Play day

I joined a swap in CCSwaps which is an alphabet swap and we must create something using the letter A as a theme, technique or medium. In order to create something I had a play day with a couple of techniques prior to actually making anything for the swap.

The first one was alcohol inks and I found a marbling techique while browsing the web. You fill a container with approximately 1" of water and drop some of the alcohol inks in an swirl them around, then lay some glossy cardstock on top and then lift it out. Do not submerge the cardstock!

The ones on the left are just AI's. The middle one, I added silver mixatives. Far right is AI's and Pinata` ink.

The Pinata` ink just kind of floated on the surface of the water, but I rather liked the effect. If you like really vibrant colours then you may not like this technique or you may have to add a lot more ink or maybe even use a coloured cardstock.

The second technique was one that a member of another group posted. For step-by-step instructions you can see them on Michi's blog. For this technique you need metallic cardstock, acrylic paints and acrylic glaze medium. Well it has been one of those weeks where Murphy's Law kicked in and nothing goes quite right. I accidently used extender medium instead of glaze. So I went back and used glaze on a few scrap pieces of cardstock to see if it made any difference and I think the glazed ones are a bit glossier.

The first pictures are done on metallic cardstocks and the next set are done on white matte to use up the excess paint the larger one is white glossy CS.

I also did one on a silver/pewter cardstock

Here are the ones I did on silver and gold cardstock using the glaze as in Michi's directions.

Her is one that I was not happy with. I think the key is to make sure that the paint mixture is not too thick and smoosh the cardstock and lift it up quickly to get the nice details. This one I may play with and add something more and then maybe I will like it better.

More Backgrounds

I just bought some Memory Mists and decided to use them for some backgrounds using some small pieces of glossy white cardstock that I had on hand. I sprayed the cardstock and then smooshed the pieces together.

The bottom one in the second picture was done with Walnut ink, then I dropped alchohol inks on it randomly, then dropped some of the blending fluid on it.

The last picture is a piece of card stock that I had underneath the pieces while spraying.

Playing with background techniques

I have signed up for a swap to exchange backgrounds, and was playing with some last night. These first two are monoprinting with dye inks and a smidgen of Brilliance ink.

The second batch are done on watercolour paper with Milk Paint and acrylics.

Distressed Scraps

This is the latest Background Noise Challenge. You can find the instructions at http://trishbee.co.uk/?p=404.

I started off by glueing the scraps on the paper and left them to dry. I then covered them with various mediums; top left Memory Mists, right Aquamarine Fluid Chalks, Bottom Right Distress ink Fire Red and Bottom Vivids Butterscotch.



Well now, I do not use glue much in my projects and made the mistake of using a "liquid" type glue, and did not realize that I had left bits of glue on the paper, which resulted in a resist where there were big glaring white spots. So, not being one to always follow the rules, I had to fix it. On one of them I just added extra paper, (this time with a glue stick) and covered it again with the colouring medium.


On the top left, I embossed the white areas with an embossing pen, and sprinkled Verdi Gris embossing powder and heated it. Bottom left, I did the same with copper embossing powder. The top right I sprinkled some embossing powder over and heat embossed.



Not the correct procedure per the instructions, but at least I can still use them.

Another Background Noise Challenge

The challenge for this round was paint scraping, which is a technique I have done before, and really enjoyed. This time I am not entirely happy with my finished products, but will share them anyway. I used every kind of paint I had acrylics, pearlized, fabric and even used glass paint on one.

The last Rainbow one I hated so I sprayed it with Adirondack colorwash.

The final one is the printer paper that I had laid my cardstock on while doing the other techniques. I just smooshed it together, then ran the scraper over it to remove the excess paint.

Background Noise Challenges

An ongoing challenge is to create various backgrounds as set out in our group then create pages in a sketchbook with the samples.

I did not have a sketch book to journal in and not feeling like venturing out in the snow and cold to get one, so used cardstock and the KISS principle; nothing fancy, and will put the pages in to page protectors in a binder.


Here are my attempts: Unfortunately the sheen on the Shining Stones does not scan well.
Shining Stones





Glue Technique

Nebula Grunge

Autumn, an online friend in several of my groups invented a technique which she shared with us, so I decided to give it a try. Mine did not turn out quite like hers, but I am still happy with the results. You can view Autumn's at
http://www.autumnlightdesigns.blogspot.com/