Creative Chemistry 102 - Day 4 - Alcohol inks

It's a gorgeous fall day so the windows are wide open so I don't fall into a drunken stupor while playing with the alcohol inks and blending solution.  You definitely need good ventilation when using these products!

The one technique I used more blending solution than I should have but I actually like the results but I'll know better for next time.  Less really is more.

Here are the ingredients I used but not in any particular order.

*Stencils:  Burlap, Schoolhouse
*Alcohol inks:  Butterscotch, Caramel, Latte, Meadow, Stonewashed, Sunshine Yellow, Sailboat Blue, Raspberry, Gold Mixative, Peach Bellini, Sunset Orange, Terra Cotta
*Stamp sets:  Attic Treasures, Mini Holidays, School Desk, Captured Moments, Artful Flight, Lost & Found, Papillon, Mini Halloween 2, Warehouse District, Worn Text
*Archival inks:  Jet Black, Monarch Orange, Saffron, Watering Can, Cornflower Blue, Potting Soil, Red Geranium, Orange Blossom
*Adirondack ink:  Slate
*Watermark resist ink
*Distress inks:  Tea Dye, Weathered Wood
*Distress stains: Shaded Lilac, Tumbled Glass, Weathered Wood
*Idea-ology:  tinsel twine, adornments, fragment

If you haven't looked into taking this amazing class, please do so.  The price is right, the material will always be available for review and referral, there is a student gallery and a forum for questions and discussion.  You do need Creative Chemistry 101 as a prerequisite but again, you won't be sorry!

Creative Chemistry 102 - Day 3 - I'm so distressed!

NOT!

Today we're experimenting with lots of distress products.  I think these have been my most successful attempts at following directions...but using my own ideas.  Some I don't like as much as others but it's all about the learning process.  I still had fun and will definitely be trying some of these techniques again in the near future.  Can't wait to see what's on tap for tomorrow!

Creative Chemistry 102 - Day 2....stencil mania!

Another busy day attending Tim Holtz' Creative Chemistry 102 classes!  Finally got the 2nd day's samples made and photo'd.  I'll share them with you...some are better than others but at least I tried.  I know practice makes perfect and sometimes it's the stencil and coloring medium than can make or break your idea.  Sigh.

Good ole blogger...a mind of it's own when it comes to arranging photos and text. 

This lesson features stencils and using distress inks, distress paints over them, through them, and on them.  And another technique that I'd not thought about because I thought they'd be too thin to make this work.  But it does if you have what it takes to make it happen.  Curious?  Then you need to be taking the class if you haven't signed up already.

I used plenty of distress inks, paints and stains, not to mention archival inks, Glossy Accents, distress glitter, some Sizzix dies, an embossing folder or 2, and some rub-ons.  I'm learning a lot from the videos and thankfully they'll always be there for me should my rememberer need refreshing!

Like the lens with the 'no' tag on it?  That's in recognition of my upcoming cataract surgeries; hopefully I won't have to wear glasses at all once the 2 procedures are done.  But readers may be in my future.  Oh well.  Better than what I've had for the past 50 years.

On to see what's on tap for Day 3!

Creative Chemistry 102 - Day 1 samples

Oh my gosh!  I've just finished the Day 1 sample tags and am already overwhelmed with inspiration!  It was so much fun to watch the videos then apply what I learned using my own ideas.  Day 1 is all about ways to use the new distress paints.  Some of the methods I'd tried before; some were more successful than others.

Distress Paint Marbling

Altered Surface

Eroded Metallic

Stamping Resist

Industrial

                                                                                       

Colored Crackle

I'm not going to try to figure out why Blogger is being so difficult with positioning.  Sheesh.

Distress Paint Marbling: distress paints, distress inks, Remnant Rubs, Remnants stamp set, Playful Journey stamp set, Air Travel stamp set, archival inks

Colored Crackle:  grungepaper, Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint, distress paints, distress stain, Oval Diffuser, Jack-o-lantern silly face die, burlap texture fade, distress ink

Altered Surface:  Thankful Silhouettes stamp set, Mini Blueprints 5 stamp set, Jet Black Archival Ink, distress inks, distress paints, Idea-ology fragment

Eroded Metallic:  distress paints, mini snowflakes & 25 dies, Rock Candy distress stickles, Mini Holidays 3 stamp set, Jet Black Archival Ink

Stamping Resist:  Sizzix mini spider, black soot distress glitter, Trick-Or-Treat stamp set, distress inks, distress paint, Halloween Silhouettes stamp set

Industrial technique:  collage embossing folder, mini telephone die, distress paints, Good Thoughts stamp set, fiber, trim, Jet Black Archival Ink

Off to watch the Day 2 videos!

