A few samples for the weekend!

I just managed to snap a few pictures before the light faded here after a lovely sunny day, but it is depressing how early it is beginning to get dark now. Anyway, the pics are not the best as I had to rely too much on the flash, so the colours are odd and there are some reflections. First is my new alcohol ink container. Since I got all the new colours I just can't fit them into my original tin, so I took a cardboard chest that I have had hanging around for a few years (!) now and covered it with aluminium tape. This is really easy, even for an awkward shape like this, because it can be cajoled into odd corners and curves and is quite flexible. Once I'd covered the chest I then piped on some dots and the words "alcohol inks" onto the lid using 3D paint. Once absolutely set I then covered the lid with more tape and then began to burnish it down. You can use a variety of tools for this - I usually use something large, like a bone folder, to begin with and then scale down to a medium sized embossing tool to add texture and to coax the foil around the letters and shapes. The tape has another bonus in that any overlapped, or untidy edges are made just about unnoticable once it is all burnished down.

Next I chose three ink colours - Eggplant, Sailboat Blue and Purple (oops! I forget the name of the purple one!) and used the felt applictor tool to colourise the entire chest, being sure to get into all the nooks and crannies. I then went over the rim on the lid with the purple, just to create a contrast. Once dry (only takes a minute or two) I used a cotton bud soaked in the alcohol blending solution to carefully remove the colour from the raised shapes, dabbing them with tissue before the solution had time to remove any surrounding areas! A hole poked through the lid allowed me to attach a purple tassel which I secured into position with Glossy Accents and a large gemstone was the finishing touch.

It isn't a perfect creation, and my lettering is less than smart on this one, but I just wanted something bright and cheerful to keep the inks in and this does the job. The domed lid even allows room for the applicator tool, so this will be coming with me at the weekend!

The first card is a variation on a theme of my Silhouette Trees stamp over a sky background, but I used alcohol inks on gloss card this time to create the sky. The colours were Pool, Stonewashed and just a tiny drop of Stream and a miniscule dropette (!) of silver added to a felt applicator tool. I used a few squirts of blending solution to really weaken the shades before stamping them over the card twice. I made a paler moon by taking out the colour using blending solution on a cotton bud. I stamped the trees using Archival black ink and then added snow using the Inkssentials white pen. I cut away the section of card below the trees, stuck the image onto white card and trimmed it into a square. Some simple pale blue shading under the trees and a touch of clear silver sparkle from a glitter pen completed the look once it had been matted onto my card blank. So, a similar card to previous ones, but the sky looks very different using alcohol inks.

The second card is made with a combination of my Script Robin stamp and the clear PI set designed by Kirsty Wiseman, as I thought they would work well together. I am using Peppermint Twist papers in my demonstrations at the moment, so I grunged one of them up using Walnut Stain and Spiced Marmalade distress inks - I liked the result because the Christmas trees are glitterised, so they rejected the ink, making them stand out. I used the paper to cover the card blank. I then distressed a piece of cream card using the same shades, before stamping a selection of the stamps over it using Archival permanent inks. I bleached out the bulbs, holly and the stamp, using a waterbrush (and water - not bleach!) before adding a touch of colour to the holly. A lovely piece of gold net ribbon was all I wanted to add to complete the look.

Well, hope you like the cards. I hope I'll have chance to photograph some more on saturday. I have never been to Norfolk before, so I am looking forward to it. Surprisingly, although the train journey is four and a half hours each way, I don't have to change so it's a straight run...always welcome when lugging kit around! Hope to meet some of you there. Lindsay

PS Check out Sarah's blog again as she now has pictures of all three ATC's that she wil be giving away....not to forget Ewan's handmade brownies which are infamous!