Stay Crafty With a Blog Named Hero
A Sentimental Journey
Good day, fellow crafters. I am thrilled to share with you my card entry for the Hero Art's Challenge blog's June contest. Creating this card was an absolute joy, as it allowed me to unleash my creativity and hone my techniques. The process of choosing the colors, arranging the elements, and bringing the design to life was incredibly fulfilling. If you're passionate about card making or simply love to immerse yourself in artistic endeavors, I highly encourage you to participate in this contest. Don't forget to click the link below the banner to join in and tag me when you enter, so I can cheer you on and appreciate your creativity. Let's embark on this creative journey together!
In order to create this card I decided that I wanted to work with probably my second favorite liquid medium, just behind watercolors, and that is alcohol inks. What fascinates me about alcohol inks is their ability to produce truly distinct and one-of-a-kind outcomes, no matter how diligently you try to replicate them they are not repeatable. The inherent uniqueness of the medium adds an element of surprise and excitement to the creative process, making it all the more enjoyable when the final result is revealed making me come back to them time and time again. There is however a downside they stain surfaces terribly.
Wearing my favorite t-shirt with the caption "Ask me how I know?" emblazoned on the back feels quite fitting in this situation. Let me tell you, I learned firsthand the consequences of working with these inks. It turns out that they have a knack for staining not only your fingers, which can be easily washed clean over time but also don’t do any favors to porous surfaces. I discovered this when I unintentionally stained numerous fiberboard clipboards while creating my early batches of paper. Thankfully, these boards were designated for crafting purposes and not meant for public display. However, what I recently discovered, much to my dismay, is that alcohol inks can even stain cured and sealed epoxy resin projects. Yes, you heard that right. This includes my meticulously poured, custom-colored, oversized 5' x 7' main epoxy resin worksurface, as well as a nearly completed epoxy resin cup project. It shouldn't have come as a surprise since alcohol inks are commonly used to color liquid epoxy resin. However, I never anticipated that the stains would seep through once the resin had hardened. So, let this be a cautionary tale: always take the utmost care in protecting and double-protecting your worksurfaces before embarking on your creative endeavors. On a side note, I reached out to various resin manufacturers to inquire if there was a way to seal resin and prevent this problem, but the chemical engineers unanimously responded with a resounding "NO."
So the first step of the creation process was to protect my worksurfaces using a sheet of 3 mil plastic that I now keep on hand for projects like these. Then I brought my choice of colors to the table along with some white Yupo paper and my silicone work mat and set to work. My first colors were my base colors of several shades of green, which I dropped a few drops of each around on the silicone mat surface and then tilted and swirled the ink around to get the inks to flow around and meld together. I then used drops of copper-colored ink to provide a beautiful contrast to the green. I swirled the mat around as well as used a Tim Holtz Air blower to blow through to move the ink around. Once it was to my liking I dipped my Yupo paper into the ink and pressed it down lightly to absorb the ink into the paper. I then carefully lifted it up off the ink and set it aside to dry. To make the most of the alcohol inks, I also used additional Yupo paper to soak up any remaining ink for future projects.
While I waited for the background to dry I used an old letter die set from my collection to spell out my sentiment from black cardstock. I also took the time to use the sentiment “YOU ARE A BLESSING IN MY LIFE” from the My Favorite Things Bitty Thanks and Gratitude stamp set (CS-414), that you see in the right-hand image, along with some green ink to stamp inside the pre-cut light gray slimline card base.
Once the inks were completely dry, I selected the most appealing area of the paper and used the Pinkfresh Studio Mini Slimline Stitched Scallop Rectangle die to cut out the inked paper. I also cut a black cardstock mat to create the card's background. By separating the pieces of both colored cutouts and reassembling them, I achieved a bordered look. Finally, I adhered the background to the card base, followed by attaching the sentiment to complete the card.
I hope you found inspiration and valuable insights to enhance your own artistic endeavors. If you enjoyed this blog entry and found it helpful, I encourage you to show your support by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page. I would love to hear about your experiences with alcohol inks or any other thoughts you'd like to share. If this blog entry has sparked your creativity and you feel inspired to create your own artwork with alcohol inks, don't hesitate to tag me when you share your masterpiece. I would be thrilled to see your unique creations and cheer you on.
