Alcohol Ink & Foil – Video

Recently I spent a happy few days creating with alcohol inks after quite a break. They did not disappoint! I am looking forward to more experimenting and maybe some Christmas card designs.

I created some cards using Grafix white craft plastic (also called bright white dura-lar), Grafix metallic foil board and Grafix double tack adhesive. These are all products I’ve used before and definitely recommend. You can see my process in the video below.

In the cards above and below you can see the wavy ocean effects I achieved easily by applying alcohol inks with a felt applicator. I love watching the inks continue to move after I lift the applicator.

The panels below were all made by moving the alcohol inks and isopropyl alcohol around. I tilt the panel and use an air blower to move the the ink. Where there was too much of one colour or too much intensity of colour I diluted with isopropyl alcohol or just dabbed ink off the panel with a paper towel

I used some of the green and the blue metallic foil board from Grafix to add to my designs. To see another project using the foil board click here.

To add the sentiments I used an alcohol lift inkpad from Ranger. Its been a while since I’ve used alcohol lift ink and I was thrilled with how well it lifted the ink from the grafix white craft plastic. With a few repeat impressions and removal of diluted ink I was able to remove the bold green and blue inks to reveal sharp white words.

The sentiments are from the Penny Black ‘how sweet!’ set and ‘Let’s Go Wild’ set. Both are rubber cling sets which seem to hold the lift ink well and apply it evenly. This post includes affiliate links from Foiled Fox and Scrap’n’Stamp . If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Faux Postage Stamps – Video

Posted: March 7, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Darkroom Door, Elizabeth Craft Designs, fine flowers vol 2, global postmarks, Nature Walk, Tutorial | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Elizabeth Craft Designs, Ranger Distress inks, video | 6 Comments

Recently I created some faux postage stamps from a stamped and watercoloured panel. I pulled out another floral panel from my ‘pile of possibilities’ and filmed myself making some more faux postage stamps to feature on cards. The watercoloured panel features a repeated flower from the Darkroom Door set, ‘fine flowers vol 2’ and there is a video of my watercolouring process for that too.

The large postage die set I used is from Elizabeth Craft Designs and includes a die to cut perforated stamps of different sizes which remain joined until you cut or tear them apart. There are also dies which cut rectangles to fit in each of the ‘postage stamp’ spaces. There are also bonus number and symbol dies, so the set offers quite a lot.

I chose this set because I liked the way the postage stamps were all joined and I have the option of creating combinations or individual stamps. There are dies available from other companies which just cut the perforated lines and I demonstrate how to do the same thing with that kind of die towards the end of the video. Adding stamped postmarks and even small words makes the faux postage look real and I’m really enjoying using stamped panels, patterned papers and gel prints to make my own postage. I think any hand delivered card I make from now on should have a handmade postage stamp on it!

Digital Stamps for Starters – videos

Posted: January 11, 2024 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Christmas stockings digital stamp set, digital stamps for starters, Echidna Studios, Tutorial | Tags: digital stamps, Echidna Studios, video | 4 Comments

I know the 12 days of Christmas are over, but I have one more Christmassy card to share before other themes and occasions start to appear. The style of this card will be familiar to you as I have become a fan of embossed backgrounds; this one is Gina K’s ‘holiday flora’ folder. On top is a stocking from Echidna Studios. Last year the digital Christmas Stocking stamps were released including three intricately patterned stockings for printing. This year the set is expanded to include cutting files so you can cut these lovely curly toe stockings from any cardstock you like. I chose an embossed and watercoloured scrap I had been hoarding for years!

Over the past year as I have featured digital stamps from Echidna Studios many of you have expressed interest but not known where to start with digital designs. As promised we have some how-to videos created by my daughter and posted on the Echidna Studios youtube channel. The first video explains how to buy a digital stamp on Etsy. If you find my daughter is speaking rather quickly just change the setting to 75% or hit pause to catch your breath; she is quite speedy in this first video!

In the second video she explains how to open the SVG file on your computer for printing. She and I both use inkscape to open our digital files, it is free to install on your computer. But I’ll let her explain all that:

The third video explains how to use the files to create a card. Resizing, centering and adding words are all covered in detail and I followed her instructions myself the other day to print a couple of the gingerbread digital stamps on cardstock for future cards. I definitely paused the video at times to re-watch and take note of all the steps. When I had a question I did have the video creator in the house to ask but if you have questions please put them in the comments under the video and one of us will get back to you as soon as possible.

