with air again

Here's another card I made using the new Brights alcohol inks from Ranger and the compressed air technique by Tim Holtz. The base stamp and the sentiment are from Impression Obsession. I stamped the sentiment on flowered vellum using StazOn and adhered it with my Xyron. I added a double strand of ric-rack for a final touch.

Until my next post,

Diane

New craft tool -- a can of air

I'm constantly amazed by the things crafters think up to use for tools and embellishments. Ever since I discovered Tim Holtz (that makes me sound like a Hollywood agent which I'm not) I've been looking up and down the aisles of hardware stores for cool things to use on cards. He's come up with another one -- using a can of air to disperse alcohol inks on glossy papers before they dry. Just use a drop or two and then use the can of air and see what happens next. I used the new Brights Alcohol inks and what a fun card this makes. The background stamp is from Impression Obsession, the $1 ribbon from Michael's and the Smile stamp from Inque.

Until my next post,

Diane

Stampers Corner March ATC of the month

This month at my Yahoo group Stampers Corner our ATC of the month club had a theme of “acetate use”. The base of this cards is using the Rock King card stock from DCWV. On top of that is a whitish piece of paper cut to the same size as my acetate. I’ve got a pack from the Paper Cut. It is heat quality so you can use it in a copy machine or laser printer and you can heat emboss on it too. I ran a 8.5 x 11 piece through my laser printer and printed some free quotes from Pennywise Arts. I adhered the paper to the acetate with my Xyron to hide the glue lines. I used Ranger alcohol inks in the following colors: lettuce, meadow, pesto, bottle and stream. The finishing touches were a bit of peel-off stickers from Dovecraft colored with the same alcohol ink colors and some outlining with a Marvy Metallic Marker. Hope you like it.

Until my next post,
Diane