Back on dry land ......

Happy Monday to you .......

I'm back!!!!   Another fabulous family holiday over ...... and we're already planning the next one!

We all had a great week on the Norfolk Broads ....... totally relaxed, ate far too much good food, and possibly had a few too many cheeky G&Ts but ....hey! we were on holiday!!!  I will share some more pictures with you once we've sorted through them.

It's all back to normal though this week ...... and it's busy!!!
I did take a 'small' craft bag with me on holiday with some bits and pieces to do but ...... it never got touched!!!  I'd also planned on blogging a little bit whilst we were away, but the internet on the boat was so bad I didn't even try. 
So .... it's catchup time this week. It's going to take me a while to see what I've missed on all your blogs, never mind catching up with this one!!! 

First up, I'm playing along with one of my favourtie Blog Challenges ....... CAS Mix Up

 
I couldn't miss this month's theme, seeing as I'd already got my Alcohol Inks out for the CAS Stencil Challenge.
I've used the Alcohol Ink Lift technique, there's some stamping on there and the element of my choice is ..... die cutting

Using an applicator tool with a felt pad I applied a few drops of the Alcohol Pearl inks onto the pad and then swiped it across a piece of YUPO paper.  I used a clean pad for each of the different colours, and blended them with a tiny drop of Blending Solution

I used one of my all time favourite Penny Black stamps .... Blush, inked using the Alcohol Ink Lift pad to add the flowers in the background .......

I added a few splatters using some Blending Solution on an old paintbrush and stamped my sentiment over the top ......

I added my die cut frame around the edge and finished off with a co-ordinating die cut flower, cut from a piece of YUPO, coloured using the same Alcohol inks

A few dots of glitter glue add a touch of sparkle.

Well that's one off the list ..... what's next?

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
I'm off to the craft room now ..... well, maybe in a little while.  It's a shame not to make the most of the glorious sunshine we've got this afternoon.   Although I am dying to try these out .......

Yes, I couldn't resist treating myself to these gorgeous Blender Brushes by Taylored Expressions.  They were waiting for me when I got home at the weekend ....... it's almost a shame to use them though .... they look so pretty!!!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:
Stamps: Blush (wooden stamp), Special Sentiments (T for Transparent) - Penny Black
Inks: Alcohol Pearl Inks - Sublime (green), Alchemy (yellow), Splendor (orange) & Deception (pink); Blending Solution, Black Archival ink, Alcohol Ink Lift 
Others: Bashful die - Penny Black; Nesting rectangle dies to create the frame; White Blizzard Glitter Drops (Nuvo)

It's time for this month's Craft Stamper challenge .......

Happy Friday ......

It's the first Friday of the month and you all know what that means ...... yes, the latest copy of the Craft Stamper magazine hits the shelves today so ........ it's also time to get this month's Craft Stamper challenge underway.

As always the theme is Anything Goes ...... cards, tags, journal pages,  the list is endless.  Just remember ....... include some actual rubber stamping on your project and you're good to go.
You can enter up to three different projects into the challenge, but each one must have its own blog post. And speaking of blog posts, please keep to just the one project per post ..... thanks

We've got 2 fabulous prizes for you again this month ....... there's the regular Design Winner, chosen by the DT and they get their winning project published in the magazine along with a Winner's Profile and a GD spot. 
And there's also our monthly, randomly chosen, Challenge Winner.  What a treat we have for them this month ...... they will receive the brand new Alcohol Lift-Ink Pad and Re-inker!!!

If you haven't already tried this brand new product, you have to give it go ..... it amazing!!!

Like I said,  you NEED to try this.  It's a whole new way of using your Alcohol Inks and you'll love it!  I do ..... the effects are fantastic.
Use it like you would any ink pad onto your stamps, stamp your image and lift off the alcohol ink leaving your image behind, a bit like the ghosting effect.  Without cleaning your stamp, stamp the image again straight onto normal cardstock and voila!....... such a pretty effect, and no wasting the alcohol ink.  How clever is that!!

See what I mean ........ I've used the Alcohol Lift-ink for my inspiration piece  ....... see what you think

I applied various colours of Alcohol Ink onto a piece of YUPO paper (mainly shades of blues on this one) and used a blending tool to spread the ink around and cover the card.  I spritzed a little bit of blending solution on there too, just to help move the ink around.

Once I was happy with the background I left it to dry.

I inked up my stamp (You Are Forever Beautiful from Unity Stamps) using the Alcohol Lift-Ink and then stamped the pretty floral image across two of the corners of my coloured panel .....

Without cleaning the ink off the stamp, I stamped again, this time onto a piece of regular white cardstock ....... how pretty does this look

Use a clean paper towel to remove any ink residue from the coloured panel ...... lightly dab away first, using a clean piece of towel each time you dab, then once all the ink has been carefully removed, buff over the image to make it really pop!

Remember .... each time you lift the alcohol ink, have a piece of cardstock ready to stamp your image again ...... don't waste all that gorgeous ink

I added a simple, layered die cut to the centre of both cards ...... and a touch of rubber stamping

and finished off with some sparkly sequins and a few dots of glitter glue

It's two for one really ..... both the same, but different if you know what I mean!

Check out the Craft Stamper Blog today for more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team.

Happy stamping!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy your Friday, and have a lovely weekend.
We've got a BBQ planned tomorrow so I'm off now to marinade a lamb shoulder!  Let's hope the sun's back by then too!

Cheerio until next time ......