Just Add Ink Round Sketch Challenge

Hi everyone! This is my first post from my new laptop. Alas my old laptop went to laptop heaven as it was beyond repair. Kind of sad when it costs more to repair something than to buy something brand new which is why we have become a throw away society. I can only hope that the repair center it was sent to took out the old parts which were still good to use on a refurbished system or at least recycled them in some way.

This week the challenge over at Just Add Ink is to use this sketch. As you know I don't often use sketches but I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone.

I decided to make a print and cut as I don't really like to paper piece. Alas the first design I saved on a SD card as I created it on my old desktop. However, I got an error message when I tried to open it on my laptop in Studio. Instead of Studio telling me there was not enough room to save it on the card it supposedly saved it. So it was back to the drawing board.

 I decided to use a photo of my favorite place to hike. I wanted it to look like you were perhaps looking out of a cabin window at the outdoors. This is what I ended up with.

I started by drawing a circle the size I wanted for my pieces. Then I did an external offset of the circle in Studio. Taking the larger circle I filled it in with black. The original circle I filled in with my photo and then cut into pieces using the knife tool. Then I placed the pieces onto the black circle where I wanted them and grouped everything together.

Then I took a circle frame which had been a free weekly offering from Silhouette and modified it so that I had my scalloped circle. I then filled it with green color. Then it was simply doing a print and cut.

After cutting out my circle card base I edged it with Versa Magic"Gingerbread" chalk ink. I also edged the photo circle.

To give the scallop circle a little bit of interest I used Creative Medium Shimmer over it. The Shimmer is really subtle but the color doesn't look so flat.

I  took a black 3d Glaze pen and used it on the black printed parts of the photo circle. Because it was used on matte card stock instead of glossy the ink did not flow as well in a large area. But in this case it was alright as I got more of a distressed paint look for my faux window frame. To distress it a little more on purpose I colored over some of the  chalk ink on the edge.

I stamped the sentiment from a bird set by Fiskars on clear plastic using Stazon Timber Brown ink.   Then when it was dry I used a cosmetic wedge to apply Stazon Matte Glaze over it so the plastic was not shiny as well as to give it a little bit of protection. Alas I do not have clear Creative Medium yet so I adhered my sentiment with Creative Medium Shimmer. It looks a little frosty but I don't think it detracts as much as if I had stamped the sentiment on tissue paper or card stock.

I really think the Creative Medium is the way to go when adhering things that regular adhesive would otherwise show through. I am so thankful that Roni at Inkstains with Roni introduced me to this product. It may look expensive but believe me a little bit goes a long way.

There you have my challenge to myself to try a sketch as well as my play using some products which are new to me.

That is all for now. Thank you for stopping by and if you are interested you still have time to create something for the Just Add Ink challenge this week.  Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Gelli Print And Tissue Paper Experiment Butterfly Cards

Hi readers! I hope if you are living in a part of the country which is having a heat wave right now that you are staying cool. I can take the heat but right now it is the humidity which is killing me. Today also I noticed that the area is really smokey which means there must be fires burning somewhere near. Unfortunately because my craft room gets so hot and a fan blows everything around it is not conductive to crafting. However, this week I did turn the fan off long enough to do some experimenting with my gelli plate. Today I went ahead and turned it off long enough to make two cards.

First I decided to see if I could use wax paper on the gelli plate. I found out that although I cut out my shapes first with my Cameo that the butterflies curled when I took them off the plate. Next time I'll pull  the prints first on wax paper and then cut out with my Cameo. The frame panel the butterfly is on is wax paper and did not curl as bad. Unfortunately the photo does not show the shimmer on it from metallic paint.

The background is a print I pulled and used large bubble wrap on it.  The butterfly was one left over cut out of card stock. I used the grunge technique. The paint was dry on my plate so I brushed over it with acrylic ink then pulled the butterfly. I used 3d paint for the body and jute for the antennae. Then pop dotted it onto the wax paper panel.

