Over The Moon Monday - Technique Challenge

Good morning and welcome to another Over The Moon Monday. I hope you had a wonderful weekend. The weather here was beautiful, although we need some rain very badly. I had my windows open and enjoyed the great breeze that swept through my house.

Are you ready for this weeks challenge? Then let's get started.

I was dreaming about alcohol inks Saturday morning and when I woke up I went to my studio to try out my theory. It didn't exactly turn out like in my dream, but I still like the results. I dreamed that I took masking tape and taped off sections of glossy cardstock that had been covered with a light color alcohol ink, then I recolored the glossy with a darker alcohol ink. For the masking tape I used, I just tore little strips and put them on the glossy cardstock so it would resist the second layer of alcohol ink.

Here are the results of the actual experiment:

I used masking tape that was only slightly tacky (I stick it to my clothes several times to remove some of the sticky), so the alcohol ink bled under the tape. I kind of like the effect though. I think the first section above looks like a watermelon, don't you? And the third section makes great woodgrain.

I used this piece to draw "board" lines on the piece, then stamped and colored an oak leaf and acorn It makes me think of a porch floor on an old house. You could make the boards any color, so you could also represent barns and houses, depending on the colors you use. I have made "wood" backgrounds with other techniques, but this one was quick, easy, and looks good. I just used a brown permanent marker to draw the lines. I used a very fine point marker to draw the "nails". I think it turned out very well.

For this piece I really didn't like the colors I chose to use, but I hate to throw something away until I've tried to redeem it, so I randomly applied a darker blue alcohol ink. I think the marbled effect looks good. I colored the pear a really bright green so it would stand out against the dark background. I need to lighten up the leaves, but otherwise, I think I can use it as a focal point on a card.

When you try this technique, please post a link so we can all enjoy your creations. I enjoy seeing how you interpret the technique, and I get such inspiration, so be sure to share with us.

Hope you have a wonderful week, and you get to try my "experiment".

Over The Moon Monday - Pick 3 Challenge

Another good morning to you. I hope you had a fantastic weekend. I spent Saturday at the local community park celebrating Earth Day with my family. Most of my family was serving barbecue at the event, but my youngest granddaughter and I had a wonderful time checking out the exhibits and watching the shows. We saw Native Americans and heard their music, and we watched a show of trained cockatoos, and there were lots of exhibits. We even brought home a tree to plant. A long, exhausting day, but lots of fun.

I love the Pick 3 Challenges because it gives you a lot of leeway with your creativity. So, today we will do another one. You need to pick 3 from the following list for your project:

• Eyelets
• The color orange
• Dry Embossing
• Glitter
• Ribbon
• A border punch

I chose the color orange, dry embossing (with a cuttlebug embossing folder), and ribbon. I had some previously made background paper that was gold and orange and very shimmery, which I embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder. I wanted the details to stand out, so I applied black inkpad to the raised images. I went for the grunge look, which I think I achieved.

Then I stamped the sentiment (by The Angel Company) on white cardstock, and cut it out with a nestability labels 1 die. I used the next largest die to cut out a gold background to layer it onto. It looks black in the scan, but it's really gold. Black would have worked, though. I added some sheer ribon underneath the sentiment on the bottom of the card, and I was done. In real life there is a shimmer to the card that is really pretty.

I hope you have gotten some inspiration and will share your creation with us by posting a link in the comment section.

Inky hugs,

26 Uses for Glossy Cardstock

Hello! I hope you are having a wonderful week! I got the following information from a Yahoo Group where I'm a member. The person who posted it had gotten it from someone who got it from somewhere else. Bottom line, nobody knew where it came from, so if you are aware of the origins, please let me know so I can properly credit them.

