Snowflake Cards

Posted: February 23, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: crystalline, Dies, Echidna Studios, grafix, Penny Black, snowflake digital stamp set | Tags: Echidna Studios, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, grafix, Penny Black creative dies | 9 Comments

Apparently we are getting 10-20cm of snow tonight. So these cards are appropriate for late February! I teamed up with Grafix to complete these projects. I love using liquid frisket to create a scattering or a storm of snowflakes or stars across a watercolour background.

I splattered the liquid frisket on hot pressed watercolour, let the droplets dry then used dye inks to colour the panels. You can see the process in the video below.

I cut intricate snowflakes from lightweight white linen cardstock to add to the watercolour panels. All but the die-cut snowflakes on the final card are designs from Echidna Studios. I used snowflakes from the Snowflake Digital Stamp set. I have used them as stamps on previous cards but this time I cut them on a cricut.

Because the snowflakes are quite intricate gluing them on with artist tac was very straightforward. I also use artist tac when I am attaching individual letters to create a word or sentiment.

I used a few of the cards as thankyous and left a few blank.

I used smooshed distress inks to create the watercolour backgrounds but you could use watercolour paints or powders to make soft blended backgrounds.

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

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. I will chat about my new passion for creating stencils in another post.

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)

Blossom Birthday

Posted: February 7, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Alcohol Ink, blossom stencil, Darkroom Door, grafix, Stencils | Tags: craft roulette, Darkroom Door stamps, Darkroom Door stencils, grafix, grafix craft plastic, Ranger Alcohol Ink | 4 Comments

Yes, I have more alcohol in projects! Like gel printing, alcohol inks are quite addictive. When you work with them on plastic film (such as grafix craft plastic or yupo) you can keep changing the design with the addition of more ink or isopropyl alcohol. You can also remove ink with isopropyl. Depending on the amount of staining from whichever colours you choose you can even get the plastic white again to start fresh. I think that is why there is always on more thing I want to try when experimenting with alcohol inks.

Last year I posted a video where I used a stencil to create a pattern on craft plastic with alcohol inks. I used a more open stencil that the one featured today but the process is similar. The Darkroom Door stencil ‘blossom’ has a lot of plastic surrounding the blossom cut out. When laid on the wet alcohol ink there is contact with most of the craft plastic panel and only a small area where the alcohol ink is drying in the air. This means you need way more patience as you let the ink dry under the stencil.

Not all my experiments with stencils work but I love the way this one ended up with distinct flowers and soft background. I finished the card with a sentiment from the DD ‘all occasions’ stamp set embossed in white on olive cardstock.

In other news I will be on Craft Roulette on Friday February 10 which is three days away! Craft Roulette is a live improv card making challenge on YouTube. I have no idea what kind of card I will be making, I only find out what the parameters are while I am on the show. Hope you can drop in a join the chat on Friday 7:10 pm EST

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

Deer and Alcohol Ink Skies

Posted: January 20, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Alcohol Ink, grafix, leap of joy, Penny Black | Tags: grafix, grafix craft plastic, Penny Black creative dies, Ranger Alcohol Ink | 8 Comments

I know it is yet another alcohol ink sky post! If you look closely at the panel below you will see one of the things I love about alcohol inks and dye inks and that is the separation of pigments when a colour is diluted. It is more obvious in some inks that others but you can see it in the eggplant ink below. There is purple, grey, blue and shades of maroon. So yummy!

The panel above was diluted with isopropyl alcohol more that the panel below but I definitely used it on both to move the inks around.

To complete the cards I die cut the PB deer from white cardstock and add small simple sentiments. Small sentiments are my favourite; I think I’ve mentioned that before.

I think my next post might not be alcohol inks! Stay tuned!

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

Alcohol Ink Sky Baubles

Posted: January 17, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Alcohol Ink, around town, Dies, grafix, Penny Black, trees and hills | Tags: grafix, grafix craft plastic, Penny Black creative dies, Ranger Alcohol Ink, Taylored Expressions | 10 Comments

Yes, I have a few more alcohol ink skies to share. This time I have layered navy die-cuts over the alcohol ink panels and cut them into circles so they look like Christmas tree baubles. These ones were already cut and ready in my pile of possibility I just had to find suitable backgrounds and add cord and sentiments.

The skies were part of a big panel, alcohol ink on white craft plastic and there are some hints of gold here and there. Some is from gold alcohol ink but there are also threads of gold foil pressed onto the panel.

The backgrounds are embossed panels; sorry I don’t know the name of the lovely branch one, it doesn’t belong to me so I’m not sure who made it. The dies are Penny Black, ‘trees & hills’ and ‘around town’.

I added some gold cord and Taylored Expression sentiments to finish them off.

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

Alcohol Ink Winter Skies

Posted: January 12, 2023 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Alcohol Ink, Dies, Penny Black, tall trees, Taylored Expressions | Tags: grafix, grafix craft plastic, Penny Black creative dies, Ranger Alcohol Ink, Taylored Expressions | 10 Comments

It is unusual for me to be making Christmas cards in January but the supplies are still handy and I will be happy to see the cards in October! I have a small stash of alcohol ink panels in my pile of possibility so the next few blog posts will feature those backgrounds paired with wintry scenery and Christmas greetings.

