Art Journal page using Alcohol Inks

Good morning

Today's post shares an Art Journal page that I created using Alcohol Inks for my background

I don't use alcohol inks very often and am by no means an expert with them 

but I am very happy with the way my page turned out.

I have used Office One A4 180gsm Gloss Photo Paper for my base.

This paper came from my Mum and is not as glossy as some of the other gloss photo papers I have.

I wasn't sure if it was going to work but figured I would give it a try, nothing to loose right...

I sprinkled blending solution onto half of the A4 sheet. 

I decided to work on half the sheet at a time because the alcohol inks 

dry quite quickly and I did not want them to dry before 

I had the opportunity to move them around and get the look I was going for.

Next I added the alcohol inks.

I am using Paper Mill Shimmer alcohol inks for this page.

The colour I used are Lime Green, Grass, Ocean Blue and Sea Breeze

I also added a few drops of Slate, this is not a shimmer.

I used my Couture Creations "puffer" tool to move the ink around, adding more blending solution and ink 

as needed to get a nice all over cover

I then added several drops of Ranger Fixative in Gold. 

I did not move this around because I wanted it to look like gold splatter.

I set this aside to dry. You can dry it with your heat gun 

but I find that moves the colour around a bit more 

and I prefer to let it dry naturally.

To add more interest to my beautiful shimmery background 

I splattered some slightly watered down acrylic paints using my fan brush.

The paints I used were 

Black Gloss, Golden Turquoise, Sparkling Sapphire Pearl and White Frost Pearl.

The focal point for my page was created by using my Big Shot to die cut white cardstock 

using a Hexagon die I purchased from Downunder Scrapbooking. It is GD2056.

I cut it from both white and pearl gold cardstock to see which one I preferred.

I chose the white because it stood out from the background better.

I used Art Glitter glue to attach the hexagons to the page.

To help my hexagons look like they are part of the page 

and to help them stand out a little more I used my Stabile All pencil in black

 and a water brush to shade around each hexagon.

I used a black fine point Sharpie to draw a double lined border 

around the page and then coloured black squares between those two lines.

A Copper 250 Opaque Texta marker was used to fill in the blank squares in the border. 

This colour is very close to the colour of the gold splatters in the background.

A fine white scribbly border, made with my fineliner bottle and watered down acrylic paint, 

was added to the inside of the border to finish it off.

I like to mix fonts for my quotes so I have used 

Kaisercraft's DD735 Uppercase Alpha die and black cardstock

 to cut "OPEN" and then printed "your mind" onto copier paper

to complet the quote.

I used Art Glitter glue to attach the title to the page.

A 0.7mm white Posca pen was used to highlight the black letters.

I have to say I really enjoyed making this page.

I love the look you get with alcohol inks and plan on using them more frequently in the future.

I have a process video

I hope you enjoy watching it.

Thank you for spending part of your day here with me today

Till next time

Stay safe

Hugs

Julie

 

Making flowers using dies

Good morning

Today I am sharing a video showing how I create five flowers using an assortment of dies.

The shaping techniques I use on these flowers can be used on any fussy or die cut flowers.

You will find links to most of the products I use to make these flowers in the video description box.

These are my flowers

Hope you enjoy watching my video.

Thank you for sharing part of your day here with me today

Till next time

Stay safe

Hugs

Julie

February inspirational post for Mystical Scrapbooks

Good morning

Today my post is about using chipboard on cards.

The feature product this month at Mystical Scrapbooks is chipboard so I decided to remind myself and you that chipboard is great for cards.

I cut pink cardstock to 10 1/2" x 5 1/4", scored at 5 1/4" on the 10 1/2" side.

This makes a 5 1/4" card

The papers I used for these cards is Couture Creations Peaceful Peonies.

The beautiful lace is from my Mum.

For the top card I cut Patterned paper No. 10 to 5" square and 4 strips 1" x 5"

I distressed the edges of all of the patterned paper 

and then inked the edge using my VersaColor black ink cube.

I attached the 5" square using Art Glitter glue

and the 1" strips were attached with foam squares.

I used my hot glue gun to attach the lace about 2/3rds of the way up the card front.

I fussy cut several flowers from Patterned Paper No 6.

I inked the edges of the flowers and attached them to the card front.

A 4 1/4" x 1" strip that had been distressed and inked is attached to the card front, 

about 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom. This is where I will put the greeting

The chipboard I used on this card is from the "Around the World in 8 weeks" 

challenge that was held by Mystical Scrapbooks last year

I sprayed it with white undercoat and then covered it with gold ink.

