Autumn, Birthday, and Christmas AI and Tin Foil

Hello Stamplings!

How are you? I hope you are doing well and enjoying yourself wherever you are! I have a Threefer to show you what I've been playing with this past week, so get your comfy shoes on. I don't know what that has to do with it, but okay, comfy shoes are good.

I was watching a You Tube video (don't ask me which one) and you know how one ends and another one starts automatically, especially if your attention drifts and you start looking out the window? The new video turned out to be a Marion Emberson video using the technique of alcoholic ink on kitchen aluminum foil. 

That led me on a search of other videos and I found blogs where this has been done ten years ago! Maybe there are even older ones? So perhaps you played with this technique long ago, but I must have been in the Principal's office that day. (No surprise that.) That's one of many cool things about the Interworlds: you can always find new and new-to-you crafty things to try!

Onefer

To make a large foil panel in fall AI colors (below), I glued a piece of aluminum foil to cardstock and folded over the sides. Once I was satisfied with the colors, I die-cut the leaves using a Simon Says Stamp die called, "Etched Laurel Leaves." The brick e/f background was in my BOB. Hammy decorated it using his feet daubers and metallic inks. I gold heat-embossed the sediment, ran a copper ink pad around the border of it and the two panels and ... shazambam, it was done!

Here is the panel of tin foil after inking:

And here are a few leaves I die-cut to make into more cards:

Challenges:

• Cardz 4 Galz: Leaves.
  
• Just Us Girls: Fall mood board. I was inspired by the leaf image.
  
• {PIN}spiration: Birthday and leaves.
  
• Seize the Birthday: Use fall colors.
• TIME OUT: Photo inspiration.
  

   

Twofer

How about these for bright alcohol colors?? Sorry, I should have warned you to put on your sunglasses! The above is actually my first result using AI on aluminum foil. I didn't get the subtle results that Marion did and that's an understatement! But I have to say, the bold jewel tones are beautiful in real life. I used a Sizzix e/f for added texture ala Marion. 

Challenges

• Can You Handle the Pressure?: A/G with option of trees.
  
• HLS Anything Goes With Dies.
  
• HLS Birthday: A/G.

Threefer

There were quite a few spots of ink that remained sticky on the brightly colored panel I made, so I stuck on gold foil in those spots before dry embossing. Even after that, however, it wasn't completely sticky-free. I was concerned about ink getting on my embossing folder, so I laid a sheet of opaque vellum over the colored foil before I closed the lid and embossed it. 

When I lifted the embossing folder and removed the vellum, sure enough there was quite a bit of ink on the vellum. All that ink would have been on my embossing folder and now, WOW, I ended up with this stunning sheet of vellum, which natch, I made into a card. 

Here's a closeup:

The photos don't do the vellum panel justice. I will be doing this technique again, both for the foil results and for the vellum mop-ups!

Challenges

• HLS Christmas: A/G.
  
• Krafty Chicks: Christmas.
  
• The Holly and Ivy Christmas: Anything Christmas goes.

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If I saw the date right, I just noticed there is a new Gina K. video about using AI on glitter foil so maybe this technique is making a comeback. Can't wait to watch the video and try it on glitter paper!

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

Rereading this I have to add: If I've done this technique before at a retreat with you, please forgive me for not remembering. It's sad that I feel like I have to add that to my posts now, but I'm finding that I am often "very sure" that something happened or didn't happen, only to find out I am not remembering or misremembering. My brain is all filled up, I guess, and now things are starting to overflow out the back!

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse and special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower! 

*Life is too short!

Group of Seven - Water Lifting

Hello Stamplings!

I hope you are doing well and I hope your garden is producing wonderful treats. Gardens love the heat, I think; people, not so much. But before we know it, we will be enjoying the cooler temperatures and beautiful colors of fall. Hang in there!

This month our Group of Seven Cardmakers played with a second way to do ink blending and you can find instructions and video links on the website.  We then took that one step further by adding another technique to our cards with water lifting. Using a water brush or watercolor paintbrush and water, we lifted the ink from our open images by applying the water in small areas and then blotting up the water with a paper towel. This technique is also known as faux bleaching.

