Nature's Beauty - A Challenge & Repurposing too

I'm loving the Compendium of Curiosities Challenges (CCC #22) over at Linda's Studio L3.  I haven't played with my alcohol inks in a while, and this was the perfect opportunity.  The challenges are taken out of Tim Holtz' book Compendium of Curiosities -- this one was from page 52, Alcohol Ink Splatter.  And so much fun!!  I picked out the stamps I wanted to use first--Tim Holtz' Mini Holidays2 & Reindeer Flight, in which I used the two different sizes of trees.  I used the smaller size for my background and the larger size for my overlay, stamped on acetate/plastic.  Which brings me to the repurposing part--I used glossy cardstock I had been saving from various packaging, and the plastic was recycled from another package I just couldn't throw away.  The glossy cardstock was a great find, originally used as a liner in one my of packages--it wasn't as solid as traditional cardstock, but it worked great.  I probably had more bleed through than using traditional glossy cardstock, but no one ever sees the back side.  Oh, wait--guess what...I used that too!  ha ha...  For the quote by Helen Keller (CTMH stamp set "Beautiful Things") I used the back of a portion of my alcohol splatter project...I liked the softer look for the sentiment.  For the main portion of my card I used Tim's technique as in his book with the following colors:  Lettuce, Meadow, Pesto, Willow, Slate, Cloudy Blue, & Gold Mixative.  Yep--I used a lot of color. I stamped on the plastic, heat set it, cut it out and wrapped it with a wire ribbon, strung some lights, and popped dot it to my card. My tree star was a blue button--so I colored it with the gold mixative & blending solution before adding it to my tree.

NOTE:  I don't receive any compensation for recommending products, but this is too cool not to pass on.  I wanted to make a quick mention of my Non-stick Craft Sheet by Ranger Industries.  Whether I'm crafting at home or teaching a class I always use this craft mat.  It's awesome!  I purposely photographed my card on my craft mat so you could see the splatters from my ink before I cleaned it.  What is so cool about this mat, is that nothing sticks to it--glue, paint, ink, embossing powder, etc...it all wipes up so easily, and no bleed through.  You can iron on it, heat set, emboss, & more--it even repels water.  Seriously, I love this mat!  Okay...that was my public service announcement---moving right along...   =)

This was the first time I've attempted this technique and boy was it fun! If you haven't gone out and bought Compendium of Curiosities yet, you're gonna want to add it to your Christmas list--if you can wait that long.

Thanks for stopping by...and come again!

Lisa