Domino Pendants and Giveaway!

Hello all and welcome! I've switched gears this week and decided to work on domino pendants. I was asked to make a pendant with an image of a boxer (bottom left). It's so much easier to make multiple pendants given the materials involved (alcohol ink, acrylic paint, Envirotex Lite, etc.) so I made about 20! Note the music theme on many of them which brings me to my giveaway! Thank you to all the people in the Facebook community who liked my page That's What You Ink!! I really appreciate your interest and support. I would like some feedback from my viewing community. Please leave a comment about what made you like That's What You Ink! and what your expectations are from my page. I will pick a random winner via random.org and notify you in the next post. This giveaway opens now and will close Thursday at 11:00PM. It is for a $25 iTunes gift card. Good luck!

Masculine Birthday Card Featuring Ranger Products

This is a birthday card I made for a guy who owns a wine bar, at one time had a unique mustache, and loves music. The funny thing is that he never received it!! That's another story. Anyway I wanted to incorporate his personality into the card as I continue to explore my masculine side. The focal stamp is by Tim Holtz, the drink stamp is by Inkadinkado, and the sentiment is by Hero Arts. The papers are various substrates from Ranger with the unique one being Kraft Glassine paper, a translucent coated paper that is kind of difficult to explain-you would have to experience it to get a feel for it. The latest product I used is the Distress paint that I stamped the mustache with. Its unique formulation allows for manipulation with water while it's wet which is great for blending but is waterproof after it dries! I LOVE this acrylic paint! It stamped with such detail-it wasn't globby as it's texture is thin-perfect for stamping. It is a sure winner. By the way, here is a link to the inspiration-owner of Motor City Wine which by the way has great live music, especially on Wednesdays! http://motorcitywine.com/about.php

Inside

Back

Detailed 

Masculine Birthday Card

I had a funny request this week! My co-worker and friend gave me a card and asked if I would send her grandfather a birthday card because she wanted him to receive as many cards as possible for his ninetieth! I told her to keep the card and that I would make him one. She was very excited that I would do that for him. I never met this man in my life but it gave me the perfect opportunity to use a stamp set I recently purchased called Masculine Collage from Hot Off the Press. It has a steampunk feel to it. I did not have a lot of time to work with but I think it came out nice. I hope he enjoys it!
Products used: Spellbinders labels dies, Masculine Collage stamp set by Hot Off the Press, Timeless paper stack by DCWV, Tim Holtz mini gears, Sizzix embossing folder

Lessons in the Metro-Detroit Area

If you live in the Metro-Detroit area, call or visit me for information about my education services! Specializations include, music, art and elementary tutoring. 

AbraBowdabra! Beautiful Bows in Minutes!

This is a bow I created for a present for my students using the Bowdabra bow maker. I recently purchased the Bowdabra and the Bowdabra mini. This was the first bow I made and I must say it has changed my attitude toward making bows forever! This tool has been on the market for quite some time. I never thought I would have the use for it as I hate wrapping gifts and always use gift bags because of it. Then I saw the mini and I thought it would definitely come in handy for card making. I had an extra coupon so I thought why not get both! I literally made this beautiful bow in about 3 minutes and it was a wonderful touch to the art easel I presented to my students for Christmas.

Michaels Vintage Christmas Cards Class

Michaels is hosting for a limited time the Vintage Christmas Cards class for $10!
Here is a sample of what you are going to create. Experiment with stamping and inking techniques ala Tim Holtz-what more could you ask for? Look for me at store #9454 in Farmington Hills, MI.

Judikins!

I had the pleasure a few weeks ago of spending time with Judy Watanabe of Judikins at the Heirloom Rubber Stamp convention in Novi! This is the third year I have had the opportunity to learn from her demos at her product booth. She is gracious as well as creative and I absolutely LOVE her inking and stamping techniques. One product that definitely needs mentioning is her MicroGlaze. MicroGlaze is a product that protects your paper art from water. You take a bit of it and rub it on to your paper then buff to a shine. Most use it after working with ink but I wanted to use it after coloring with my Prismacolor pencils. I colored a cute digital stamp bug but wanted to color the background with shimmer spray. So I applied the MicroGlaze with a fine-tipped paint brush and my fingers on the bug only. Afterwards I sprayed the image with Glimmer Mist and low and behold my image resisted the water-based spray! It also did not disturb my coloring with the Prismacolor pencils. Here are pics of the process and a photo of me and Judy.

Another Class Promo Flyer!

Here is another Michaels scrapbook and papercraft class promo flyer. You may download all promo flyers from the right side of my blog! Please visit me at the Farmington Hills, MI store #9454!

My Michaels Paper-Ed Flyer!

 
Hello, all! Please check out the Michaels Event Calendar link on the right to download the latest class schedule for store #9454 in Farmington Hills, MI! Also added is a video bar that takes you to all of my art videos on YouTube without having to search my blog. Detailed info and pics will be coming soon for the projects you see in my flyer.

Artist Trading Cards

Here is the video slideshow of my latest atcs. They came as a random burst of creativity-I completely let go and just went with whatever happened. I used various inking techniques and products mostly from Ranger Ink. I hope you like them.

Kenny K and Copic Markers

Here is another video using a Kenny K digistamp with Copic markers! You may read the info box at YouTube for more details. Enjoy!

Ethic Skin Tones with Copics

Here are some examples of coloring ethnic skin tones with Copic Markers. The paper I used is X-Press It Blending Card. I might add that is is very tough to blend the darker colors on this card because the ink starts to goo up if you use to much of it-in other words it does not soak into the paper but sits on top. I am in love with Hammermill Color Copy Paper for Copics but it can be thin depending on your project. However, I just purchased the cardstock version so I will be trying it soon. I hope I love it as much as the paper because I absolutely love how Copics blend on it. I will blog about this topic soon. Images in the video are by The Greeting Farm and Mo's Digital Designs.

Quick Birthday Card

I needed a quick birthday card for a little girl. Close to My Heart makes a good card program book called Wishes. I took the template from there. I always forget about my template resources! They sure work in a pinch.
The flower was sprayed with marshmalllow Glimmer Mist. You can't see the detail-it was lost in the photo. It's a nice added sparkle to the overall project. Greeting stamp by Close to My Heart.

I Would Like Ideas!

If you would like to participate in the creating of my next card, please share your response!

Kenny K Copic Card Instructions

As promised, here are the instructions to the Kenny K. card I posted last week.

ATC

Here is an ATC I made using mica gloss paint. I randomly applied various colors to my card base with a sponge. I stamped the image using black archival ink by Ranger. It was then embossed with clear embossing powder. I gently bent the card to produce the cracked effect. Dew Drops were added to embellish. I need to make ATCs more often. The problem is that I work intuitively-most of my time is spent thinking! But once I get an idea, I work fairly quickly.

Nikki Nicole Mixed Media Art

Custom Embellishment

Were you ever in need of an embellishment but did not have anything to match? Have you ever had materials you never wanted to use again? Try making a custom embellishment. I have a ton of chipboard that goes with nothing. So I decided to try covering it with gesso a material used to prepare canvas for painting. I took a chipboard circle, covered it in gesso using a paint dabber and let it dry. You can speed up the process with a heat gun. I then used acrylic paint dabbers in two shades of green, let dry, then stamped the word hope in chalk ink. See the completed card on the next post!

Mayan Theme

Stamps by Clearsnap and CTMH

Joseph's Coat Card

Stamp Set Fairy Tale Frenzy by Stampers Anonymous