26 Uses For Glossy Cardstock

1. You can use it just like any other card stock for creating a card. Just be careful when stamping so it doesn't smear. I like using glossy for just plain stamping once in a while, no tricks, no gimmicks. Bold, bright colors look awesome when stamped on this card stock! The colors come out even brighter on glossy and it makes a card look a little more professionally done.
2. I also love layering a piece of glossy card stock onto a piece of colored card stock and then onto standard white. It really sets off the glossy card stock and adds a look of elegance.
3. Glossy card stock is great for backgrounds and the perfect paper for using your brayer! Use your brayer with a multi color pad and run it repeatedly over the glossy paper. You'll end up with a multicolored background. Repeated rolling really blends the colors, unlike with standard cardstock where you end up with definite color stripes.
4. Use this paper for the VersaMark resist technique. Stamp image onto glossy cardstock using the VersaMark pad, then brayer over the image. The Versamark areas will resist the ink and show through. I find, though, that I have to wipe with a Kleenex soon after I brayer or the brayer'd ink will bleed into my versamarked images. Or you can use your heat gun to dry the Versamark area. When dry, then brayer over it. The Versamark image will stand out beautifully!
5. Use the VersaMark resist technique as listed above but this time instead of using your brayer to add color use the colored pencils and color right over the top of the image. I usually do this for a background instead of my main image.
6. Here's another fun technique that is off the beaten path (so to speak) . . . Try the Soot Stamping Technique using glossy paper. Turn the flame of an oil lamp up and wave the card front over the top . . . where the black smoke is. (Be sure to get the kind of oil that is NOT smokeless . . . You want the smoke for this technique.) Soot will begin to form on the glossy surface. You then take a clean rubber stamp and stamp into the soot. The stamp will remove the soot from the surface (negative soot stamping.) Or you may choose to apply ink over the top of the soot (positive soot stamping.) You will need to seal this when completed with a fixative spray. Be careful not to touch the soot until after you have sealed it or you'll end up leaving your fingerprints behind. Kick it up a notch and do the Rainbow Soot Technique by using the brayer to first create a background color. Then just follow the same directions as before except this time when you stamp your color will show through. Cool!!
7. Another great background is Smudging or the "Twist and Drag" technique. Choose a "solid" style stamp that is simplistic in design such as one that is a squiggle, or confetti, or thick dots. Ink your stamp of choice with a light color of ink. Then twist it (or drag it) onto your glossy cardstock. Repeat a few times to create a one-of-a-kind background. You can then clean your stamp and re-ink with a coordinating color (use your color wheel) and repeat the "twist and drag" or smudging method to create a two-tone pattern. You can also create your own stamp tool for this technique using scraps of rubber from your cut stamps. A really cool pattern is to cut nine long, skinny triangles and place them points together in a circle on your wood block (it will sort of resemble a pinwheel). The pattern this tool creates is awesome. Give it a try!
8. A favorite of mine is the Joseph's coat technique. Brayer with a rainbow pad, covering the entire area of your card. Let set for a couple minutes to be sure it is dry. Then emboss your stamped image using the VersaMark pad and clear embossing powder. (Tip: Use bolder stamps to really get the full effects of this technique.) Then ink your brayer with Black or Navy (the darker the better) and cover the entire card again with this new color. Let the overcoat of ink dry, then buff the card with a paper towel to remove excess ink. What happens is that your spectrum color will shine through. Just think of a great landscape card with stars in the sky and trees) WOW!!
9. Want a spirited way to use glossy card stock? Try the Batik Technique. Simply stamp your image using Versamark and emboss with clear embossing powder. Let cool. Then gently wad paper into a ball or you could fold it into a small square for a different look. Unfold it and smooth it out. It will have crease marks where the EP has cracked. Place cardstock on a towel and mist with water so the paper is very damp. Next ink your brayer with a rainbow pad and roll across the paper. The image will stay white while the ink will seep into cracks and the rest of the paper will have a batik look.
10. The Heated Pearls technique also uses glossy card stock and is fun and easy to do. You just need to turn the glossy card stock to black glossy card stock by using your black pad and a brayer. (Or instead of black select another dark color.) Then you'll need Pearl Ex, white glue (such as Elmers or Aileen Tacky Glue), a stipple brush, and your heat gun. Cut the cardstock into quarters. Put a blob of glue in the middle of a piece. Spread it all over the piece with the stipple brush. Be sure to cover it completely. Sprinkle some Pearl Ex (you can use two complimentary colors of PE) on top of the stippled glue, working the PE into the glue with the stipple brush. When done, put the brush into water, so the glue won't dry up on the brush. Next take your heat gun and start running it over the glue/PE mixture. Watch it bubble up! I have tried this with Red Glossy (made with White Glossy cardstock and my red Staz On pad) and it also works well. This produces very elegant backgrounds.