I misted white tissue paper with color sprays I made using alcohol ink and water.  I let the paper air dry and then stamped with Ranger's Jet Black Archival ink. If you do this you will want to use a waterproof ink so your stamping doesn't smear when you glue the tissue paper down on your project. Also be aware that the color will dry lighter. Of course if it is too light you can always spray again like I did.

The trim was made by cleaning my plate with packing tape after the paint had dried on it. Then I brushed Mint Perfect Pearl on the back to fill in places where there wasn't paint. I cut it with decorative scissors.

This card was done basically the same way. However, this time I used corrugated cardboard to get the texture on the background paper. The wax paper panel blended in more but I think I like the softer look of this card.  Today I got in the mail Stazon Timber Brown ink so decided to use that on the tissue paper.  I turned my scissors over to cut the decorative trim which hides the seam.

If you don't have a cutting machine you can still download the Silhouette Studio software and set the cut lines to print so you can out by hand. You can also create your own labels,tags ect. in Studio. If you are going to do more than set the print lines there is a little bit of a learning curve but a lot of the process is the same as in some of the graphic programs on the market.

If you don't have a gelli plate you can either make your own using gelatin or pull prints on a piece of glass or acrylic. The advantage to using the piece of glass is you don't have to worry about damaging it with something sharp.

Packing tape can also be used to make trim using glitter, Perfect Pearls or other shimmer powders, or painting by hand.

I encourage you to look around your house and see what you might have on hand which you can modify with paint, color sprays,stamping, etc. 

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Just Add Ink Shaker Challenge

Hi everyone I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. Over at Just Add Ink there is a "Shaker" challenge this week. I have seen shaker cards but have only made one as part of a Stamping Up get together never one from scratch.  So into Studio I went and designed a card base with a cut out butterfly. Because as you know I love butterflies.This is my entry in the challenge.

After I cut out my card base I stamped the front using an Inkadinkado butterfly background stamp.  I was going to emboss with a white pearl embossing powder but there was Stazon ink left on the stamp and the liquid embossing dauber picked that color up. So although I had not planned to go purple purple is what I got. Which is alright because it was perfect for using the purple ribbon down the side.

 I don't know how other people make Shaker cards but I decided to cut a piece of plastic just a little larger than my opening. I cut out of card stock a panel the same size as the front of the card and glued the plastic on three sides to that. Filled my plastic panel with a large and finer glitter and then glued the top. To be on the safe side I then used packing tape all the way around the edges of the plastic. Glued my glitter filled  panel inside the card and added ribbon and my card was done.

If you have never made a "Shaker" card or used a "Shaker" technique on a layout I encourage you to do so. It is a fun element whether used on a card or on a scrapbook layout. Don't be afraid to try something new. Who knows you just might have a bit of fun along the way. :-) And that is what crafting is for me having fun.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Just Add Ink Challenge

Hi everyone it took longer for me to find my Gelli plate round prints than to make this card. Silly prints were hiding in the file drawer along with some other papers I've made over the years. I really should be frugal and be using those papers in projects. Anyway I thought I would enter the Just Add Ink Challenge. Alas by the time you read this post the challenge will probably be over. I just found out about it today and for those who know me you know I would rather be crafting than doing housework.

Here is the sketch for the challenge:

Here is my card:

The first thing you will notice is that I rotated the sketch counterclockwise. Also since I was using a round gelli plate print I brought the paper all the way to the edge. This is a print I pulled on ledger paper. I decided since I have a ton of it that an office worker was going to throw in the trash to see how it would work pulling prints. To me it doesn't seem to be any heavier than copy paper but for some reason it doesn't have the tendency to buckle like copy paper does when it gets wet with paint. I took four strands of variegated crochet thread for my bow. The thinking of you stamp is a G Studio stamp bought for a dollar at WalMart. I used Stazon Cactus Green ink to stamp with. Then colored with colored pencils. Then I used Scribbles Dimensional fabric paint for the centers of the flowers.There you have it my quick challenge card.

If you pull prints on a gelli plate what papers do you use? Do you like to enter challenges?

Back to cleaning and organizing my craft room. It seems to be an ongoing project. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!