Stamps and ink

   I have discovered another passion in the craft world - Tim Holtz stamps and inks. My sister-in-law, Alison, discovered him first (she claims it is my fault because I got her to do half of a scrapbook for her mothers birthday and during her research for techniques to use she discovered the ink master!)

     Suddenly all these bookmarks began appearing. I adored them and asked her where she got the wonderful coloured card from....she said she had 'done them herself with inks and blending tools'.....WHAT!!?........"Haven't you heard of Tim Holtz?", she asked me.....I hadn't and I was amazed as she showed me a demo of blending inks onto card. My first instinct was to state that that was way beyond my capabilities and I would NEVER be able to do that. Alison promised me that she would show me just how simple and wonderful these inks, blending tools and stamps are....

    Finally ink day arrived. First things first...choose some colours. "Halloween style please" I said. Alison reached over to the tray of many TH inks and took out Ripe Persimmon, Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint (swoon...) and Walnut stain. Then she showed me some of the techniques....

First using the blending tool (I do need to watch how many times I reach for the ink pad!) wrinkled card and build up the colours. I had to be careful to check occasionally how it looked and judge what is needed. I had a tendancy to just swipe it all over rather than build up the colours. Aren't the colours just amazing? Even like this it is a beautiful effect.........Then there were other techniques

This was great fun....I was amazed how simple it all was.....that the ink pads were applied to the heat mat, spritzed with water then just swipe the card through and dry it. Add a few dabs on the remaining ink...and the result is amazing! A little uncontrollable perhaps but I loved it anyway!

         I adore these colours!

Now it was time to move on to some stamping. A blank tag had clear ink embossed with a flourish stamp...........

........ and walnut stain and seedless preserves blended around the edge, then it was spritzed with water (the ink wiped from the emboss) and then it was dried.

A quote was chosen and further flourishes were stamped. A ribbon selected and - Hey presto! - A Tag!!!!

Alison had to then leave the room to bid on Ebay  and I decided to try another tag. Selecting Peeled Paint (of course) and a blue (I forget the name!) I applied some ink to the mat and used the water spray. Something went wrong though - I think I didn't swirl the card through the colours enough as I ended up with a tag that just had blocks of colour. Dismissing it as a lesson learned and feeling that perhaps I shouldn't be doing this unsupervised I waited for Alison to return. "I did this, but it went wrong - I don't like it!"

Alison, as ever, was her positive self....she declared that it was great...perhaps I would like it better with some brown? She suggested the walnut stain, and I began to blend it over the card and it was magical. The green and blue had been too bright and the colours hadn't merged enough but the brown changed it all. Suddenly inspiration returned...I grabbed the offcuts of diecut flowers and applied ink through them to give the muted flower images in the corners.

Alison suggested doing another piece of card with the same blue and green , but paler and doing diecut flowers to add to the tag....It was perfect! A quote was picked and Alison had the perfect embossing powder...a brown that has green shimmer in it

Then ribbons were needed - and I learnt a new thing. Dying ribbons using TH inks. Perfect match and fun to do. I love selecting two colours and seeing them blend into the ribbon. Amazing........!

Then it was time to learn masking. I had always wondered how the layering effect was done and masking is such an amazingly simple was to do this. So on this tag is lots of layers....text, flowers, grunge texture surrounding the central image and of course it was the perfect time to practice the diecut flowers and ribbon dying again!

Now it was time to just bring all the techniques together and play!

   ............And I certainly am!!!


 I am entering the bird tag in the following challenge -

 Glitter n sparkle challenge - Things with wings


   I am entering the green/blue/brown tag in the following challenges -

  The Stamp Man - Nov challenge - Emboss it
  Addicted to Stamps challenge - Tags
 Penny Black and more challenge  - Any die will do
 Sweet Magnolia Challenge - Dies or punches
 Our creative corner - Make your own background
Crafts 4 eternity -  Teriffic Tags