Tippy Thursday

Hi all, how are you today? I hope well and warm, for although the sun is shinning it's very cold out there on this frosty morning.  Nice to look out on whilst you craft!

As crafters we are luck that there are so many ways in which we can occupy ourselves, so what are you doing today?  My passions at the moment are collecting distress and alcohol inks and cosmic embossing powder, and promarkers, and stamps - some passion - how exciting !!!!  But, what can I do with them?  How to get the best use out of my new goodies - or will they sit on the shelf like other things I have just had to buy because I liked them, and wanted them, but not actually needed them! So, I have been looking at my new goodies and thinking okay you wanted them - what are you going to do with them???!!!???   

So........Distress Inks....
1:   I was introduced to these about 3 months ago by the very talented Andrea as an excellent way to colour images to give a watercolour effect. This started me off!
2:  You can also ink the edges of your card or image.
3:  You can change your base card colour to make sentiment/tags to match your decorative paper.
4:  You can use Cut 'N' Dry foam to make mottled backgrounds on which to stamp. Messy, but I like it!
5:  You can stamp with them and then emboss - but you do have to be quick to do this!
If you use these inks for other things...please share with me.

Alcohol Inks
Again messy and you need an heat proof mat and an applicator - but wonderfully satisfying!  Great, different results every time you use them. 
1:   You can make beautiful motttled backgrounds on which to use your stamps
2:   Colour mirror board or cardstock and then emboss with a embossing folder - great for matting
3:   Use to give texture and interest on various surfaces
4:   Use on acetate
5:   Use on metal - jazz up boring tins!
6:   Use on grundgeboard and probably more others I've yet to discover!

Stamps
Look at your stamps - what can you do with them? Do you get full use out of a stamp? Can you use the image in a different way? Can you take a small image and make it appear bigger? Yes, you can....

This stamp is an inchie, but it looks bigger!

I have just stamped on cream card, die cut with a Nestie square, embossed the edge with an embossing pen (felt lazy), shaded with distress inks to match my DP, then triple embossed.

The embossed effect with using the Cosmic shimmer embossing powder makes photography difficult, but you can see the glossy shine look from triple embossing and also from the embossed swirls (stamped with DI).

The mat was made again with cream card and die cut with the next sized Nestie then coloured and textured with Alcohol ink.

So my tip today is to do something with your new things instead of shelving them - I hear so many say "oh I have that and I have never used it!" Open the cupboard and see what you have there that you've not used for an age (or at all!!!)....like my Perfect Pearls for example!!!  But I'm working on them!

Back soon.... have a good play.