Birthday Card and Alcohol Ink

Happy Birthday Ron...you finally caught up to the same age as me....at least for awhile,

You know, when you get a new die, you've just got to use it.  This die is My Favorite Things - Die-Namics - MFT-1353.  This die makes a very quick card.  I cut the die on black card  and backed it with a piece of plastic page protector that I had alcohol ink painted.  There are tons of videos on line showing this process on plastic.  One of my favorite alcohol ink artists is Jodi Martinez.  If you look back to my post of August 1st.  you can see links to her instagram and FaceBook pages.

For this card I used Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink re-inkers and Tim Holtz Mixatives. I backed the alcohol ink painting with gold mirror card and it really helps to reflect the colors of the ink.  It's funny, what goes around comes around.  I think I did my first alcohol ink painting 15 years ago.  I'm glad it's making a comeback and there are lots of new ways to paint with the ink. Doing this painting on window plastic or any stiff plastic is very easy.

Jodi uses epoxy for her pieces of art.  Which she is selling on Etsy - Here  Check out her work.  She is making videos of how to, so keep your eyes open for them.  My neighbor, her sister-in-law, took a few classes and for my birthday Jeri gave me this lovely piece of art.  I love it.  Thank you Jeri Cude for gifting me this beautiful piece.

I see a class or two in my future......It will be a fun girls weekend that's for sure.  

So....that's it from me.  I hope you've enjoyed my card and I do hope you check out Jodi's work.  As always, thank you for stopping by.

Happy crafting and I'll see you soon.

Mary Mac

AKA:  Glitter Grammy

Blue and Gold Christmas

I'm sure everyone is thinking about the end of summer, the beginning of the school year and for many of us creating Christmas cards.  So, here is my Sparkles Christmas Challenge card for September.  Pat chose the theme for this challenge the cards need to show blue and gold.

When I sat down to create my card, I was sure this was going to be a quick one for me....boy was I wrong.  My original plan didn't look on paper like it did in my mind.  So into the trash bin went idea #1, which I'd tried cutting 4 times.  The die, a large one just wasn't cooperating.

I decided to move on to idea #2, which is based on what you are seeing now.  What I did realize...I don't have Christmas patterned papers in blue and I thought I had many choices of blue solid papers....guess what, I don't.   At this point I was getting a bit frustrated.

While going through my paper pads, I found a 6x6 pad that is not Christmas, but it is blue.  My card is made from Vintage Romance by Maja Designs.  I love the papers, but they are not Christmas themed.  The patterns are tiny and I think rather quilt like.  I think these four papers worked well for the front of this card.

My snowflake was die cut from a Memory Box Die - Bianca Snowflake #98193.  I first cut the die using a gold mirror card stock, but it was just too shiny.  I cut the design again using a mottled gold card stock.  I liked this cut much better.  I did use the mirror gold to frame the layers of blue card stock.  The sentiment "Let It Snow" is a 1995 Annette Allen Watkins stamp - #C1371.  The center of the snowflake was cut from a piece of scrap blue card stock.

And now on to the inside of the card....

The inside of my card uses two more pieces of the Maja Design paper and I added 1/2 of the mirror snowflake I originally cut to use on the front of the card.  I do like the look.  My sentiment is from Stampabilities - 2008, Warm Your Heart - GR1145.  That's it for my inside and out.  I hope you too will take some time to create a blue and gold card and share it with the Sparkles Christmas Challenge.  

I think my helper was a bit tired today.  She is always at my feet when I create.  

I don't know why I'm sharing this photo, I will name this photo persistence pays off....

I do tend to make a mess when I'm in creative mode.  Thankfully, if I clean up after each creation it's an easy and quick process.....Here's what my desk should look like.  

Well, I guess I'm ready to start my next creation.  Until next time, Happy Crafting, I look forward to seeing your blue and gold creations.  

Hugs from my world to yours,

Mary Mac

AKA:  Glitter Grammy