CAS Mix Up Card Challenge - you inspire me

The CAS Mix Up August Challenge is Alcohol Ink.

I didn't have any alcohol ink, but as soon as I saw the beautiful cards of the Design Team, I knew I wanted to try it. So I ordered supplies online at the beginning of the month. 
I received only Yupo paper this week, and was notified the inks would be delivered next week. (Sigh...) I watched all the tutorial videos provided on the CAS Mix Up page, and I was ready to dip my fingers in the ink! 😉
Being impatient as I am, I drove to a Michaels and bought an ink kit after all.

I used all the inks included in the kit (Red, Blue, Yellow, and Gold), and made my debut with these alcohol ink backgrounds:

Top: I used a straw and blew the inks.
Bottom: I dripped the inks on the Yupo paper, spritzed with a lot of blending solution, and pounced the blending solution and the gold ink with a cotton ball.

It was intriguing to see the totally different results using the same colors of ink!

I used the top background, and made this card today.

I die-cut the rectangular panel, heat-embossed the sentiment in gold, and raised the panel with foam tape.

 Close up:

Stamp: Perfect Words (Stampin' Up!)

Paper: Yupo (Ranger), Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Alcohol Ink (Red Pepper, Stream, Sunshine Yellow, Gold - Ranger), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Stitched Rectangles (Simon Says Stamp), Embossing Powder (Gold Rich Pale - Wow)

Thank you for visiting me today!

CAS Watercolour Card Challenge - thanks

It's August, and the CAS Watercolour Challenge for this month is Salt!

My supervisor went to Cape Cod in MA for summer vacation, and brought me a lot of souvenirs last week. One of them was this:

So, when I saw the challenge theme of this month, I thought this was a great opportunity to make a thank-you card for her, using this sea salt!

I die cut the sentiment from a white panel and raised the panel with thin foam squares. I love the interesting salt effects with this cobalt blue.

The salt technique reminded me of a science experiment in grade school, and it was so fun making this card this weekend! I'm already thinking about trying it again with regular table salt. 😄


Paper: Canson Watercolor Paper (140 lb), Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Gansai Tambi (Kuretake)
Accessories: Stitched Rectangles Dies (Simon Says Stamp), Die-namics Big Thanks (Favorite Things), Thin 3D Foam Squares (2L)

Thank you for dropping by!

CAS(E) this Sketch #233 - home sweet home

I was looking forward to playing along with CAS(E) this Sketch this weekend!
This is Hannelie's sketch for this week #233.

And here's my take on the sketch:

I actually made 3 cards with different backgrounds (ink distressed, watercolor, and watercolor with salt added), but my trusty personal critic (my husband!) says the soft ink-distressed background best fits the sentiment and the peaceful scenery die-cut, and I agreed.

If you are interested, these are the other cards. Interesting variations, aren't they?

 (watercolor)

I was inspired by the colors of Nancy's these creations.

 (watercolor with salt added)

I was inspired by CAS Watercolour August Challenge.

I wanted to use a sentiment stamp with typewriter font to match the atmosphere, but I didn't have one. Instead, I used MS Word to create a sentiment (font: my underwood), and printed it on the cardstock.

Paper: Bristol Smooth White (100 lb), Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Distress Ink (Ranger - Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade)
Accessories: Sleigh Ride Edgelits Dies (Stampin' Up!), Mini Hearts Set (Simon Says Stamp)

Thanks so much for your visit!