11. Crayon Resist is a great way to use Glossy paper to add white highlights to whimsical stamps or those with detailed images. Stamp your design onto glossy card stock. Allow image to dry (if you don't want to wait just use the Staz On pads.) Then use a crayon to mark areas where you want to highlight (the white card stock will show through.) Be sure to apply heavy lines so they will show up well on the finished piece. Then just use your selected inks to apply ink with sponge or brayer. Allow ink to dry. Using a piece of tissue or paper towel, gently rub in small circles over the areas where you applied the crayon. This will remove the ink and create the resist look.
12. Glossy card stock is perfect for Dry Embossing. Cut cardstock into a small square and then dry emboss an image (try a Snowflake brass template). Then use your brayer and a LIGHT TOUCH to apply color to your image. I have found it adds depth to apply several colors. For instance, with the snowflake template I use Blue and Amethyst. When you color your dry embossed image this way you will still have an edge of white card stock that will show through.
13. Try doing the Alcohol Spray Technique on Glossy Paper. Select a bolder image stamp and ink it up (you may even want to do this using the markers and create a sort of rainbow look on the image or select color variances from the same color family such as green, forest or burgundy, or red). Just be sure the whole surface is covered. Then spray the stamp with the alcohol mister and stamp it on the glossy card stock! When you spray the alcohol it must be a very fine mist and hold the stamp further away from the sprayer. With this technique each time you re-ink, spritz and stamp down will turn out a little different from the time before which provides a very unique look.
14. Shaving Cream Technique also uses glossy paper (to provide the best results). This technique for making unique backgrounds for your special cards is a little messy so I recommend wearing thin rubber gloves and working in the kitchen on newspaper. Spread the bottom of a shallow 9 X 12 pan with a layer of shaving cream (the cheap .99 cent stuff). Spread it out with a spatula to about 3/4" thick in the bottom of the pan. Take a couple of coordinating colors of dye re-inkers and put a couple drops in a random pattern all over the shaving cream. Just a couple drops to start with. You can always add a few more drops. Take something such as a marker, pencil or toothpick or a popsicle stick to swirl the shaving cream around until you get the look you want. Depending on what you choose to use you will get different size swirls. This will give a marbling effect on finished product. Now press a piece of white card stock (1/4 sheet is easier to work with) face down into the shaving cream from the center out. Press it to be sure the whole surface is touching. Gently peel the card stock up and scrape off the extra shaving cream with a spatula or wipe off with a paper towel. Dry off the extra bits with a dark colored towel or a clean paper towel. The shaving cream will come off the card stock, but the ink pattern will remain. Don' t be afraid of smearing the ink. It will stay where it originally touched the paper. You now have an awesome background, each one a little different from the next. When it is dry, the surface is soft, almost velvety to the touch (and it smells nice too.)
15. To create fun backgrounds (or foregrounds) for your summer projects try using the Glossy paper for the Bubble Background Technique. Place 3-4 Tablespoons of dish washing soap and a cup of tap water in a large bowl. Add 10-15 drops of desired dye refill ink. Use a whisk to create froth and pour this mixture onto a tray. Using a drinking straw, blow lightly while stirring the mixture so that you form slightly larger bubbles. You do NOT want huge bubbles as you won't be able to fit them on a standard size card front. After bubbles are formed, spritz the top of them with reinker that has been diluted with water and put into a travel-sized pump spray bottle. (This will help make the bubbles more defined.) Then lightly place a sheet of Glossy Card stock onto the bubbles without actually dropping it into the solution. Remove paper and place right side up on paper towels and allow to dry. To speed the process you can use another paper towel to blot dry but DO NOT rub or you will disturb the bubble pattern. For more versatility select other colors besides blue or send the card stock back through a second time but this time select a different color from the first.
16. Salt Backgrounds are perfect for Glossy card stock. Brayer color onto the glossy card stock using any dye ink pad and then mist with water spritzer. Sprinkle on salt. You can use any kind . . .sea salt, table, kosher, Epsom . . . and all will provide a little different look to your finished project. My personal favorite is sea salt. I think it provides the best results. If necessary, spray more water on after you apply the salt. Play around with this to see what look you like best. You must allow this to dry. Speeding up the process with the heat gun will sort of work but air drying gives the best effects. When dry, brush the salt off. The salt will "remove" or lighten the dye ink and you'll have a beautiful one-of-a-kind background for your stamped artwork. NOTE: You can save the salt you scrapped off for shaker cards. It will be "dyed" the color of your ink.
17. Kooshball Background on Glossy card stock is just a downright fun technique! It makes a nice speckled background. You just dab the Koosh Ball into the ink pad, then "stamp" it on the glossy card stock however you want. You can keep adding color until you get it the way you like it. Then, just rinse under running water, pat dry with a towel and it's ready for your next color. SIMPLE!
