Saturday 18 June 2016

How does your garden grow and an inky tutorial



Good morning all you crafty Peeps, it's a bit of a heavy post this Saturday and I am so pleased that apart from this paragraph it was prepared well in advance as things are so slow going. New pills making me like a zombie and nothing really works too well, suffice to say I have not been able to do any stamping all week which is so b----y annoying as I had an Inkylicious delivery a few days ago. And very limited blogland activity, my apolgies as a few c&p comments are the best I can manage until my hands and arms get working properly again.

Saturday means it's time for our new theme at Allsorts, it's also my turn to share some work on the Stamping Sensations mid month post as well as my Penny Black mid month card. At Allsorts our host is Tracy and she has chosen 'How Does Your Garden Grow' as her them, which if course I love. Marianne Designs are our sponsor.

I used the Tattered Lace Hexagon dies and box sets, starting with the card I created a background with Broshos, Scarlet, Rose Red and Lime Green and let the wet ink run and decided to use it horizontally, then stamped Lavinia Dragon Pods in black archival, bleached out the flower heads and coloured in with purple Brusho's and covered with Glossy Accents. I also stamped a tiny Lavina Fairy onto one of the Pods. After making up the box and inserting a TL lattice panel I decorated with flowers and TL Ivy.


Just one more floral card from a play session I had with my new Altenew stamps, they are so much fun and the colour computations are endless, I used various shades of yellow to build up the blooms and black and grey for the leaves for a different look. The sentiment is a really old wood mounted one that I've had donkey's years, I remember doing a class using it at Ely at least ten years ago and all the ladies at the class were given one as part of the day's activities.

On to our mid month posts at Stamping Sensations and thankfully I did this a ready a few weeks ago. The current challenge for the Design Team is to share either a new technique or one that we enjoy. I have done a mini tutorial so have lifted that post to here and apologies that a couple of the cards may be familiar but they are relevant to the techniques I have used. The Butterfly cards are pretty much the same as one I blogged a few weeks ago, just different stamps and colours but I had some lovely comments and was asked how I created them so it seemed sensible to do a re-run.


There is nothing new about what I am going to share, but I am always reminded that new crafters are joining us and blogland all the time and it's easy to forget that we all started the same way keen to expand our crafting techniques so hope this might be of help to a few of you.

So it's some inkiness as that's what I enjoy most in my crafting activities and I am also rather keen on inspirational quotes so the two have come together on some of today's shares. 

I thought a few photos and a short tutorial might help and apologies to those of you well versed in all of this as it's not my intention to teach anyone to suck eggs ! 


For the Butterfly cards I used two colours of distress inks, although I used both ink pads and distress pens either or will work fine. In addition a black archival ink pad, an acrylic block for mixing the inks and a pipette......you can manage without this and use a wide paint brush instead but a pipette does make life easier. And of course your chosen stamps, I used Penny Black Butterflies, Visible Image quotes and an Inkylicious background.


My starting point is to dab the first colour of ink onto a small acrylic block and add small drops of water and mix so you have a little pool of colour, if using a pipette draw up the liquid and drop randomly holding the pipette 3- 4 inches above your piece of card, that allows the ink to splatter a bit as it lands which all adds to the random look. When doing this I concentrated on the areas to the left of the card as I knew this was where I wanted to stamp, then repeated with your second colour.

If using a brush load it with the diluted paint and flick the wooden stem/handle of the brush with your finger 3/4" above the piece of card. You will get random sized 'blobs' and if any look too wet or intense use a piece of kitchen roll to lift off some of the excess. You might find it helps to have a test run on a piece of scrap card so you can get confident with the process.

Next I took the background stamp and used a black distress marker to randomly ink just a section down the middle and repeat stamped it over the ink splatters. I stamped the sentiment next with black archival ink. The Butterflies are inked direct to stamp........doing this is easier with distress markers but still possible with ink pads, you just need to be careful were you ink, cut our the Butterfly, add wire antennas and fixed to the cards. Finally I matted and layered onto coordinating cardstock and an A5 card.

Here's another, almost the same just different colours and Butterfly stamp.



This card below was one on my Tattered Lace samples for the USA shows back in January but shows a different use of inks which is also great fun.



For this one you will need a selection of distress inks, an actylic block, pipette or wide paint brush (one that will hold plenty of water) and a drinking straw.