The greeting was stamped using LDRS Happy Birthday Stack 

and die cut using LDRS Sentiment Stack die.

I stamped it with Versafine Onyx Black Ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

Final step was to add a few drops of Spun Sugar Distress Stickles

Card No. 2

The papers for this card are Patterned Paper No 1.

I cut a 5" square piece and a 2" x 5" piece.

I cut 2 pieces 1/2" x 5" and attached one to each of the long edges.

I attached the lace vertically, approximately the middle of the card.

I added some fun foam to the back of the strip and then attached it to the front of the card

so it slightly overlapped the edge of the lace.

I then attached some of the fussy cut flowers to the panel.

The chipboard for this card is from Memory Maze - Wire Butterfly Set.

I added a coat of Nuvo Drops - White Blizzard 

to the undercoated chipboard before attaching it to the card.

The sentiment is a Rub On (from Kaisercraft I think) and is attached to the card using foam squares.

While the Nuvo Drops were still wet I sprinkled Spellbinders Sparkle Dust Glitter

over it and then tipped the excess off.

Once again I added a few dots of Spun Sugar Distress Stickles randomly on the card front.

You can see my process video here

Thank you for spending part of your day here with me today

Till next time

Stay safe

Hugs

Julie

Mystical Scrapbooks Cyber Crop

Good morning

Today I want to share the layout I created for the February Cyber Crop at Mystical Scrapbooks.

This is the sketch I used.

This challenge requires you to use the sketch and to add gold to your project.

Here is my layout

The outer frame of the layout is Kaisercraft's Time Machine - Mechanism paper that I have cut the middle out of leaving a 1" frame.

The background of the layout is Uniquely Creative's Drive & Fly - Engine paper

 that I have trimmed to 11 1/2" x 11 1/2"

I used Kaisercraft's Crackle stencil and some black Gesso randomly to add some interest at the top and bottom of the layout.

Once the gesso was dry I rubbed Art Alchemy Metallique Wax in White Gold.

I trimmed Uniquely Creative - Drive & Fly - Train to 7 1/2" x 12"

and two strips of Mechanism 3/4" x 12".

The strips were added to the 12" edges of the Train paper

Next I trimmed a piece of Kaisercraft - Time Machine - Ironclad to 4" x 10" and tore the two 4" edges.

A little more gold was added to the layout by heat embossing a frame from Memory Maze's Junky Frame and Arrows chipboard with embossing ink and Stampendous Aged Gold embossing enamel.

I cut the frame in half so I could off set it on my layout.

I used an emery board to file around the edges of my photos and matted them onto the Mechanism paper.

I also added some scrap chipboard to the back of the photos.

I used my Scan N Cut to cut my title and three tropical leaves.

Time now to attach all of my elements to my page. I used Art Glitter glue for this.

Here is my process video

I hope you pop over to Mystical Scrapbooks and check out the Cyber Crop

Till next time

Stay safe

Hugs

Julie

Denise Boddey DT album flip through

 Good morning

Today I want to share a mini album I created using Denise Boddey Designs Elegance patterned papers.

The album started life as an accordion album.

I altered the album by adding a spine and assorted flaps, pockets and a hand made envelope.

You can see that video here

All of the papers have had the edges distressed using my distressing tool 

and then inked with a VersaColor black ink cube.

Each page has a top opening pocket with a photo mat.

I have also used some velum, made some flowers using Craft Barn Stamp/Die set 

and created the tags for the album using Uniquely Creatives Tags Tops & Tails.

Lace from my stash helps to decorate the front of the album.

Here are some photos

Album Closed

Album Open

Closeup of Front Cover

Front Cover

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

Back Cover

The papers I have used are:-

Grace

Style

Chic

 

After the Rain

Refined

and the chipboard is

Delicate Branch

Here is my process video. I hope you enjoy it.

Thank you for spending part of your day here with me today

Till next time

Stay Safe

Hugs

Julie

 

Mystical Scrapbooks February Challenge

Good morning

Today I am sharing the layout I created for the February challenge at Mystical Scrapbooks

There is a sketch challenge this month and this is the sketch I created for the challenge.

There are two challenges and two sketches for you to use.

The added requirement for this challenge is to use some altered chipboard on your page.

This is my layout

You can see it closely follows the sketch.

The paper I have used for this layout is Mechanism from Kaisercraft's Time Machine range.