We hope you will follow the Echidna Studios youtube channel and consider trying digital stamps and cutting files if you haven’t already. There are more videos and products coming this year. As this is my first post of 2024 I wish you happy new year! I look forward to creating and sharing all sorts of projects on the blog this year. There will be cards, art journaling, watercolouring, gel printing, collage, handmade books and more. What are you hoping to create this year?

Bauble Beauty – video

Posted: December 20, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: bauble beauty, Penny Black, Tutorial | Tags: Penny Black stamps, video | 7 Comments

I have mentioned more than once my ‘brushstroke binge’ on this year’s Christmas cards. The Penny Black ‘bauble beauty‘ stamp was one I used several times and decided to make a video of my simple dye-ink watercolour technique. Keep in mind I worked on hot pressed watercolour paper; the inks don’t react the same way on regular cardstock.

Brushstroke stamps are so called because they appear to be stamps made from painted images. I often use dye inks when stamping them so I can add some water to the stamping and get a watercolour look. On the cards featured here I used a range of different inks but also vary the amount of water added on the stamp and at the blending stage. The card below features only one ink for the foliage, the magical northern pine memento ink. All the rest of the cards were stamped with the blue and green distress inks.

You can see on the two cards below I was more generous with water on the left hand card blending the ink over the whole tree shape. On the right hand card I left patchy areas unblended which kept the green inks more separate and made the tree slightly see through.

I painted pearlescent baubles on all the trees after the ink had dried. As the video shows some of the baubles disappeared at the stamping stage when the diluted ink spread over most of the tree shape. In those cases I filled the baubles I could see and added pearlescent circles on top of the blended tree where I thought more baubles should go.

The finishing touches on all the cards included die-cutting then embossing with the retired stampin up ‘subtle’ embossing folder. It creates a nice linen/canvas look; maybe there are other folders available that do a similar thing. I chose small sentiments from Penny Black sets, some stamped directly on the watercolour panel; others on little die-cut strips.

Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp.

The leaves are turning – video

Posted: October 16, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Echidna Studios, gel press, Mooneys Trees, Stampin Up, timber embossing folder, Tutorial | Tags: Echidna Studios, gel press, gel printing, Tutorial, video | 7 Comments

As the leaves start to turn around me I brought a few green ones to the gel plate and printed them in the colours of autumn. I filmed as I printed so you can see a few different techniques. There is a brief appearance of backyard wildlife that must have come in on the freshly picked leaves. Let me know if you know what it was.

As you will see in the video I used a 5″x7″ gel plate and a mix of liquitex, decoart and sennelier acrylic paints to pull prints on printer paper.

Recently I have been turning 5×7 inch prints into card fronts with a strip left for a matching envelope. For today’s cards I attached the whole print to cardstock then used WaffleFlower rectangle dies to cut panels from each print, added twine to both panels then attached them to cream card bases. There are no strips left for the envelopes but twice as many cards. I have left them without sentiments but if needed I can tie a little sentiment tag onto the twine.

The print below is also featured in the video. I thought it would be fun to print leaves onto the Mooneys Trees cut out. I used the digital cutting file to cut from cream cardstock then picked up the leaf print from the gel plate. My new timber embossing folder from SU was the perfect background.

The close up below is the two step print, pulling first the background with the leaves still on the plate, then the leaf texture after they have been removed.

I think this final card might be my favourite. I didn’t plan it this way but it looks like that little leaf is falling away from the bigger one.

Today’s post features affiliate links to the following companies. If you buy through these links I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. The Foiled Fox & Scrap’n’Stamp

Gel Print Floral Card Combos – Video

Posted: October 2, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: gel press, Tutorial | Tags: gel press, gel printing, Tutorial, video | 2 Comments

One of my favourite things to print on a gel plate is flowers. One of my favourite flowers to print is Queen Anne’s Lace. You might think, as I did, that Queen Anne’s Lace would be too fragile to print but it is surprisingly strong and the gel plate picks up all that delightful detail.

I don’t always print an envelope and card front in one go but it is a nice way to get a matching pair. I used a 9″x11″gel plate to easily fit both. I mention in the video that you can print the flowers over and over; the paint that clings to the flower head makes it sturdier rather than pulling it apart. The first few prints might leave some seeds on the gel plate and print but that just adds to the realism in my opinion.