Start by stamping or in the case of the above card die cutting the image, inking with versamark and heat embossing with detail clear powder (as in the photo below). You need to do this to ensure your image is water resistant. 

Next follow the same procedure as the Butterfly card at the top of this post to create a watery pain mix, then pick up the colour with a pipette or brush and drip blobs onto the cardstock around your chosen image as below.........one colour at a time works best spacing them out to leave room for more colours in-between. Also you need to be fairly generous with the amount of inky liquid and use rather more than on the card at the top as with this technique you need sufficient liquid ink to move across the card.


Blowing each blob of colour with the drinking straw, gently encouraging the wet ink outwards towards the edges of the card, tilting the card if necessary. Keep repeating with your chosen colours. I used the same inks to add a little colour to the skull, I also finished the Butterfly you can see in the above photo in the same way.


And as my DT creation at the start of the challenge (above) was also inky I will briefly explain how I created the background for that one. 

I used Brushos on this one, sprinkling one colour at a time - here I used Ost Red, Violet and Lemon, spritzing generously with water so there is a visible pool of colour on the card, then use the same straw blowing and titling technique as the skull card. As quite a lot of water is used for this technique I tend to leave each color to dry for a few minutes before moving on to the next. I find this way there is less chance of the colours contaminating one another, you will probably get a little merging where the colours meet as I did with the red and purple but on the whole the colours stay put. 

With any of these techniques, if you find you have more liquid paint on your cardstock than you intended you can easily soak it up by dipping the corner of a piece of kitchen roll into the wet ink............I prefer not to lay the tissue onto the ink as it may well lift off more than you want, also it will take the intensity out of the colour. Of course if you want a paler finish then that is exactly how to achieve it.

And last but by no means least, my Penny Black mid month card using the fab Pop Pop Poppy image and a soft Brusho background.


Many thanks for taking a look and I hope I have encouraged you to get inky !!

58 comments:

Astrid Maclean said...

Oh Brenda, these are all just amazing and thanks for all that information, just wonderful!!

Thinking of you, really hope things will improve!! xxxxx

New Creations said...

All are such stunning creations Brenda! I love how you played with colors, love the inky straw ideas!
Have a wonderful weekend!

aussie aNNie said...

Beautiful cards once again B and thanks for the tut and using the straw is something I did not know about...stunning display xx
 {aNNie}

ALI said...

Stunning work Brenda, you make those Altenew stamps look so easy :(
sorry to hear the meds are knocking you about.

Glennis F said...

Oh my goodness - you have been so busy - what a fantastic assortment of cards!
Thanks also for the tutortial, it is certainly good to get a refresher!

Tracy said...

Lots of amazing creativeness here Brenda, good tutorial too. Love all the colours and designs you have done. Jodie would love your sugar skull. Hope you get back to stamping and the medication helps soon.
Happy crafting
Tracy x

Debs said...

Hi Brenda...gorgeous makes hon <3...sorry to contact you on here wasnt sure what to do....i won a challenge on the allsorts blog and it said to email you but the link doesnt work or the one on the top of the blog...not sure if im too late to claim the prize anyway but didnt want anyone else having the same issue xx Debs x

Gibmiss said...

Fabulous cards Brenda... Love all the tutorials...
Hope you feel better soon
Hugs Sylvie xx

gwen70 said...

Stunning cards Brenda, do love the Altenew stamps, many thanks for the tutorial. Sorry you are not too well at the moment

cuilliesocks said...

Wow! Brenda amazing and colourful cards and the hexagon box is stunning. Your tutorial is very comprehensive and clear. I love all your makes couldn't choose a favourite from them,Kate x

Kath said...

Fabulous cards and great tutorials too. My favourite is the one with your new Altenew stamps, it's stunning!
Kath x

Anonymous said...

Hi Brenda

I'm really sorry to hear you're still unwell and appreciate how you must feel not being able to 'create some card magic', it's so frustrating

All the cards you've shown above are fantastic, I love each and everyone of them. You are one talented lady :)

June x

ionabunny said...

Dear Brenda, love the box and that beautiful card. Great idea to use the ink runs on their side. Makes it very interesting. So many lovely colours and thanks for the reminders on techniques. Will be revisiting a few of these with the brusho's. Love the skull and the butterfly cards. Take care. Hugz

KarinsArtScrap said...

wow very beautiful and gorgeous cards Brenda fab colours and gorgeous stamps.
Gr Karin

Marlies said...