18. Marble Technique. Try using plain ol' marbles to make wonderful backgrounds on glossy card stock. The marble technique is so easy that most children do it as toddlers. (Though they usually use little dabs of paint in place of ink.) So, if children can do it at 2, maybe we can do it as adults, right? Put your cardstock in a small box and ink up the marbles, and put them in the box too. Then tip the box from side to side, causing the marbles to roll randomly on the card stock.
19. Wax Paper Resist Backgrounds (for a Tie-Dye look). This technique is great for a quick and colorful background. You need glossy card stock, wax paper (just bigger than the paper), and an iron. Crumble up the wax paper and then set between the glossy sides of the glossy paper. Take an iron at medium heat and iron over the paper for between 10 and 30 seconds. When you're done, take one of the glossy sheets and cover with ink. Then use a brayer on a rainbow pad. You can also use a sponge or the ink pad itself, or any other way you can think to put the ink on the paper. The ink brings out some wonderful designs. The different ways that you fold the wax paper bring out wonderful designs. You don't always have to crumble the paper either. Just play with the wax paper and see what beautiful images arise.
20. Bleeding Tissue Paper. This is a fun and easy technique for making quick backgrounds for your cards, collages, etc. It involves wetting tissue paper that bleeds its color onto white glossy paper for beautiful backgrounds. Lay your white glossy cardstock face up and spray with water. Randomly tear your tissue in the colors you want and place on wet cardstock. Place another sheet of white glossy cardstock face down on top of the tissue (this way you can make two sheets of background paper at one time). Lay a book or other heavy object on top of these sheets and let sit so the wet paper won't curl. When dry, peel off the tissue and reveal your beautiful background that you can use to stamp on, emboss on, use for layering or whatever you'd like.
21. Emboss Resist on Glossy. This is a great way to combine those bolder stamps and glossy paper to yield awesome results. With the VersaMark pad stamp your image on glossy card stock. Sprinkle clear embossing powder over the clear inked stamped image and heat it. You now have a subtle stamped image. Next use your sponges to apply as much (or as little) color as you would like. This will make the stamped image seem to pop right off the card.
22. Make your own postcards. Place the card stock in a printer and type your note to a friend. Print it off on the NON-GLOSSY side, lined up in columns so that you can cut the cardstock in fourths and have four postcards. Then stamp on the glossy side.
23. Make a stationary holder. Here's a cute idea. Versamark a background design on the glossy - full sheet. (Do the Versamark Resist technique in #5.) Then fold about 2 inches up along a long side (11" side) towards the non-glossy side. Now fold this in half like a book. Open the "book" back up and cut out a little "V" in the center fold where you made the 2" pocket - to make it look professional. Now you have a stationary holder that will hold stamped paper on one side and envelopes on the other. Close with a ribbon (you can punch holes to keep the ribbon secure.)
24. Glossy card stock is also great for making die cutting little baskets, boxes and pouches.
25. Rubber Cement Resist Technique. Standard Resist: Start with glossy cardstock. Pick out 3 colors of dye ink. Drizzle rubber cement directly on the cardstock (do this in a well-ventilated area). Let dry. Using your brayer, apply your first ink color (start with lightest color). Let dry. Drizzle more rubber cement on your cardstock. Let dry. Use your brayer and apply your second ink color. Let dry. Drizzle one more layer of rubber cement. Let dry. Apply last ink color. Let dry. When completely dried, peel off the rubber cement. This gives the resist look.
    Spot Resist: Here's a little different take on the above technique. Brush rubber cement in a scribbling motion onto the center area of a card and allow it to dry. Ink a rubber brayer with a multicolored stamp pad or markers, then roll the brayer over the card several times. Once the ink has dried, remove the rubber cement with a rubber cement pick-up eraser or your fingers. Now you will have a wonderfully colored border with a white brushstroke center . . . a perfect place for a greeting or to place a previously stamped image that has been cut and colored. Doing the technique in this manner can also provide you with spots for leopords or stripes for zebras. Cool!
    And here's yet another twist . . . sort of a spin off of the Joseph's Coat technique. First apply color to the glossy card stock with a multicolored inked brayer. Then apply rubber cement as before. Allow to dry and then apply a layer of black ink or another darker color with the brayer. Let the card dry. Remove the rubber cement, and this time the area under the rubber cement will be multicolored with the remainder of the card a solid color. Add a cut-out rubber-stamped image over top. Experiment with your own look!
26. Marbled Chalk Background: Put about an inch of water into a pan slightly bigger than your card. With a knife, scrape chalk dust off a few colors onto the surface of the water. Lower the glossy card stock flat onto the surface of the water to pick up the color, immediately lifting the cardstock back out of the water. Allow the cardstock dry flat. You can even press the paper between heavy books to flatten it out.

