Creative Chemistry 101- Watercolor Technique Using Distress Ink Re-inkers

One of day 4's techniques involved using Distress Re-inkers (you know, the bottles of ink with droppers to add ink to dry ink pads?) as a type of water color medium.  First let me disclose- I am not a "colorer" (Tim's term which fits right into my world view!).  While Brandy has enthusiastically and quite successfully embraced the Copic marker phenom, I have resisted.  My capabilities of coloring began and quite abruptly ended with 3rd grade art.  I've never thought of myself as particularly artistic.  So the thought of using a water brush and "painting" the Re-Inker on a stamp image was daunting.  Have a look at my first go and laugh out loud.  That's what I did! 

So, when Brandy and I got together this weekend to craft I humbly requested to borrow some supplies.  Surprisingly, with the right stamp (simple is better for us non-colorers) and a little more variety in the colors of re-inker available, I was able to create something a little more resembling cute.

This dress was colored with Brick Red, Rusty Hinge, and Antique Linen Re-Inkers.  A much more acceptable result.

The second tag used Broken China, Brick Red and Antique Linen Re-Inkers.  Yeah, a non-colorer actually producing something worth keeping.  Hooray!

Andie

Creative Chemistry 101- Archival Resist Technique

Day 3 of class centered around archival inks.  The second technique involved using Archival Ink to create background images that are then layered with Distress Inks to create unusual backgrounds.  Since I have such a wonderful friend who is willing to share supplies, I created today's stamped images using her Hero Arts It's a Parade stamp. 

Both tags used the same background stamp from my CTMH stash.  The background stamp is a solid block with polka dots.  The stamp is an acrylic stamp and I didn't use a block, but instead free-handed the stamped image using brown and red Archival Ink and didn't use the entire stamped image in any one spot.  A quick pass with the heat tool to dry the Archival Ink and I applied Distress Inks (in this case I used pink, blue, green and yellow) by swiping the pad across the tag.  The Archival Ink resists the Distress Ink and creates the lovely background look. 

The Hero Art silouette stamp seemed to capture just the right look to finish off in black Archival Ink.  The second tag was an attempt to change the background colors and see what the results look like.  The tag definately needed to bright yellow and green to make that background pop right out.  I'm off to do more experimenting in the chemistry lab!

Andie

Creative Chemistry 101- Alcohol Ink Agates

I am most assuredly enjoying the Creative Chemistry class.  One of the lessons included two techniques I didn't have the supplies for- Archival Resist and Stamping with Reflections.  I actually placed an online order for the Ranger Archival Ink, but the shipment hasn't yet arrived.  This means that creating resist images with Archival Ink and then using Distress Re-inkers as watercolor tools for coloring the image is beyond my supply capabilities.  Additionally, Tim shared some tips for using the Reflections stamps from Stampers Anonymous.  Hey- I can't own everything, can I?

What I did have the supplies for was the Alcohol Ink Agates.  This technique uses the Ink Blending Tool and alcohol inks to create a multicolored surface- basically making your own background paper.  The paper used is glossy cardstock.  I used multiple colors (more than 5 for each and up to 11 for the darker purple version) of alcohol inks and rubbing alcohol for the technique.  You can find similar instruction searching Google, though I have to admit that the class video is very personal and casual.  Here's the three tags created during my practicing:

The first tag produced the brightest background.  I used four different medallion stamps to create the black stamped images.

The next tag ended up being my favorite.  This has to do with the rich green background.  The stamped image is a square medallion stamp repeated over the surface.

The last tag is what I would term a fail.  The colored background is pretty enough and I was surprised at the yellow color that came out using the Vintage Photo Distress Ink pad to highlight the edges.

This is a technique that I have exercised before.  Even so, I still like the style and the shiny result.  I hope you are enjoying the techniques and the results. too!

Andie

The Hunger Games

My children have been chirping to me to read the Hunger Games.  A couple months back I decided I probably should read the book if nothing else than to see what it was about.  I like to keep track of what my kids are reading and I secretly enjoy the chit chat with my teenagers when we've read the same book.  They reveal more of themselves than they intend or something.  So, when I read and thoroughly enjoyed the book, the pressure shifted from me to my husband.  During a recent vacation trip, Dan joined the ranks of those who have read the book. 

All that to say that this weekend transformed into a Hunger Games focused "event".  My daughter decided to invite three friends and we all (which included another set of parents, Dan and myself, my son Tim and Katie with her three friends) traipsed over to theater yesterday.  I couldn't let the event go without some craftiness, could I?

 I made these pendants for each of the girls.  The antique brass pendant was purchased at the local Hobby Lobby store.  I simply printed off the mockingjay logo and cut it out to fit into the pendant.  The entire thing was covered with Crystal Accents.  You can see this particular pendant has a couple of air bubbles.  That's error on the part of the maker... I should have had a pin close to pop those very early on in the application of the Crystal Accents.  These took over 8 hours to dry, but easy and simple result that thrilled my set of 13 year old girls.

You can see where the ink bled after application of the Crystal Accents in the pendant on the upper left.  More error on the part of the maker.  I added a jump ring and leather cord to finish the pendants off.  Overall, they are very cute.

After the movie, we returned to my house for a feast.  Here they are, about to start.

 Dinner consisted of an Orange Chicken over rice that mimicked the meal shared by Katniss and Cinna when they first met (in the book, of course).  The biscuit you see is an imagined version of the kind of drop biscuits Katniss and Prim would have eaten in their poverty.  The peas were a last minute add in order to have some color on the plate (and something to eat in case the orange chicken wasn't tasty).  All the girls finished what was on their plates.  Maybe (!?) that means it was good?



Dessert was an Apple-Goat Cheese Tart similar to what Petta would eat once they went stale in the bakery.  Ours weren't stale, but fresh from the oven and I think they were actually the hit of the dinner party. 

I was one tired girl after all this festivity.  It was certainly worth it because I think we had four happy girls at the end as well.  This, my friends, is what we live for!  I hope you have a chance to see the movie and, if not, that you might try the recipes yourself.  They are different from our normal, everyday food.  They were delicious!


Andie

Creative Chemistry- Wrinkle Free Distress Technique

I am woefully behind in posting my work from the Creative Chemistry online class with Tim Holtz.  Here's the work on the wrinkle free distress technique. 

This technique involves swiping Distress Ink pads on the craft mat, spritzing the inks with water and daubing the tag into the inks in random ways to create the final look. 

The result is eclectic and rich in color.  The edges of the tage were further distressed by applying ink using the Ink Blending Tool.

This second tag used much brighter colors along with the standard blues and browns that I already own.

One key learning from this technique is that I really would love to own all of the Distress Ink colors in order to pull out of these inks a richness of color all my own.  Alas, this will not be.  So, I will look for ways to stretch the stash I already own and borrow from good friends (like Brandy) when I need something I don't already own.  Until then, I am thoroughly enjoying my online class, the freedom to try something new (I need an online class for the permission!) and the focus on my paper crafting for a little while.  It is all very refreshing.

Andie