I do hope you soon get feeling better again Brenda. Even though you are not well you have made all these beautiful creations!! All so elegant and stylish. Thanks for your tutorial too. hugs, Marlies

Dr Sonia S V said...

Oooh I love the hexagonal box and the tiny fairy ...sooo beautiful . Hope you get well soon Brenda...though a doctor I dislike taking medicines....though they are meant to make us feel better even a 'cold ' medicine has such unwanted effects!!

Craftyfield said...

So many fabulous makes... You are SO organised, Brenda, and productive too! My favourite is the hexagonal card and box, STUNNING. The design manages to be colourful and inky whilst remaining CAS.
I do hope you'll be able to resume your crafting ASAP, but in the meantime no one will mind if you're not leaving comments on our blogs. Take it easy, xx

Whisper said...

WOW what an amazing worth of talent and so different too, luv Sam x

Crafting Queen said...

Really beautiful creations.

KT Fit Kitty said...

These look great, Brenda! Thank you for sharing all the photos of how you did it! I am so sorry you are still not well. Sending healing hugs and prayers!

Mummylade said...

Thank you for the tutorial, I love the splash effect!

Alice (scrAPpamondo) said...

Mi dispiace che tu non stia bene, Brenda!
Le tue card comunque sono fantastiche, sono una più bella dell'altra! Grazie per aver spiegato come hai ottenuto questi splendidi effetti! Ora sono molto occupata con il mio lavoro, ma tornerò sicuramente a leggere (e a tradurre) tutto quanto per imparare le tecniche che hai usato! Sei una continua fonte di ispirazioni!!

Robin said...

So many GORGEOUS creations! I love the butterflies and flowers you use and all the inspirational sentiments. Thanks for the tutorials...I'm going to do that straw thing. I needed some inspiration for a card I am working on now. Thanks so much! Hope you're having good days! Lots of hugs, Robin

Babs said...

Wow Brenda those colours are simple lush fabulous techniques and such beautiful stamping gorgeous selection of cards too, I am affriad I havnt had much success with my altenew stamps yet, must practice more I think, you make it look so easy.
Hope your keeping well
Hugs Babs x

Pat said...

Beautiful cards, gorgeous colours and sentiments, great tutorials. Hope you are soon feeling much better and able to get back into inking and stamping, enjoy your weekend.

Pat xx

Greta said...

Hoping you're soon doing much better, Brenda--so frustrating, I'm sure! This is a wonderful post with so much helpful info & gorgeous creations! I love inspirational quotes, too, & may have to computer generate that first one as I love it & it's so apropos for blogging friends we never get to meet in person. LOVE your PB mid month card--stunning!

Fikreta said...

wonderful cards!
and great tutorial!
Bad Kitty's Craftroom

http://cheryl-cherylscreativeatcscards.blogspot.co.uk/ said...

Oh wow you amaze me with your talent these are all amazing stamps colours designs brilliant hun hugs cherylxxx

Sarah said...

Beautiful makes Brendan and fantastic detailed instructions for us inky novices. I'm off to search out straws!! xx

Berina RGA said...

Beautiful cards Brenda!! Love the backgrounds you have created!! Nice techniques!
-Berina
Moxie Craftie

Lorraine said...

Stunning cards Brenda, particularly love the pretty yellow roses.
Lorraine x

Kathleen said...

Wow, what a fabulous post but I do not think that I could master any of these techniques in a month of Sunday's.
Some stunning cards though and I have to say, hope Mrs A doesn't read this that the butterfly one is the best butterfly I have ever seen on a card, so very pretty, just like butterflies are.

Kath x
PS Thanks for your mail.

Gail said...

Gorgeous cards, and Thanks for the tutorials!
You're way more adventurous than I.
I really need to get out of my comfort zone!!
Hope you're doing well!

CdeBaca Crafts Gallery said...

Amazing work!

debby4000 said...

WOW what amazing creations and a lovely full creative post. I do hope that the new pills settle down and you're able to craft again. I live in fear when they want to try something else.
luv
Debby

Marianne's Craftroom said...

