Alcohol Inks and PolyShrink - Just playing around!

Stamp by Stampin' Up!

Just wanted to post these really quick - I've been playing around with some clear PolyShrink (by Lucky Squirrel) and alcohol inks.  This one, I stamped with Jet Black Staz-on on one side, then colored using alcohol inks and a water-brush filled with blending solution on the other side; once dry, I heated using my heat gun to shrink it.  I just love the outcome!! 

This one, I colored using alcohol inks and an ink blending tool with felt; then I flipped the piece over and used a fine-tipped black Sharpie to draw lines in to make it look like a stained-glass window.

When they are held up to the window, you can see that the ink remains translucent.  You can also see that I got a few finger prints on the bottom one, because I touched it before it was completely cool.  I need to perfect my heating method and figure out exactly what to use to press them down after I heat them (when they heat, they curl up, and while they mostly straighten back out, they need to be flattened with a block or something to get completely flat after heating) to avoid unintended impressions.

Not really sure what I will do with these (if anything); just playing for now, because I've never played with these before...but I can see some really cool embellishment ideas in the future!!

Compendium of Curiosities #33 and Simon Says Stamp & Show

The challenge this week for the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge over at Studio L3 is Altered Metal Using Alcohol Inks, and the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp & Show is to show some Stripes...so I created this 6x6 layout demonstrating BOTH.  (And it wasn't just a happy accident for once - this time it was actually intentional!!)  

While I can't give the details on how I did the actual metal technique, I can tell you what I did prior to altering the metal.  I had a plain sheet of aluminum, which I first embossed using the notebook texture fade - to get the "stripes" look. Then I die-cut it with the Tattered Florals die.  

There are stripes all over the place - on the metal, on the cardstock sticker strip, on the piece of patterned paper itself, on the little cardstock note...I love how subtle some of them are.

The stamp set I used on the layout is called "Art & Soul," by Unity Stamps.  It's designed by Marah Johnson, and IT IS GORGEOUS!!!!  I cannot say enough how unbelievably gorgeous it is!  Every stamp I used here is from the set - from the flourishes, to the bird and butterfly, to the quote.  I even stamped the bird in chalk ink on a sheet of PolyShrink and created the tiny bird charm you see - isn't it just adorable?!  I'll be doing a full review of Unity Stamps soon on Craft Test Dummies, so keep a look out for it!

Have a great week - and be sure to "nurture YOUR creative spirit"!!