Thank you to those of you who subscribed to my youtube channel last week. I am slowly building my community of subscribers again after losing my first channel. There are some of my early gel printing videos on the new channel marked with a ‘from the archives’ label and there is a gel printing playlist if you want to binge the lot.

If you don’t have a gel plate large enough to pick up a card front and envelope in one print you could always do two prints one after the other keeping your paint colours the same.

Below are a few more card and envelope combos I’ve printed using this same technique with a sticker to mask a space larger enough for the address.

You can see on this card featuring Queen Anne’s Lace and grasses that the print does not reach to the top of the card front. I guess I didn’t press down evenly when taking the print.

Of course you can make co-ordinating card and envelope prints using any pattern; it doesn’t have to be plants but when I have plants, not snow in the yard I like to choose plants. I’ve also used stencils.

I hope you give this technique a try; it makes an eye catching bit of mail to send. Make sure you use removable stickers to mask your address box; you can probably guess why I mention that!

If you are new to gel printing check out my online course Gel Print Journey to learn all the basics and try all sorts of patterns and combos.

Alcohol Inks + Stencil on the Gel Plate

Posted: September 18, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Alcohol Ink, Dies, gel press, Lavinia, Penny Black, Tutorial | Tags: Alcohol Ink, gel press, Lavinia, Tutorial, video | 5 Comments

Recently I posted a card featuring a gel print made with alcohol inks and a stencil. You can check out that card here. There was quite a lot of interest in seeing a video of my process so that is what I have for you today. One of the bonuses of this technique is the way I can make more than one print from the same initial application of alcohol ink. I worked with T-Rex alcohol inks on a 5″x7″ gel plate.

As you will see in the video the first card (shown above) is made from the first print pulled from the gel plate.

The second print pulled from the gel plate features the same inks but they are more muted because I diluted them to move them from the stencil to the plate. I quite like the softness of the second print.

If a print works for me and honestly, they don’t all work, I often don’t want to cover them up with extra decoration or die cuts. That’s why I kept these card designs very simple with just a die cut ‘hello’ added to the first card. The second print which I made into the card below features an even smaller birthday sentiment and one thin strip of the same cardstock.

One of the reasons I like to work with alcohol inks on the gel plate is the fact that I can pull the prints with a piece of paper, in the case of these prints I used printer paper. When I work with alcohol inks apart from the gel plate I generally use a thicker plastic surface such as yupo or craft plastic. The inks move beautifully on those surfaces but the plastics are bulkier and a bit more expensive so it is nice to have the gel plate + paper option. The featured prints from today’s video were done on a 5″ x 7″ gel plate which meant I could get a 5.5″ x 4.25″ card front as well as a left over strip to add to the envelope.

If you are new to gel printing in general and would like to know more about creating a range of patterned prints please consider my online class, Gel Print Journey, where I cover all the basics with acrylic paint and all sorts of patterned and textured items. If you purchase any of my online classes before the end of September use the code: ENDOFSUMMERSALE for a 20% discount.

Batik on the Gel Press

Posted: June 12, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: gel press, leaves and lines, Tutorial | Tags: Echidna Studios, gel press, gel printing | 4 Comments

Just because my new online class is published doesn’t mean the gel plates have been put away. I am always thinking up new ideas to try on the gel plate and the problem is finding the time to experiment. I sat down last week and filmed myself while gel printing with some stencils. This large batik-like panel is one of the prints I made.

The stencil is one I designed myself called ‘leaves and lines‘. I cut it out of grafix matte durar-lar on the cricut. The beauty of a digital cutting file and cutter is the same design can be cut in different sizes. For the print above I used a 9″ x 11″ gel plate and the stencil was slightly smaller than the plate. Some of you might remember that I have a new youtube channel as I lost my old one. It has a mix of older (from the archives) videos and new ones (freshly filmed). It has been a bit quiet lately but thanks to all who have visited. Please spread the word so I can build the community back up.

The crackly effect that makes the design look a bit batik-y is from the tissue I used to lift paint around the stencil. I don’t yet have a plan for this large print but I am thinking it would make a nice book cover.