So sorry to hear things aren't good, never worry about visiting, though I know I do when I don't have much time. Just take care of yourself. Fabulpus selection of cards today xx

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Oh dear B. Do feel for you as pain and inability to use hands as you would like is trying indeed to ones sprit .. Praying for the meds to behave and settle down your conditon with minimal side affects. I don't know how you manage to soldier on as you do, I dips me lid to you. Do hope your inkylicious will soon have an inking.
LOVE the first card but that box is amazing!!! And great tutorial I tried to find a straw blowing one when ha dso em fo the younger generation visiting and didn't think of watery colours like this.. Must save it for future reference. It's fab!
Thanks for the inspiration,
Shaz in Oz.x

{Calligraphy Cards - Shaz in Oz}

Mervi said...

Fabulous set of cards and the hexacon box is divine.
Thank you for the pretty card I received from you;-))m

Wendy L said...

Each of your creations is lovely Brenda, xxxxx

Pamellia said...

Amazing collection Brenda. Love the straw technique, thanks for the tips. hugs :)

Marjut said...

Beautiful cards!

SewPaperPaint said...

Thank you for these fabulous tips, Brenda! Lovely lineup of inspiration. <3

Claire said...

Hi Brenda sorry to hear you're not feeling well, sending you love and hugs. I do hope you feel better soon. Thanks for sharing your beautiful artwork, as always it's a pleasure to visit your blog
Claire xx

Craftnut said...

Beautiful make for my theme Tracy x

McCrafty's Cards said...

These are all fabulous Brenda, I do hope you feel better soon!!
Kevin xx

Carole Pollard said...

Wow you talented lady this is an amazing post and thanks for sharing these techniques I've never tried anything like this but you have inspired me thank you. Your cards are all superb as always and I always love your perfect sentiments. I hope you a feeling a little better today love and hugs Carole x

Gerrina said...

What a treat! So many beautiful cards! Think you know that I love the first butterflycard best, but the 2nd looks great too... and that last flowercard: ohh! Just a joy to see them all! Hugs, Gerrina

Lau W said...

Wow ! Fantastic cards Brenda, love the card with poppies, oh and the first with butterfly !
OMG you're talented !
Hope you're better my friend, i think of you ♥
xxx

Tinka's paper wonderlland said...

Waaaauuu, they all are so amazing, can stop looking at them!!!
Would be great to have distress pads, her they are nowhere to find and ordering the postage is more expencive then them... Crazy LOL...
♥Hugs Valentina♥

Tinka's paper wonderlland said...

ps. I realy hope that your hands and arms are better and the pils work like they supose to do ♥
♥Hugs Valentina♥

Inkypinkydelights said...

Fabulous makes as always Brenda. Judy x

crafty-stamper said...

Every single card is fabulous love the selection of stamps and great lattice die-cut-great step by steps and tips too-hope you feel better soon
Carol x

Linby said...

lots of fab inkiness - love them all but especially those altenew roses, the colourway is beautiful. I must try the straw, not done that yet, but knowing me probably suck instead of blow! and have ink all over my face.
Lynnx

MaryH said...

Oh dear, with the new pills. Hope this zombie sensation will quickly pass. You're amazing that even feeling not quite tiptop, that you can still create so much beauty in the diverse styles of these gorgeous cards. Especially love the Lavina stamps one...and the Altenew flowers - yummy. Beautiful effect with the rich sunny yellows. Very much enjoyed the tutorials, and you've created some stunning cards with the techniques. Hope you feel much better very soon, and so appreciate the time you've taken to explain how you've done the process. Hugs & hope that you'll have a good week. TFS

Sandma's Handmade Cards said...

Hi Brenda. I'm sorry to hear that you're having a tough time again health wise and I wish you a speedy recovery. Your cards are beautiful as always. The lattice work on the box looks so pretty. The card that you've made with the Altenew stamps is absolutely gorgeous and it could be used for so many different occasions. I love the colours that you've used too. Get well soon and I'll be looking forward to seeing your new Inkylicious makes. Crafty hugs, Sandra X

Mrs.B said...

All gorgeous cards and it's always good to be reminded about different techniques, thanks for the inspiration.
Sorry that you're still not too good, hope things improve soon.
Avril xx

Donna Ellis said...

Ooooo! Intriguing, beautiful, artistic, colorful, lovely, diverse, and totally Brenda-like! I feel as though I am walking through the halls of an art gallery! Wonderful creations. Brenda, hoping you are feeling better and a little stronger these days. Your pink-haired soul sister, de. xxoo!

Rhonda Miller said...

These are lovely.