Saturday, April 28, 2018

Tiddly Inks Blog Hop





I am super excited that Tiddly Inks is doing a blog hop.

They have invited anyone that is interested to join in on this.
Please head over and check out all the links  for the others that have also contributed.

I figured I would use this card from the blog hop to also do the Color Throwdown.  The card I am doing is a wedding card and figured these colors would be perfect for it.  The theme for the blog hop is spring, so pastels and wedding!... what better fits a spring theme. :) 

My card is for my nephew who is getting married today.  It is a little froo froo which is definitely outside my card making style.  I usually do way more clean and simple. I also don't usually use so much glitter and bling lol.  This may be simple for others though haha.


I used the Kiss Me digital stamp from Tiddly Inks.  The sentiment is just printed using the font.  I colored up the image using my TouchFive markers.  They are great.  I have never used Copics so I don't know how they compare but I have some Spectrum Noir and I feel they are the same.  I can't really tell a difference.  The nibs from Spectrum Noir might be a bit softer though.  I have picked these because I buy the Shinhan TouchTwin refills for them since they use the same color numbering. I also have bought the replacement brush nibs and replaced the chisel end with the brush nib.  They are sooo soft and flexible.  They work great!  But... back to my card.  I will list the colors below that were used.  I added sparkle to everything with my Wink of Stella glitter pen. 

See... lots of sparkle!

Thanks so much for taking a look.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask in the comments section below.  Have a great day!


Supplies
(Affiliate links used when possible, at no extra cost to you.  For more info see Affiliate Links disclaimer above in sidebar.)

TouchFive Marker colors:
167 Pale Green Light
47 Grass Green
172 Spectrum Green
43 Deep Olive Green
95 Burn Sienna
96 Mohagony
97 Rose Beige
145 Pale Lavendar
146 Mauve Shadow
83 Lavendar
CG 0.5
BG 1
CG 2

Wink of Stella - Scrapbook.com  or Scrapbookpal.com
Sequins -  AliExpress
Digital Stamp - Tiddly Inks

Friday, April 27, 2018

Some past cards

I just wanted to share some past cards I have made.  I hadn't done a lot of crafting for quite a while and then decided to get things going again.  The pictures aren't great because I was just snapping photos just for me and not for a blog :)

Hope you enjoy.


This is a card I made for my brother-in-laws birthday.  I used distress inks for the background and Silhouette images for the other items.  I can't remember the stamp set used though.





This next one is a card I made for a baby shower.  I found the image on Pinterest.  I couldn't ever find who created it though.  If you know please comment below so I can give credit.  I used my Prima watercolors to paint the image.  Love how this one turned out.





This one is one I made for my son-in-law's birthday.  He likes dragons so I went with this image from How to Train Your Dragon.  Love that show.  I also found this one online and was not able to track down the artist.  Very good image.  I used my TouchNew alcohol markers to color it.  





This one is an anniversary gift for my son and daughter-in-law.  I used my Silhouette to trace the image and cut it out.  I think it is super cute.





This is just a little St. Patrick's Day decoration I made.  It is a Snap Dragon Snippets design I got from the Silhouette store.  Design id #75648






I made this shaker tag for my for my soon to be neice-in-law.  I made her a wreath with these flowers for her bridal shower gift and used some of the leftover flowers for the tag.  I think it is beautiful.
The tag was a basic on from Silhouette Design Store.  The flower is also from Silhouette Design Store.  Rolled Rosette Design ID #178393.  I will have a tutorial on the wreath in the next few days.





Last but not least are my Easter cards I made for my kids.  The stamp set is Ewe are Awesome from  Clearly Besotted.  I cut the words with my Silhouette.  That was not so much fun trying to cut such thin letters.  I wish I had a die for that haha.



I hope you enjoyed looking at my past creations and look forward to have you enjoy my future creations!

Thursday, April 26, 2018

DIY Alcohol Inks

I have seen a lot of YouTube videos on making alcohol inks and decided to give it a try.  I made a mess but they turned out great!

I looked all over for containers.  I didn't want to pay very much in case it didn't work out.  I saw, in the videos, they bought travel size containers at the dollar store.  The ones they got were a package of 3 for a dollar.  My store didn't have those and the ones at Walmart were a dollar each.  I figured the point of making them myself was to save money.  After searching all over Walmart I finally ended up in the party section.  I decided on the bubbles. There were 8 2oz. bottles for 3 bucks!  That was a great deal!  I got bubbles and little containers :).  I saved the bubbles in a different container for my grandsons.  I figure it was a win win lol.  I looked online at Walmart.com but they didn't have these.  Just pick them up in the party section where they have all the kid's party supplies.




