Altenew Educator - Irresistible Inking Techniques

I am happy to be here today with my last project for the Level 1 Classes of the Altenew Educator Certification Program.  Today's card features Irresistible Inking Techniques.  In this class we learned several different techniques for using our inks in less than traditional ways and there were a few I hadn't tried before.  So I chose to combine a couple of the techniques from the class with a twist of my own  for this project. 

I started with one of the Stamp Sets from Altenew's July 2018 Release, Beautiful Heart.  One of the techniques we learned was how to use ink with a brayer or an acrylic block for a soft background on our cards.  I had a brayer that I had never actually used and I loved the texture it added to my background panels.  You can smoosh some ink onto a craft mat, spray it with water (or in my case I used shimmer mist) and then run your brayer through it and then onto your cardstock panel.  For all of my panels and elements today, I used Bristol Cardstock because water moves so well on it.  This gives a kind of uneven texture to the ink so it looks like you've added a loose wash of watercolor.  I wanted to bring in both color families that I used, so I decided to create a background panel and a smaller panel done in this way.  I die cut both panels with Spellbinders Hemstitched Rectangles.

I tried several different colors before I settled on the backgrounds I had brayered with Frayed Leaf and Coral Bliss.

One of the other techniques in the class is one you've seen me use often - Heat Embossing using inks for watercolors.  I must say, this is still my preferred way to color images.  I love the translucent quality of the dye based inks and I'm not technically an artist, so it doesn't bother me that I'm not using watercolor.  However, I did a little change up here to the technique taught in the class and did a technique that I call Watercolor Detail Stamping.

I started by heat embossing the outline images using Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  For the larger area of the bloom, I used Pink Pearl Ink.  I inked up the image very well and then gave it a couple of spritzes of shimmer mist, then stamped it down into the outline of the image.  For the leaf I did the same thing using Frayed Leaf and Forest Glades for the one under the bloom.  For the 2nd layer of the bloom, I used Coral Bliss.  For the detail layer of the leaves I used Forest Glades on the light image and Evergreen on the darker leaves.  The little bit of moisture from the shimmer mists really softens and blends the edges together.  I try to use a light hand when I apply the water or mist to the blooms so that I am not getting drips and it's important to have a sprayer that produces a very fine mist.  I love the ones that come on the Tattered Angels Shimmer Mists and so I have one that is now labeled "Water" and another that is labeled "91% Rubbing Alcohol" that I use with Alcohol Inks sometimes.  Just find one that works the way you want it to and put a label on it.

This image is not quite as straight on, so you can really see the Gold Embossing on the images and the sentiment as well.  The sentiment I chose is one from Altenew Build-A-Flower Sakura Blossom.

Of course, I had to put an image in here for you where you can really see the reflection of the gold. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you enjoyed my little spin on this class.  As usual, I've linked the products I used below for your convenience.  Affiliate Links are used. 

Altenew Antique Gold Crisp Embossing Powder Shop at: ALT	Altenew Beautiful Heart Die Set Shop at: ALT	Altenew Beautiful Heart Stamp & Die Bundle Shop at: ALT	Altenew Beautiful Heart Stamp Set Shop at: ALT
Altenew Build-A-Flower Sakura Blossom Shop at: SSS | ALT	Altenew Green Fields Mini Cube Collection Shop at: SSS | ALT	Altenew Tea Party Mini Cube Collection Shop at: SSS | ALT	Canson Bristol Paper Shop at: SSS
Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SSS	PTI Stamper's Select White Cardstock Shop at: PTI	Ranger Multi Medium Matte Shop at: SSS	Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet Shop at: SSS
Scotch 3M Foam Tape Shop at: SSS	Spellbinders Hemstitched Rectangle Dies Shop at: SSS | SPB	Versamark Ink Shop at: SSS	Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS