I hope you are well and enjoying the summer holidays.
I have been busy crafting for Christmas magazine features during these super-hot days and I needed a little break from it all. I couldn't just sit on my hands though. My Alcohol Lift Ink pad arrived with a few other bits and bobs the other day so I thought I'd give it a go and see for myself what works and what doesn't. It took forever to get my hands on some Blending Solution and I suspect it has a lot to do with the new alcohol ink lifting craze.
I don't think I have made my mind up yet and will have to play with it more to explore its full potential and creative possibilities, but so far, I love it! I have a few fun techniques in mind already, but I can't reveal them just yet so bear with me.
I find that as long as you have enough ink on your inked sheet, you can achieve a lovely stamped-off image. I also find that Yupo works better than the Alcohol cardstock. Do you find the same? Let me know your thoughts...
I will share some more information soon, but for now, here are a few cards I made with my alcohol ink backgrounds and a couple using the Alcohol Lift Ink with my Boho Vibes set 2 stamp set that I designed for That's Crafty.
You can also find the Boho Vibes set 1 in their online store...
Now onto the cards...
I played with Patina, Turquoise, Clover and Indigo alcohol inks and a teal foil on the first background. I had another alcohol ink sheet going on which I had some Flamingo too. This made some purple tones too. I ink-lifted of this spare sheet and stamped onto a piece of a white cardstock which was then fussy cut and cut to the size of the inked sheet and eventually made into the card...
The second blue card was made in the same way but this time I allowed to have an inked area without too much detail and more of a solid colour which I used to lift the ink using the same flower cluster stamp. The idea is to dab off the wet Lift Ink with a tissue and when most of it is off, buffer off the rest to reveal the ghost image. This is a fantastic new technique and I can't wait to play with it more. A kept the rest of the card simple and added the large white 'Hello' sentiment by Altenew and a few Iridescent Jewels by Lucy's Cards.
The third background was made with Flamingo, Valencia and Sunshine Yellow inks on the Tim Holtz Alcohol Cardstock and it was the very first experiment. I tried lifting the image, but it was way too light for my liking and the image got lost in the splotchy background. It was a bit blah so I reinked the background and added some gold foil instead. I do need to explore the alcohol cardstock more. Maybe I needed more ink? Let me know if you know! I'd love to know! LOL!
I added the gorgeous background die cut by Sizzix over the inked background and added white Nuvo drops all over the die cut. I know! I was telling myself I was bonkers as I was doing it, but it looks fab in a 'real life' and the die cut now has a raised glossy finish. Whilst still wet, I dropped in the same jewels as before. Once dry, I adhered the panel onto the cardstock and fussy cut around the top edge to make a shaped card front...
And last, but not least, the fourth card... I couldn't bring myself to cover up this retro funky looking background so after I added some gold foil I cut it to size and adhered it onto the card base. It was begging to have some simple but large sentiment on the front so I added the new 'Thank you' die and a tiny stamped sentiments by Altenew...
Until next time, stay creative! Hugs,
Ingrid xxx