I’m sorry I can’t tell you exactly what techniques I used for these panels but it looks like I added blue and green inks to white craft plastic, added a generous amount of isopropyl alcohol then blew the liquids around the panel with a hand held air blower. I love the frilly ribbon look on the sky above.

I chose the wonderful ‘tall trees’ dies from Penny Black and hand cut some snowy hills from white cardstock. The sentiments are once again from Taylored Expression because they are so handy and neat!

(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.

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

Just one more chapter

Posted: December 2, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: book spines, Darkroom Door, gel press | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, Fabriano Watercolour Paper, gel press, gel printing, grafix, Ranger Distress inks | 7 Comments

Just one more bookish card? Of course not; there will always be more bookish cards, especially as Darkroom Door keeps creating more bookish stamps! Today’s card, which of course can be sent to a fellow reader on any occasion, features the new ‘reading’ sentiment strip as a background wallpaper and as the sentiment. Darkroom Door has a range of sentiment strips each containing 9-10 sentiments. I could cut them up into individual stamps but I have kept them all as strips so I can stamp them all at once if I want to. I did so on today’s card to create a background in rusty hinge distress ink on watercolour paper. I painted water over the top of the stamping to blur it but you can still read most of the bookish mantras.

I also used the DD stamp ‘book spines’ to create my line up of books. I stamped it on three different gel prints and embossed each one in a different metallic ink. I cut up all the prints then rearranged the books to have green, blue, yellow and brown books across the shelf. Even though I chose random gel prints I love the way the texture of plastic lids and packaging has become aged leather on the book spines.

After attaching my books to the background I stamped just one phrase from the sentiment strip by masking above and below the words then added it to the card. A little shading along the top of the books give a bit of dimension.

This turned out to be the perfect card for today because I have been part of the Coptic Challenge at ‘The Handmade Book Club‘ this week. Today is the last day of instruction which covers sewing the book together. When I have completed my book I will post it on the blog. It is the second time I have participated in the five day challenge; both experiences have been very enjoyable and the instruction is fabulous.

So, read one more chapter and have a great weekend.

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

Treasured Pine

Posted: November 1, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: grafix, Penny Black, treasured pine | Tags: Fabriano Watercolour Paper, grafix, Penny Black stamps, Ranger Distress stains, Staedtler watercolour brush pens | 6 Comments

You are excused for thinking you have scene this card before. When I get a new pine branch stamp I often set it against a blue sky. I have a pine tree in my front yard and I think it is at its best under a blue sky after a fresh fall of snow. Most of the year said pine tree is just making a mess in our yard and driveway. This lovely stamp is from Penny Black and is called ‘treasured pine’.

I worked on hot pressed watercolour that had been splattered with masking fluid earlier. I smooshed both speckled egg and uncharted mariner distress inks on a glass mat, spritzed with water then swiped my watercolour panel through the ink several times. I also spritzed water on the panel to spread the ink further.

Once the background was dry I worked in a stamp positioner to stamp first the pinecone in a couple of brown inks then the pine needles in a couple of greens. I blended the ink on the pinecones with a brush to intensify the coverage and after the inks dried added white to the snow covered areas with a posca paint pen. I added a sentiment from the PB ‘feeling of Christmas’ set. To see a couple more pine themed designs click here and here

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

Alcohol Ink + Masks

Posted: July 13, 2022 | Author: Heather | Filed under: Alcohol Ink, artsy stems, classic motorcycles, Darkroom Door, grafix, Sizzix, you are everything | Tags: Darkroom Door stamps, grafix, grafix craft plastic | 6 Comments

I’ve played with stencils and alcohol inks before so it wasn’t much of a stretch to try the same with masks. Masks are basically stencils without any frame around them. The ones I used for today’s cards are homemade from Grafix white craft plastic (also known as white opaque dura-lar).

I used the Sizzix ‘artsy stems’ dies to cut flowers from craft plastic. I also used craft plastic for the alcohol ink panels. I first tried this technique when making bookmarks for a Grafix video tutorial. I used the same funky die-cuts and alcohol inks so check out the video below for the process.

One thing I really like about working with Grafix craft plastic and matt dura-lar (in the final card) is that you can emboss on it. I make sure I preheat the heat tool so I can quickly activate the embossing powder. The craft plastic doesn’t melt or warp if you keep the heat tool moving.

All the sentiments are from Darkroom Door sets (linked below) two were embossed and the other stamped with a new ink from Ciao Bella. It took a while to dry on the craft plastic but I am impressed with the solid matte look once dry.

You can see on this last card I had to come up with a way to attach the semi transparent matte dura-lar to the coloured panel underneath. I didn’t want to use tape which would show so I poked a couple of holes through both layers and sewed the panels together with some silver cord.