The background is white cardstock

I tore two strips approximately 2" wide and 2 approximately 1/2" wide 

and layered the 1/2" strip behind the 2" strips.

These were then attached to the sides of my layout.

My photos are 4" x 3", I filed around the edge of each one 

with an emery board to give a thin white border.

I then matted them onto the dark side of the Mechanism patterned paper

I have added scraps of chipboard to the back of my photos 

to give them a little lift when I attach them to my layout

I have used two packets of chipboard on my layout.

Dusty Attic Cog Border #3 and

Memory Maze Live Every Adventure

I coated the chipboard with white Gesso and then

Silver metallic acrylic paint

I wanted the Dusty Attic Cog Border #3 to look a bit rusty and old 

so I added some textured brown paint, 

that I have had in my stash for about 20 years,

just randomly around the edges.

I also had some Uniquely Creative Silver Metal Cogs.

I painted these with the same silver metallic paint so they had the same look as my chipboard.

I tucked the border chipboard edge under the side strips, 

using liquid glue to hold it in place.

I attached the photos to the layout, then added the single cogs, both chipboard and metal,

so some of them overlapped the photos.

I wanted some of the chipboard elements on the side panels. 

I painted them with black acrylic paint so they would stand out better on the green paper

 and attached them using Art Glitter glue.

I find that this glue works extremely well for attaching chipboard and metal objects.

To create the title I used my Kaisercraft Alphabet Upper Case dies

 to cut "Toys" from the same patterned paper.

I attached these to a piece of acetate, added thin strips of chipboard 

behind the first two letters, before attaching it at the bottom of my page 

so it overlapped the vacant area of the bottom photo.

I gave the title a coat of Glossy Accents for a nice shine.

Here is my process video. I hope you enjoy watching it.

Thank you for spending part of your day here with me today

Till next time

Stay safe

Hugs

Julie

Live your best Life Art Journal page

Hello, hello

Welcome to my blog today where I want to show you an art journal page I have just completed.

I used Gelatos to colour the background. The colours I used are

Lemon, Red Cherry, Tangerine, Gold Champagne and Butter Cream

Once the colours were dry I gave my page a coat of Boyle Matt Spray

to seal it so the colours would not move when I added any other mediums.

I cut the circles from both white and black cardstock using Kaisercraft DD942 Stitched Circle Die.

I used pearl acrylic paints to colour the circles.

I gave each circle a couple of coats of a light colour 

then shaded around the edges with a darker tone of the same colour.

The colours I used are Duncan brand pearl acrylics

Lemon Drop, Powder Blue, Sparkling Sapphire, Bright Turquoise, Golden Aqua, Golden Lime, Golden Turquoise, and Green

I also used Folk Art Metallic Pure Gold

I stencilled onto the background using a 13@rts broken circles stencil.

Firstly I used Duncan Natural Texture (gritty paste) in Pumpkin

then Duncan Pearl White acrylic paint.

The stamping on the background is done with Archival Jet Black Ink 

and an assortment of circle stamps.

One of the stamps is Kaisercraft's Stains stamp set 

and the other two are unknown brands.

I used my black Stabilo All pencil and a wet brush to shade around each of the circles 

before giving them a scribbly border using slightly watered down

 black acrylic paint in a Fineliner bottle.

The same bottle of paint was used to draw a scribbly border around the page.

I gave each of the circles a highlight using a flat brush and some watered down white acrylic paint.

The same watered down paint was used with my fan brush to add a good amount of splatters to my page.

The quote has been stamped using Tim Holtz Cling foam stamps from the block lower alphas set.

The centre part of the quote was printed using my Brother PTouch label maker.

There is a lot of texture and shine on this page.

Here is my process video for you to check out

As always, thanks for spending part of your day here with me today

Till next time

Stay safe,

Hugs

Julie

Altering an Accordion Album so it has a spine

Hi there.

A very quick post today sharing a video showing how I altered an 

accordion album I purchased a Cheap As Chips.

I have used my We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board to create an envelope 

to add to the album

I have also added flaps, tags, booklets and pockets.

All of the details are in the YouTube clip below

I hope you enjoy the video and try doing this. It is fun to change things around a little

Thank you for spending part of your day here with me today

Till next time

Stay safe

Hugs

Julie 

Ink Blended Cards

Good morning.

I have been wanting to do some ink blending for some time so today is the day. 

I am by no means an expert at this technique, 

as a matter of fact I have probably only done it once or twice at the most.

The theme for the month over at Mystical Scrapbooking is Techniques

so I thought I would do a blog post on ink blending.