I enjoyed playing with this technique and made two cards.

Onefer

I used a NBUS Birthday Balloons stamp from Studio Katia. The date on it is 2018, which is basically considered brand-new to me!😂 There are two stamps in the set and they are so cute. 

I heat-embossed the image in gold and then blended two oxide inks over the panel. Using my waterbrush and a paper towel, I removed the ink from the balloons. To finish the card, I added the sediment and two lines of gold Washi tape.

Challenges

• HLS Birthday: Anything goes.
  
• Send a Smile 4 Kids: Birthday cards for kids.
  
• SSS Wednesday: Bright and cheerful.

Twofer

Next I had fun making a Christmas card using the same technique. After I was happy with the "bleached" snowman (from Gerda Steiner Designs), I turned it over to Hammy who gleefully schplattered the scene with water so it looked like it was snowing. I matted the panel with crinkly gold mulberry paper. I don't remember using mulberry paper without fraying the edges, but I like it unfrayed. Now I will start using more of my stash of it!

Challenges

• Krafty Chicks: All occasions.
  
• Peace on Earth: Anything Christmas goes.
  
• Rudolph Days: Anything Christmas goes.

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I hope you will pop over to the Group of Seven Cardmakers website to see the other cool designs from the other ladies! There will be a link for you to share your own fabulous creations using this technique. Many thanks go to our talented friends Linda Snodgrass and Colleen Foelker for introducing these techniques to some of us at a craft retreat years ago. It's been a fun technique to revisit!

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Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse and special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower! 

*Life is too short!

Colored Dry Embossing

Hello Stamplings!

How are you? I've got a cooler full of frozen neck scarves, so let me know if you need one while you're reading this. I really feel for all of you who have been under the heat dome for days and weeks now and my prayers are with the people of Greece, Canada, and Europe where there are both raging fires and heat.🙏

Group of Seven Cardmakers

This month the Group of Seven Cardmakers turned to 3D embossing folders for fun and Bonnie provided videos and examples for us to try, including sponging, watercoloring, and inkpad swiping. Several beautiful examples and the links to the videos are on the Go7 blog.

I wasn't feeling well earlier this month, so I only made one card, using watercoloring:

If I'm honest, I struggle with adding any sort of color, paint, or ink to my embossing folders or embossed panels. It's just one of those things. Fortunately, I love the look of embossing folders without color! Nevertheless, I'm not a quitter, so I tried watercoloring an e/f again. 

I used a 3D folder from Simon Says and colored the bits with my Ziggies. As in the past, I thought it turned out meh. It sat there for a few days. Thankfully, Hammy came back from his bowling league championship bus tour so I could ask his advice. I'm going to take a pee break here while you get over laughing hysterically as you visualize eggplant-shaped hamsters bowling with those little tiny arms and legs.

After he ran around his wheel for five minutes, looking at the panel from every angle, Hammy saved the day as usual and we ended up deeming the card sendable ~ and that's what counts! I fussy-cut the panel and then outlined the bits with my fine-line pen. To add more interest, I popped it on another embossed panel, but I placed it too far to the right, so I added a strip of Washi tape for balance.

Please check out the amazing cards the other ladies have created using their embossing folders and all the various coloring methods! 

Group of Seven Cardmakers!

Challenges

• HLS Birthday: A/G.
  
• Seize the Birthday: A/G.
  
• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: A/G.

Twofer

I made this simple design for the July Rudolph Days Challenge. I missed last month and need to catch up on making Christmas cards. I plan to use this design for batch-making, changing out the stamp. I'm also going to unearth my cache of Christmas pp, which should also work as backgrounds.

I don't have the packaging for this evergreen stamp and die, but it's a favorite. I stamped it twice on the card base and then once separately, so I could die-cut it and use it as a brooch in the upper corner. They're coming back, you know, brooches. The Picture Frame dies are from Waffle Flower.

 

Challenges

• Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers.
  
• Peace on Earth.

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This appeals to my dark sense of humor.

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Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy! LITS!*

As always, thank you for coming by to visit the Playhouse and special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower! As you can tell, I finally feel more like myself again. Thank you all for your ongoing thoughts and prayers. Stay cool and well!

*Life is too short!