I hope you find some of these tips helpful, and you have time this week to do something crafty.

Over The Moon Monday - Pick 3 Challenge

Good morning! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We had Easter dinner with my daughter and her family, and really enjoyed it.

It's time for another Monday challenge. I had so much fun with the Pick 3 challenge from last week, that I decided to do it again. You will have 6 items to choose from, and you must choose 3 items for your project. I hope you share your creation with a link so we can see what you came up with.

Choose 3 of these items for your project:

• alcohol inks


• ribbon


• the color red


• brads


• embossing


• glitter

For my card, I chose alcohol inks, ribbon and the color red. The elephant background was made using mushroom and slate alcohol inks. Then I stamped the elephant (trunkcycle) and colored him with gray markers. I used a white gel pen for his tusks and eyes, and a gold pen for his crown. I colored the tricycle with a red marker. I used nestability dies to cut out the elephant, the scalloped border, and 2 other layers, then adhered them to a red dotted swiss background.

I stamped the Thinking of You stamp onto red paper and matted it onto white cardstock. I adhered a white ribbon to the dotted swiss background and the sentiment onto that.

I hope you have enjoyed today's challenge and that you will share your creation with us.

Have a great week and get crafty.

Over The Moon Monday - Pick 3 Challenge

Good morning and welcome to another Over The Moon Monday. I hope you had a restful weekend, and now you are ready for a challenge.

Today's challenge is a little different. I will give you 6 items, and you will pick 3 from that list to incorporate in your project. So, let's give this a try...

You must pick 3 from this list:
-Flower
-Chipboard
-acrylic paint
-cuttlebug embossing folder
-ribbon
-glitter

I chose to use the flower, acrylic paint, and the cuttlebug embossing folder. Here is what I came up with:

I painted the background paper with acrylic paints and let it dry. Then I ran it through the cuttlebug embossing folder. I stamped "follow your dreams" on pink paper and rounded the corners on one side. I adhered it to the embossed background. Then I attached a flower with a pink brad. I mounted the whole thing on dark brown cardstock.

I hope you have liked my creation and you will share your creation with us. Just leave a link to your creation in the comment section.

Have a great week!