I also created a video and I will put that at the end of this post if you would like to check it out.

I made three cards

The first card I created has a heat embossed image as the focal point

I stamped Woodware - Bold Blooms - Ginny with Versamark Embossing Ink onto the front of my card panel after I had wiped it over with my Embossing Buddy

I then used White embossing powder and set it with my heat gun.

This creates a resist for the Distress Inks I will blend on top.

I attached a strip of Mint Tape (Removable Masking type tape) to the areas of the card so the blended ink did not go onto the back of the card base.

I have used my domed blending tool to apply Mustard Seed, Ripe Persimmon and Festive Berries

 to the front of the card covering about 1/3 of the card front with each colour

 and using the lighter colour to blend over the area where the colours meet.

Once the card front was covered I used a tissue to wipe over the image

to remove any ink that may have been on the embossing.

The sentiment is from 13@rts His & Hers Remastered Sticker Collection.

Card No. 2 is similar in appearance

For this card I blended the Distress Ink onto a White Cardstock panel that measures 3 3/4" x 5 1/2"

The colours I used are Scattered Straw, Peeled Paint and Broken China.

I used a die and my Big Shot to cut the floral bouquet from white cardstock and attached it to the 

inked panel using liquid glue.

Because the Inks are reactivated by liquid I was careful to not get any glue on the inked panel.

I added a piece of scrap chipboard to the back of the panel before attaching it to my card base.

The sentiment came from the same 13 @rts sticker sheet.

The ink blending on the third card is a little different.

I stamped and heat embossed Woodware - Whimsical Flower - Daisy May 

onto a white cardstock panel that measures 3 5/8" x 5 3/8"

I used black embossing powder for this stamp.

I then used my finger daubers to colour the image with Distress Inks.

The colours I used are Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed and Ripe Persimmon

I did manage to go over the lines a couple of times 

but I used my Mono Sand Eraser to rub the ink away where it bothered me.

To give the black sections in the centre of the flower a little sparkle I added 

dots of Viva Black Pearl Pen

I cut a panel of black cardstock 3 7/8" x 5 5/8",

matted my image panel onto that

and then attached the black panel to the front of the card base.

The sentiment, once again, came from the 13 @rts sticker sheet.

So three very simple cards today but I have to say I really enjoyed making them.

They are quick and easy but quite striking I think.

Have you tried ink blending? Let me know how you found it.

Here is my video

 Thank you for spending part of your day here with me today

Till next time

Stay safe

Hugs

Julie

Design Team Layout for Mystical Scrapbooks January 2022 Cyber Crop

Good morning

Today is the start of the January Cyber Crop at Mystical Scrapbooks.

You will find the three challenges and all of the details for entering here.

Lots of great prizes to be won so why not check it out.

The challenge that this layout is for is to use stamping on your project.

The patterned paper is Carta Bella Rustic Elegance - Chevron

I cut two 3/4" strips of the patterned paper,

One I attached to the bottom of my background cardstock and the other I trimmed to 8 1/2"

to be used at the bottom of my photo.

I trimmed a 1/4" from the bottom of the background before I added the 12" strip of patterned paper,

making the background back up to 12" square.

To add texture to the White cardstock background, I have added 

Modelling Paste through Dusty Attic's Criss Cross stencil.

I also smooshed a Dina Wakley Scribble stick, 

that I watered down using my spritzer bottle, 

in a light turquoise randomly on the background cardstock.

I fussy cut a section of the patterned paper along the turquoise chevron 

and attached it to the top of the layout.

I searched through my stash and found all of the stamp sets that had tiny images.

I used

Kaisercraft - Calendar

Picket Fence - Flowers for the picking

Bake a Cake from a magazine

Heidi Swap - 369387

Acid Drops & Whatnots - Life but from a slightly different angle

Stampendous - Bold Blossoms

Precious Remembrance - Oh So Fun

Ruby Rock It - Mini Elements

Garden Delights from magazine

I used my Versafine Onyx Black ink to stamp diagonally from the top left to the bottom right of the layout.

Once my stamping was complete I attached my 6" square photo, 

that had been matted on a piece of 6 3/16" square piece of black cardstock, 

and the Chevron patterned paper strip to the layout

Next I used the Sticker sheet to create a cluster at the bottom left of the photo

The sticker sheet included a sticker that said "flower girl" and I have used that for my title.

Here is my process video

I hope you enjoy watching it

Thank you for spending part of your day here with me today

Until next time

Stay safe

Hugs

Julie