I also picked up some Sharpies from Walmart. 


I wasn't as lucky to get the metallic marker though.  I used 2 markers per bottle.  I tried previously and used one marker for 2 oz of alcohol and it wasn't bright enough for me.  You could try it and see if it is something you like.  I just wanted mine more saturated.  

Next thing you need is some rubbing alcohol.  I got 91% because that is what others have used.  The first one I tried I used 70%.  I also saw a comment from someone on a video that they used 50%. The 50% comment said it dried slower so it was easier for them to play with.  I am not sure if it makes a difference on the percentage.  Might just be personal preference.

You will also need some needle nose pliers, gloves, razer blade or exacto knife.

To start with use the pliers and pull the nib out of the sharpie.  Stick it in the empty bottle.  Next you are going to use the pliers and grab the marker where the color meets the gray part of the marker.  Wiggle back and forth until it comes apart.  It will be a little hard.  If you can't get it then squeeze really hard and wiggle it comes off easier.  

Next take the ink thingy out.  You will want gloves for this.  For safety purposes use the needle nose pliers to hold the ink thing and then use the razor to cut down the center to expose the middle fluff.  Don't squeeze too hard or you will squeeze the ink out.  After doing mine I was thinking it would be easier to cut it open in something bigger that you could also mix the alcohol in.  That way you wouldn't waste any of the ink.  If you do it that way you could put the ink in and the alcohol, mix it up and pour into the bottle.  The way I did it was open the ink thingy and stick it in the bottle.  I actually used 2 sharpies per bottle.  I then filled it with the alcohol to the top.  Put the lid on and just shake every once in a while.  

I had it sit for a few hours before I tested it out.  It turned out amazing!


I wasn't trying to create anything.  Just testing the colors.


I just plan on leaving the ink thingy in the bottles.  I figure no need to take them out.  



You might want to make sure you wear gloves if you don't want to mess up your manicure lol.

Here is a breakdown for cost comparison.

Supplies used:

Sharpies - $6.46 x2 if using 2 per bottle.
Bubble bottles - $2.97
91% alcohol 32oz - $2.50  (I only used half the bottle so you could get by with a 16 oz bottle.)
Gloves - didn't use and my manicure hates me now
Needle nose pliers - already had

Total cost of supplies was 18.39

Right now the inks are on sale at Joann.com for 5.99 for a package of 3.  They are 0.5 ounces each.  Normally they are $11.99 but you can always find a 40% off coupon with them.  That would make them $7.19.  At the sale price they would be almost $2.00 each.  With just a coupon they would be $2.40 per 0.5 oz bottle.  

Now for the math on the homemade ones.
There were 8 2oz bottles.   $18.39/8=$2.29  Already you can see it is way cheaper for the DIY.
But... continuing on.  There are 4 half ounces per bottle so the math would be $2.29/4=$0.57

WOW!  DIY is 57 cents per 0.5 oz.  Ranger is $2.00 per 0.5 oz at the better price.  
I found a Pinata brand on sale at Joann.com but it is still $1.79.  I don't think we will find a better price than $0.57.  I would say it is worth it to me.

Hope you try it out and enjoy!

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

A Little Prickly

I absolutely love these cacti stamps so I decided to use them for an anniversary card for my bff.

I used my Reeves colored pencils for coloring in the cactus.  I stamped with Versafine Oxyx black ink on Neenah Desert Storm card stock, then mounted on 110# Simon Says Stamp white card stock.  The congratulations sentiment on the front is from the Simon Says Stamp set called Congratulations.  I used my Shinhan TouchTwin brush marker WG5 to add a shadow around the sentiment.




For the inside I printed the sentiment.  I used Brusher font.  Love it! 



My friend told me her husband laughed at the sentiment.  He knows he is prickly ;)

Hope you enjoyed.  Now get busy crafting!




Links for products used.

I don't remember who my stamp set is from but My Favorite Things has a super cute cactus stamp set here.  You can also grab some of their cardstock here.

Other products used can be picked up at Amazon.

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Rainbows & Unicorns

Hi there!  It is birthday time around here.  Today is my awesome daughter in law's birthday.  The 17th is my youngest daughter's birthday then on the 22nd is my brothers.  I know I have a niece and a nephew thrown in there somewhere too!

I am in the process of making my daughter in law's card but here is the card I made for my daughter.


This was my first time using any of the Distress Oxide inks and I have to say " I LOVE THEM!!!" They are so smooth when blending!
I used the Unicorn Inspiration Box from Brutus Monroe.  Many cool things in that kit.  Every month they have some awesome stuff that come in the kits.