The digital cutting file is available in Echidna Studios etsy store and is printable as well if you wanted to print it instead of cut it. I have cut it twice but only used the larger of the two stencils so far. You can see them in the photo below. The smaller one is shinier as it is pristine and cut from Grafix stencil film (slightly heavier than matte dura-lar) The one of the right was used in the video and is blue from paint stain. If you are interested in more gel printing techniques with stencils or just more gel printing techniques I’d love you to check out ‘Gel Print Journey‘ my new self paced online course.

I haven’t done any real batik lately but I did quite a bit in high school and of course had a long batik wrap around skirt! Anyone else remember that look? Not surprisingly mine was white and blue just like today’s gel print.

New YouTube channel – New Video

Posted: February 11, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Alcohol Ink, baby blue leaf embossing folder, Branch 9 die, cricut, Dies, grafix, Moda Scrap, my designs, ornate tile embossing folder, Paper Rose, Penny Black, Pink & Main, scripty, silhouette birds, so extra supporting sentiments, Stampin Up, thank you squares, Tim Holtz, Tutorial | Tags: cricut, grafix, grafix craft plastic, Penny Black creative dies, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Alcohol Ink, Stampin Up, Tim Holtz | 6 Comments

If you have been visiting this blog for a while you will know I had a youtube channel for many years. In 2022 after ten years of adding videos and gathering a community of 7000 subscribers my channel was deleted. In recent weeks I have started again with a new channel and some videos ‘from the archive’. My new channel is called Heather Telford Art and I would be very happy if you decided to like, subscribe and tell your friends! There is content on there that you may remember from the last few years and starting today there is new content also! The new ‘2 for 1 Alcohol Ink Panels’ is freshly filmed for my new channel and I hope it will be the first of many!

There are quite a few photos in this post because, well, this is a 2 for 1 technique and I created three panels which of course became six panels and one was cut in half so there are seven cards to show you in this blog post! Grab a cup of tea. I have added a linked supply list at the very bottom of this long post.

As well as a new youtube channel I am also a new Cricut owner. The stencil used on the card below was designed by me and cut on my Cricut. It is available as a cutting file from Echidna Studios etsy store.

Most of the 2 for 1 smooshed panels I left as a full card fronts adding only a sentiment or some die-cutting. As the panel below reminded me of the ocean, the PB wavy scallop border seemed a nice touch.

The panel below is a half panel from the first one I showed on the video. I love the patterns from the isopropyl alcohol ink spray even though they don’t stay distinct. Even when die-cutting the word from the panel I couldn’t leave it off so I popped it up. Not so funny story: I guess I haven’t popped up a die cut word in a while because I flicked those little shapes inside the letters into the garbage when I poked the word from the die. So yes, I had to hunt through my garbage to complete the card.

I don’t know why I hadn’t tried it before but seeing how well Grafix craft plastic responds when put in an embossing folder has been a revelation! I thought it might crack but it doesn’t so you can have the subtle impression of your embossing folder on a panel or the bold inked pattern as I’ve done on the card below. Sentiments in circles might be a little fad I go with for a while too; they look cute!

You can see the soft look of embossed script on the panel below, especially in the close up. This detailed embossing folder is from Stampin’ Up and is called ‘scripty’. I don’t think it is available anymore but you might something similar.

For this final card I cut six little birds from the panel and played with layouts for quite a while. I ended up just using two which means I have four birds in hand for another project. (pun definitely intended)

The intricate half circle cut out behind the birds is also one of my new cricut cutting files but more about that in another post. If you got this far, you’re a champion. Thank you for supporting me here on my blog and I would love to see you over on youtube as well.

(Compensated affiliate links from Foiled Fox, Scrap n Stamp)

Chipboard Decorations

Posted: December 9, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: chipboard, christmas ornaments, gel press, grafix, Sizzix, Tutorial | Tags: collage, gel press, gel printing, grafix, Tutorial | 3 Comments

I have been creating collage panels with my many gel prints lately, most for Christmas cards. The striped and patchworked collages looked so pretty I decided to try the process on Grafix chipboard.

I collaged on both sides and love the way they turned out. I made a video of the process then made more chipboard decorations in different colours.

I used a serious chipboard cutting die to cut the ornaments. It is from Sizzix and I was pleased to see how clean the cuts were. If you have a digital cutting machine you would be able to cut the chipboard into any number of shapes.

After cutting out the shapes I used a gold gel pen to add stitching lines and gold paint to coat the edges. A crop-a-dile made quick work of punching holes so I could add ribbon to the shapes.