Keeping Christmas

Hello everyone.  I hope this finds you well as you hop along today to see all of the beautiful Christmas Cards we have in store for you today.

Kelly Lunceford

Broni Holcombe

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Rachel Bergfeld

Vicki Finger (You are here)

Normally I make multiples of a single design for the hop but I am still very busy getting re-established with my doctors from when we lived here before.  Since it's been 8½ years, everybody wants new tests, new x-rays and all my previous records from Oklahoma.  It is a never ending stream of appointments right now which I hope gets finished soon.  It's exhausting!  

This month I wanted to use a holiday favorite from Gina K Designs, Merry & Bright.  This was a Stamp TV Kit last year but is now available as an individual stamp set and it also has a coordinating die set.  I know it doesn't look that special in this pictures, but wait until you see the others.  

If you've read any of my blog posts from the last month or so, you know that I have been having a blast playing with Alcohol Inks and Yupo Paper (Plastic Paper) or Glossy Cardstock.  I have the new thicker #144 Yupo Paper, the regular thickness Yupo Paper.  I love the thickness of the thicker Yupo, but it's more expensive and doesn't die cut words well at all, in any die cutting machine.  You can cut a stitched rectangle with no problem, but anything more intricate than that and it will not cut completely through.  So because of that, I wouldn't spend the money for it again unless I was planning to use it for something that I wouldn't be die cutting.  

This week I was working on a special gift for someone and making a set of thank you cards for her.  Once you start playing with Alcohol Inks, it is hard to quit.  I made several backgrounds about a month ago when my grandson was here and have used many of them in making that set of cards.  This background is one of the many I still have left.  It has a combination of pinks and greens and when it was dry enough I ran it through my Minc Machine with Gold Decofoil from Thermoweb.  I still haven't experimented enough with either to predict how much foil will be on it when it comes out of the Minc but this is my version of living dangerously.  I don't like to give up much control, so this is about as close as I like to get.   

I wanted to pull colors from the background for the stamping of the flowers and leaves, so I used Fresh Asparagus, and Innocent Pink for the base with Dusty Rose for the 2nd layer.  I used my Mini Misti so I could double stamp everything.  For the sentiment, I stamped it with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder, heat set it and then did a second layer for the really bold gold look.  I love the styles and fonts of this sentiment.  I also used the Gina K Designs Decorative Dies to cut out the sentiment and then began assembling my card.  I stamped extra layers of each of the flowers so that I could stack them up on foam squares at varying heights for a super dimensional look. Some Pieces have three thicknesses of foam while others have only one or two.  The larger bloom is three stacked on top of each other and I also die cut an extra label and glued it to the bottom of that so it would be nice and sturdy and then popped it up on foam tape as well. 

Once I had the card assembled, I decided I want to pull a little bit of gold from the label into my arrangement and so I die cut the centers from Gold Foiled Cardstock and adhered them to the blooms with Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  Check out how spectacular this looks when the light hits it!  I love this looks of granite with gold veins running through it.  

Sometimes, you can get a bit more foil than you want, so I was playing around and hit it with some 91% Rubbing Alcohol to soften it a bit and then you can dab it away with a soft cloth.  I salvaged several backgrounds that I was planning to toss by trying this.  One key thing I think for the foil to work in the way I want it to, is to use Glossy Cardstock for this and let it be completely dry before you run it through the Minc.  This also helps to flatten out the piece that gets pretty saturated, even using Rubbing Alcohol instead of Alcohol Ink Blending Solution.  I also want to get some 99% Rubbing Alcohol to try, but 70% doesn't work nearly as well.  Like I said, its all just a theory at this point.  Because I have a hard time stopping when I'm using the alcohol inks, I had tried several different techniques and papers.  The glossy cardstock also die cuts well.  The pack I have I got several years ago from Stampin' Up so I'm going to have to find some soon.  

