Art Declassified

New Inks - New Inspiration

I'm a sucker for new inks - especially cool colored inks! I love the inks even more if the pads are really wet because I have found these types of pads work best with our stamps that have lots of detail. When my local craft store received the Ranger Adirondack Pigmet Ink Pads I knew I had to buy some. These inks are beautiful and I think I may need to go back and buy all of the colors. I immediately wanted to create something using them, but I didn't want to create a simple card. I wanted to have fun and step beyond my simple stamping boundaries. What I mean by simple stamping boudaries is that I am usually a 'put stamp in ink and place image on paper' type of girl.

Last year I made a stamped domino bracelet. I was happy with the way it turned out, but I soon learned that I made a mistake by not sealing the dominos (the ink started to wear off). My problem was that everytime I would try to seal the dominos. the sealant would smear the ink!

 

 

The bracelet now sits in pieces in a bowl.

 

 

 

I have since learned how to correctly seal my stamped images. I decided to tackle the dominos again, this time making a few pendants and magnets. I used small portions of larger stamps to create the pendants.

Materials Used

• Assorted Art Declassified Stamps
• New Ranger Pigment Ink
• Beacon Adhesives Liquid Laminate
• Sharpie Markers
• Assorted Brushes/Sponges
• Fiskars Hand Drill
• Heat Gun
• Sand Paper

stamps used: kewel love & apple spice

 

stamps used: fete days, sync ledger

stamps used: color me sync, usual suspects

stamps used: Shanghai ID, Art Espionage (No Rules), Shanghai Ephemera, Ransom Note, Eye See You

 

How Did I Make These?

1. Lightly sand down the shiny coating on the back of the domino
2. Using the Fiskar's hand drill, drill holes in the top of the domino.
3. Stamp image onto domino
4. HEAT SET THE STAMED IMAGE! (That is the key to the ink not smearing when you seal the domino! I heat set each image/color right after I stamped it and before I moved onto the next color/image on the domino) **With the pigment ink pads, you need to set the ink with heat in order for it to dry and stay put. BUT, zapping other inks (ex: Staz On solvent ink) with heat will also set them and cause less smearing when sealed. So, I am all for adding a little bit of heat to set an image..no matter if it is suggested or not!**
5. If needed, color in the image with Sharpie Markers. HEAT SET.
6. To ink the edges, place the domino edge directly into ink pad. HEAT SET!
7. Once all of the ink is set (and the domino is cooled down), brush on Liquid Laminate. Liquid Laminate dries very quickly and mulitple layers will result in a shinier finish.

Pull out your dominos! Looking for inexpensive dominos? Try the dollar store!

Have fun!

~karen

 

 

Lounged at the Diva Craft Lounge today....

Diva Craft Lounge Interview

Thanks Danielle and Rayme for having me on your show!

Happy Mother's Day (a little early...)

Happy Mother's Day to you and yours! This post is a bit early, but I am excited to say that I will be out of town during the big day. My family and I are packing up next week and heading out to New Jersey for a family wedding. I am really excited because I get to see my sister and I believe the last time I saw her was over a 1.5 years ago. Sue...here we come! Are you ready for us?

The Happy Mother's Day card is stamped using the photographic Alias stamp "Devan" and "Happy Mother's Day" from the Pay Your Dues Holidays TWO set. The white flourishes are rubons from American Craft. It is all assembled on a transparency sheet that was converted into a card.

Besides playing with Mother's Day cards and packing for a long weekend to NJ, we've been working on lots of new stamp sets and ideas. We aren't sure when they will be released and they just may be realeased as we make them.

Be sure to check out the latest issue of Stamper's Sampler and Just Cards for lots of fun cards featuring Art Declassified. We are also featured in the latest Crafts and Things - an article on stamping and crafting military items! On Wednesday, May 7th I will be chatting with Danielle and Rayme on the Diva Craft Lounge - be sure to listen in!

Have a wonderful week and Happy Mother's Day!

~Karen