Fifth, optional, workshop card

Trying to be sensitive to those that might not really be into Christmas, I made a fifth card as substitute. I'm not sure where the snowflake is from, but the text is from Biblical Impressions.

The background is from the blue glossy in my Nov 2nd post. The flakes were embossed with white craft ink and SU winter white embossing powder onto white vellum. I also tried it on blue dark blue vellum, which worked fine as well. The blue gloss cardstock is especially slippery, so I did not want my workshop ladies to risk ruining their cards with messy flakes. The background is silver.

4th workshop card

This card was a bit too time consuming for a workshop, so I would never do it again. :-/

I stamped pine-needles from Biblical Impressions over the alcohol-inked panel with Stazon Green. The text is also from Biblical Impressions, and the ornament is from Eureka. I used a slot punch after stamping the image with versamark, on the top of the ornament (where the hook is attached). Then I used a versamark pen to fill in the space and embossed in gold. I glued all but the top to the panel, so that the hook could be easily inserted.

Third workshop card

Ah, a simpler card! If I had duplicates or triplicates of all my supplies, I would have started with this card, then worked up to the fifth card (skipping the fourth card altogether, instead of having the option of choosing two out of the three Christmas/winter themed cards). But I have cards being worked on simultaneously because of supply limitations.

Anyway, the stamp on this is from PSX.

Second workshop card

This is a more vivid mix of alcohol inks; I wanted a "fruity" look for the harvest theme! After cutting the alcohol ink panel diagonally, I stamped the text on one diagonal, using Stazon Ink. Glossy cardstock is slippery, so it's important to be careful when stamping on it. the grapes were stamped with ordinary black dye ink, and colored in with markers.

Stamps are from Biblical Impressions.

First workshop card

I felt so badly ... my cards were too time consuming for the women to finish. They were all new to stamping, and there were eight, which is quite a few when they are beginners. The workshop was held through the local art center, and was not inexpensive, so I feel doubly bad. Most of them were amazingly gracious about it, and I hope I haven't scared them away from stamping!

The featured technique was polished stone. I applied the inks in stripes across the felt pad, and the alcohol in striped as well. The cardstock on this is sort of "half glossy", more of a matt finish, but slippery like glossy, and works as well as glossy. The moose, from Biblical Impressions, was chalked.

Not all glossies are alike!

I am really seeing a lot of differences in the various glossy cardstocks I use. Some make colors look very vivid, others are dull or alter the shades. Some take heat embossing, others bubble. For a workshop I am doing tomorrow, I have been using alcohol inks, and have discovered that even colored glossies differ. The black from yesterday's post took the alcohol inks well. When I tried the same effect on blue, however, the blue came off of the cardstock, and left white specks. In all honesty, I didn't get it at first; I thought perhaps there was left over silver from a previous use. At any rate, as you can see, the effect is rather neat. The upper panel looks a bit like a gentle snow fall, the other, like a blizzard.

Workshop: polished stone technique

I am doing a workshop with alcohol inks on Saturday, and tonight I finally got a chance to prepare. Actually, it's more like I finally got a chance to play! It's nearly midnight, and I haven't completed a single card since I started four hours ago ... I'm having way too much fun!

This design took me completely by surprise. I decided to see if the inks worked on black glossy, but it really did not ... until I added gold fixative. Then wow, what a difference! It still seemed a little dark, so I added one more drop of gold directly to the paper. Then I paused, and watched it spread. What a perfect moon! If you can see by the scan, there is an odd "aura" around the moon, but I don't think that hurts it. Sort of like Saturn's ring(s).