In case you decide you want to try this, here's a few tips /precautions for you if you decide to try this out.  I have mostly white furniture in my studio, even my extra task chairs are white, so I covered the back and the seat of each of them with a tall kitchen trash bag.  I'm still using the original ones.  The slide off, so you have to pull them back up occasionally.  They don't look too pretty, but they keep the surface clean.  I also have several craft mats to work on and I'm working with Card 5 x 7 pieces of cardstock at the most.  If you wanted to work on a larger piece, I would put several craft mats together to go underneath or else work outside.  

Go to Sally Beauty Supply, Walmart or order off Amazon, but be sure to have vinyl or rubber gloves.  These stain as well so when you change color families, change your gloves.  I just re-ordered more gloves and two boxes of 100 gloves ran me about $12.00 on Amazon.  I couldn't find the kind with powder to make them slide on and off easily, so I'll have to tell you later how I like them.  I'll finish what I have on hand first.  Be sure to get some of the thicker ones.  I think mine are 4 ml.  

I have a glass top on all of my actual work surfaces, and this helps because alcohol inks definitely stain.  I also get one of my husband's old T-Shirts and put that on instead of my regular clothes for the same reason - your clothes will stain if  they come in contact with any of the alcohol inks.  While Rubbing Alcohol will take out most ball point inks from your clothes, I didn't want to find out the hard way that it doesn't work with alcohol ink.  The inks are very highly pigmented and I doubt this laundry tip would work.  I also made my grandson wear one of Papa's old T-Shirts as well.  

Don't touch anything with your gloves on except the paper you are working with.  For example, don't dash off to the kitchen with your gloves on.  Take time to remove them or you might find traces of ink left on towels, cabinets, or counter tops.  I haven't done this but I did get a splatter or ink on the front of one of my work station.  Thankfully, it came off with a bit of rubbing alcohol.  Also, just in case you don't know it, rubbing alcohol is a fantastic household cleaner and is cheaper than most things.  When I worked in a Jewelry store about 25 years ago, we used it to keep the glass clean.  As you can imagine, all glass cases meant a lot of cleaning and wiping down all the time.  That was one of the many reasons I chose glass for my studio furniture tops.  It's easy to clean and rubbing alcohol is economical.  The 70% Rubbing Alcohol works best for mirrors and fixtures, but it doesn't work well on windows, at all.  I wipe every other hard/non-porous surface down with it, bathroom fixtures, toilets, etc. and you get rid of germs at the same time. You CANNOT use it on anything painted or it will ruin the surface.  (Consider this a disclaimer).

I'm sorry I don't have more Christmas specific projects or tips for you this time.  I am hoping life will slow down soon and get back to something that resembles normal.  I am getting to spend a lot of time with my daughter and grandkids which I am definitely enjoying.  I'm hoping to go to lunch with one of them next week after I have recuperated from all of the running I'm having to do this week.  

We'll all be back next month with more projects to share with you.  See you on the 25th!  I've linked the supplies I've used below for your convenience (Affiliate Links used).

Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SSS	Gemini Full Size Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SSS	GKD Bubblegum Pink Ink Shop at: SSS | GKD	GKD Decorative Label Dies Shop at: GKD	GKD Fresh Asparagus Ink Shop at: SSS | GKD
GKD Innocent Pink Ink Shop at: SSS | GKD	GKD Merry & Bright Dies Shop at: GKD	GKD Merry & Bright Stamp Set Shop at: GKD	Heidi Swap Minc Machine Shop at: SSS
Kokuyo Long Dot Runner Adhesive Shop at: SSS	Mini MISTI Stamping Tool Shop at: SSS | ALT | GKD	PTI Stamper's Select White Cardstock Shop at: PTI	Ranger Multi Medium Matte Shop at: SSS
Scotch 3M Foam Tape Shop at: SSS	SSS Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS	Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Thermoweb Decofoil Sheets - Gold Value Pack Shop at: SSS | GKD
Tim Holtz Tonic Paper Trimmer Shop at: SSS	Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS	WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Designer Dies Shop at: SSS	Yupo Paper Shop at: SSS