Sunshine and Showers

 

     

      The theme at River Of Creativity this month is sunshine, this challenge blog is not just for mixed media and cards, it is for ANY craft. If you have made it and it fits our theme we would love to see it.

     Both of these card started with I-Zink pigment inks and some acetate. The ink was dropped onto one piece of acetate, then covered with another piece of acetate and squished together.

     Before the ink could dry the two pieces were pulled apart, this is what gave it the steaky patterns. It was then set aside to dry, which didn't take very long. I made several different sheets using other colours and put them in my stash box, after all if you're going to get all the products out you may as well turn it into a full creative session.

     The best way I have found to stick these panels down is to put the decorated acetate on to a sheet of double sided sticky film, then you get no glue marks because it's sticky all over.

     These acetate panels were die cut after the sticky was added, using Tonic nesting ovals. I also discovered it was best to stick down one end of the panel and gently peel off the backing, smoothing it down as I went. It helped keep it aligned and made sure I got no air bubbles under the acetate. If you do get an air bubble you can pierce the card from behind with a pin, just make sure you don't go all the way through the acetate aswell.

      For the rain man the acetate was stuck onto a sheet of white card, then decorated with Distress Ink and spritzed to get the rain drops. 

      For the sunshine lady I used a stencil and Distress Ink to create the rays of the sun before sticking down the acetate. The stencil wasn't quite large enough to cover the card completely so I inked the main part and then moved the stencil around to enlarge the area.

      A mixture of Scattered Straw and a dash of Fossilised Amber created the desired effect. For each card the character was going to need to be grounded, this was done by using a piece of torn paper and the same Distress Inks used for the backgrounds.

      The two characters are cut using metal rule dies, one Sizzix and one unknown. The rain man was cut in very dark blue and the lady was cut in a pearly dark brown, each image panel has been matted on the same card as the character.

      The sayings were found on line, typed out and printed off. I don't know who Rain Man's saying comes from but the Sunshine Lady is by Helen Keller. Both sayings were die cut oval to match the acetate panel and ink blended to match the backgrounds. Both characters and sayings are mounted on foam, sayings on 1mm thick and characters on 2mm thick.

      The two cards were made several months apart as it took me a while to find a suitable lady for the sunshine card. Now they're complete I rather like them as a set, they may just end up being framed and kept rather than gifted as cards, although each acetate panel has a double so maybe it's a good reason to make some more.

      Don't forget that River Of Creativity is a new challenge that accepts ALL forms of craft, as long as we can see how the theme has inspired you any project is welcome.

I would like to enter these cards in the following challenges:

Path To Positivity - #91 optional - change your environment (frame as pictures)

Use Your Stuff - #422 Use A Stencil

Crafty Calendar - Masculine

The Creative Crafters - #40 Anything Goes

Love To Craft - #58 Anything Goes

Let's Craft and Create - #171 Anything Goes + No Patterned Paper

Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes With Dies

Dies R Us - #169 Anything Goes using stock a die

A Bit More Time To Craft - #140 Anything Goes

613 Avenue Create - #5 Anything Goes / optional mood board

Izink Smooshed Heart

     Another technique using the Izink liquid pigment inks, I have used this before at Keep On Crafting, when the inks came in a dropper bottle. It's my favourite way to use them because they work so well on non porous surfaces.

     Using two pieces of heat resistant acetate I dropped inks on to one of them, then I put the other piece on top of the inks and smooshed them together, it's like making the ink blot pictures many of us made at school.

     If you work quickly you can smoosh the inks around to cover the whole surface, some may come out on your craft mat so mop it up with a spare piece of card, you can use this for another project.

     Once smooshed pull the two pieces of acetate apart, you will get some interesting patterns, every time you do this it comes out with a different look. Set them aside to dry, which doesn't take very long hence the need to work quickly when smooshing and separating.

    

     These inks can also be added to water to make a co-ordinating spray for your project, even the pearl ones work well, leaving a faint sheen to the droplets.

     The spray pattern will depend on the nozzle of your bottle and the height from which you spray. Mop up any overspray from your mat with the same piece of card, building up a rather nice background.....waste nothing.

     All these mop up pieces make really pretty die cut flowers and you make sure you get full value from your inks.

     For a mat layer I tried various shades of pink pen, card and ink pad, finally settling on a Distress Oxide. I cut the mat and coloured around the edge, no need to colour the middle as it will never be seen.

     What is the best way to glue acetate without it showing?...... For this I used a sheet of DS sticky film, laying the acetate, ink side down, onto the sheet slowly rolling it on to avoid air bubbles, then die cut the heart shape. With sticky all over it has an even cover and nothing appears to stand out.

     The heart was then stamped and embossed in gold. I did try this on an offcut of the acetate to see if the sticky was affected by the heat, it wasn't.

     All that remained was to assemble the layers and add the heart to the centre, again rolling the acetate shape onto the card to avoid air bubbles.

Materials used 

I-Zink Pigment Ink - Seth Apter - Improper Copper

I-Zink Pigment Ink - Seth Apter  - Raspberry Berry

I-Zink Pigment Ink - Orchid (pearlescent)

S57107 - A4 Double Sided Adhesive Tape Sheet - Stix2

S57262 - 3D PVA glue

S57217 - Heat Resistant Acetate A4

Distress Oxide Inkpad, White card, White card blank 6x6, heart shaped die (3.5")

Versamark Ink, Antistatic pad, Gold embossing Powder

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Allsorts - Love Is....

Inkspirational - Hearts

My Time To Craft - Love

Just Us Girls - #570 Valentine

Challenge Up Your Life - #132 Hearts

International Art & Soul - #101 Hearts

Dipped Wire Flowers

     It started as a comparison between inks, paints and varnish to colour PVA dipped wire flowers, but what do you do with them once you've made them?.....  I made a card. I enjoy the challenge of the experiment but there should be an end use for the ones that work and the ones that don't.....recycle.

     I remember making these with my Mum when I was younger, I think the dipping medium we used was called something like 'Fantasy Film'. This method uses Stix2 Anything 3D PVA glue, it's a good strong glue with the consistency of double cream. I made a set of five small loops with jewellery wire, I'm sorry I don't know what gauge, you can bend it easily with your fingers and it will hold the shape.

     Five small loops makes for a nice size flower, I did find that if the loops went beyond approximately one inch the glue had trouble forming a film, best to keep them under an inch at their widest point.

     I bent the flowers into shape before dipping, if you try it afterwards you run the risk of splitting the film.     

     I decanted some of the 3D PVA into a tiny jam jar so I could dip the flowers into the glue easily. Dipping it in and lifting it out slowly seamed to work well. If the film breaks just dip it back in the jar and try again.

     I only gave each flower one dip but you can dip again once the first is dry to thicken the film. Each flower was left overnight to dry out, the glue goes clear when dry so it's easy to tell when it's done but overnight makes sure it's set completely. I also made some leaves but I wasn't very happy with the shapes, something I need to try again I think.

     I used four different mediums to colour the flowers and leaves:

  1) Leaves - Cactus green pearlescent Izink pigment ink dropper - painted on with a brush. Covers the wire as well as the film, great pearly sheen, no odour.

  2) Blue Flower - Stratosphere blue Izink pigment ink - has it's own brush in the lid. Covers both wire and film, dries matt, no odour.

  3) Pink Flower - Nail varnish - has it's own brush in the lid. Covers both wire and film, nice shine but rather smelly while working.

  4) Yellow Flower - Yellow Fabric Spray Paint - painted on with a brush. Covers well, more of a satin sheen and takes longer to dry completely, no odour.

     So a good strong PVA works well, keep the loops small and try whatever you have in your stash. I really like the Izink bottle inks because they dry matt and most flowers are matt not glossy, plus there is a great range of colours and a little goes a long way. Thank you to Keep On Crafting for asking me to experiment with the Izink pigment bottles, it's been interesting and it's not finished yet.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Creative Fingers - #201 Anything Goes

Seize The Birthday - #207 Anything Birthday / option Hearts

Watercooler Wednesday - #307 Anything Goes with a Feminine Twist

Unicorn  - #62 Use Flowers