I made this for you

Not really, I made it for me!  lol  More playing with distress paints on black cardstock and Studio 490 stencils.  I'm telling you, in real life this really does look like those black velvet paintings.  Or maybe it's just my poor eyesight.  lol You also can't see the depth achieved using the regular and metallic stains on the base tag.  Sigh.

On the black cardstock I used the Brick Wall stencil and various orange and brown distress paints - applied with a small piece of cut & dry foam.  Heat set.  Over this I stenciled the grass (several greens), stems (several greens) and flower (several colors of yellow and orange) from From the Garden.  'Bloom' is from Artful Words and was first colored with a yellow distress paint, heat set, moved the stencil slightly and stenciled again with black distress paint.   I also used Barcodes, Honeycomb, 3 Flourishes (lower corners-distress ink), and Everyday Words. 

I tore the top off the black art and adhered it to the tag (colored with distress stains -metallic and regular- and paints).  Jet Black Archival Ink was used on the top and bottom words and barcode.  Then I stitched around the tag and added a row of zig-zag stitching for something different along the bottom of the black art.

I bet if I had more patience I would do this again but keep applying the colors of the flower, leaves and grass until they were more solid and blocking out the brick wall.  That's if I had more patience!

Studio 490 stencils, Ranger (archival ink; distress ink, stains and paints)

What's in your stencil container?  Hope some of them are by Studio 490!

Cheers!

This was a test and I'm pretty pleased with the results.  I wanted to see what the stencil (Studio 490 - Create A Wreath) would look like inked on one side then flipped over and inked again in a slightly lighter color.  The wreath does look thicker but the leaves didn't align like I had hoped.  Oh well.  Still happy.  I used Ranger's distress paints (sorry, I don't remember what colors!) on black cardstock.  The effect reminded me of those paintings done on black velvet.  I also used the 'Everyday Words' Studio 490 stencil for the word.

The black layer is atop a yellow layer on a coral-pink card.  Definitely NOT as pink as the photo above!

Bye, bye birdie!

No, not that bye, bye birdie!  I don't even sing in the shower so get that thought right out of your head.  This is a bird I created for the Frilly & Funkie challenge 'Anything Goes' that ends 9/17.  I'd been waiting for my new Studio 490 stencils to arrive and they did, just in the nick of time.  I also wanted to follow along with Wendy's tutorial she shared on Sept. 5 featuring painted pastes and parts.

I started pulling out the ingredients and deciding what stamp sets and art parts to use when I spotted the idea page on the 'From Nature' art parts package.  Love it!  So my tag is a combo of Wendy's tut tag and the art parts package photo.

I also knew I wanted to incorporate some of the findings that The Funkie Junkie sends along with your order.  The leaves and twine were in with the Studio 490 stencils.  Gorgeous bits to play with!

Ingredients:  #8 tag; Studio 490 ('From Nature' art parts, translucent embossing paste, Dots & Stripes Border Stencil, stamps from 'Sunshine & Art', 'Art From The Heart', 'Art Colors Life', 'All About Art', 'Art Gone Postal'; new archival inks of Potting Soil, Cornflower Blue, Watering Can, Orange Blossom); Ranger distress paints (Weathered Wood, Vintage Photo, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint, Fired Brick), Black Enamel Accents, Sepia and Jet Black Archival Inks, Walnut Stain Distress Ink; Claudine Hellmuth's Multi-Medium); Idea-ology black plastic sticky-backed letters

Tip:  Use enough embossing paste to stand up to your stamp.  I didn't and you can barely see the plaid background I chose.  Also, don't completely cover the tag.  I covered the tag more than I thought.  

I splotched Weathered Wood Distress Paint over the letters before applying them.  Love that look and how they stand out but don't take over.  How did that flower get stamped where the bird's eye should be?  Fortuitous!

So what are you waiting for?  Pull out a few stamps, stencils, embossing pastes, archival inks, and distress paints and get busy making art!