COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES III ~ ALCOHOL INK OMBRE

Hello friends!

Can you believe it's already time for a new Compendium of Curiosities III Challenge?  Time is slipping away so fast! We have already completed 28 of the 34 challenges!  

I cannot tell you how much fun I have had on this creative journey; flipping through the pictorial pages of Tim Holtz'  amazing techniques and products.    

I hope that you are having a lot of fun experimenting with different ideas and most of all, I hope that The Curiosity Crew has been able to help you take the "fear factor" out of trying something new.  Creating should be fun...not dreaded or completely put off because you're not sure how it will turn out.  Just GO FOR IT!!

This challenge is all about Alcohol Ink Ombre.  Turn to page 57 in your Compendium of Curiosities books and check out the technique.  Even though I cannot share a tutorial of this technique with you because that is what Tim's book is for ... I will tell you a little something that I found to be helpful in working with the alcohol inks for this challenge.  The book does not say to add a little touch of Blending Solution to each layer of color as you are adding it, but I did.  I liked the results better.  

Here is my finished vintage masculine card using the Alcohol Ink Ombre technique for my background. LOVE the results and the feel and texture of the finished card.

Let me take you through the steps I did in making this card ...

First I used Butterscotch (light), Caramel (bright or medium) and Ginger (dark) Alcohol Ink colors to do my Alcohol Ink Ombre effect.  I did this on Glossy Cardstock.

Alcohol Ink dries in around 7 seconds and is permanent once it dries (other than being able to manipulate it a little bit with Blending Solution for a short time). Because the surface is glossy, I chose to use the PERMANENT Jet Black Archival Ink to age the edges of my Glossy Cardstock rather than the NOT PERMANENT Black Soot Distress Ink. Jet Black Archival works well with the Alcohol Inks and Glossy Cardstock to age edges.  Using Distress Inks doesn't work well on this surface as they are not permanent and are easily wiped away.

I began layering on my background.  Here are the steps in adding the layers above:

• I tore some of Tim's Terminology Tissue Wrap and glued it in place. I brushed Matte Medium onto the BACKSIDE of the Tissue Wrap but DID NOT brush over the top of it. The Matte finish of the Matte Medium would not blend well with the glossy surface of the background, so don't brush over the glossy surface with the matte medium. (You could also use a glue stick on the underside of the Tissue Wrap).
• I cut around my dapper gentleman from Tim's Found Relatives cards and inked the edges with a Chestnut Roan and Black Cats Eye Ink Pad. You don't want white clipped edges showing! Then, I laid him on the background to get a placement where he would be located but I did not glue him down at this time.
• Using the Photographic Studio stamp from Tim's Going Somewhere stamp set, I carefully stamped the image using Jet Black Archival Ink onto the background. When stamping on Glossy Cardstock, you need to be careful because even the slightest movement of the stamp can easily smear. Heat set the image.
• Glue the gentleman in his place on the card front.
• Add the metallic trim from Tim's Industrious Stickers Frames and Trims set down the left side only at this time.  The trim on the right side will be added later, after the placement of the mini cabinet card album.

  

After I thought about it, I decided that some of Tim's Rub On images would work really nicely on the card front.  So, I laid a piece of scrap paper over my gentleman's shoulder (to protect it from receiving any of the rub on image) and added the upper portion of the clock to appear behind him. I then added remaining piece of the clock that did not stick to the paper in the upper right corner.

I also just added partial rub on images rather than using entire images. It's fun to do and adds interest. I did this simply by laying down the image and randomly rubbing it with only my finger.  I pulled up the backing and whatever came off onto the card was randomly added to the card background. I love it!

I got so "into" working on the card, I forgot to take a picture of the background at this point.  Sorry about that!

On to the next step ... adding a mini cabinet card folder made out of one of the cabinet card images from Tim's French Industrial Salvage Stickers, some scrap cardstock, some Kraft Cardstock and a small piece of Tim's Tissue Tape.

The cabinet card image from the Salvage Stickers is 2" x 3". I cut my Kraft cardstock (the base for my mini cabinet card holder) 2" x 6" and folded it in the center. The other two cardstock panels are also cut 2" x 3". I inked all of the edges first with brown and then black to age them.

I added a piece of Tim's Tissue Tape to strengthen and decorate the spine. Even though the Tissue Tape has a sticky background, I glued the tape in place using the Collage Glue Stick for better hold.  

Working on the interior of the mini cabinet card, I glued the scrap cardstock in place on top of the cardstock. This gives a nice "finished" look to the interior of the cabinet card when it is opened.

To further "age" the cabinet card folder, I distressed the edges with a Tonic Paper Distresser. Then I inked the edges again first with brown and then black.

I sized a vintage photograph of a lovely woman, cut it out, inked the edges to remove the white clipped edges and glued it in place on the right side of the cabinet card folder.  I added the silver metallic corners from the Industrious Stickers.

Then I added a partial flourish that I took from Tim's Elements Remnant Rubons. I actually created my own design out of Rubons by adding a butterfly at the lower end and a sentiment in the center.

Here is the finished interior of the mini cabinet card folder that will be added to my card front.  I think it looks pretty elegant and a perfect compliment for the dapper gentleman.

And here is the exterior of the mini cabinet card folder minus the string that I added later that I ran through the little vintage lace loops so that the card would be tied together with a bow.

Next it was time to add one more little element to the card front to put under my gentleman and hide that empty space between where the Found Relatives card ended and the bottom of my card front.

I decided to give my card even more dimension by adding one of Tim's Ideaology metal Drawer Pulls.  But the Drawer Pull is shiny silver metal and that's a problem on a vintage piece.  So, here are the simple steps I did to alter its appearance into an aged piece.

I sanded the metal to scratch up the surface and give it some "tooth". Next I added some glue from a Collage Glue Stick right onto the surface of the metal and let it dry or heat set it into the metal. This will also provide a surface that will "grab" paint.

Using my pointer finger, I applied Pitch Black Paint to the Drawer Pull, covering most of the metal but not a real heavy coat of paint. After heat setting it, I added just a touch of Tarnished Brass (using my finger) randomly onto the Drawer Pull for variance of metallic color. Then I added a little more black paint and heat set it. Then, using my finger, I added small touches of Juniper Paint to represent a patina finish.  I just kept playing with these layers until I got the exact look I wanted.  Then heat set one final time. Also distress the two Long Fasteners that you will run through the holes in the Drawer Pull.

I chose a sentiment from Tim's Small Talk Stickers.  I stuck the sticker onto a scrap piece of  plain cardstock because the length of the opening in the Drawer Pull was larger than the Small Talk sentiment. Since this Small Talk Sticker was on a white surface, I used a small amount of Tea Dye and Antique Linen Distress Inks to age the paper.  Then using Glossy Accents, I glued the sentiment in place on the back side of the Drawer Pull, poked two holes into the card background and secured the Drawer Pull using Glossy Accents and the Long Fasteners. 

Next I glued the strip of metal trim to the upper right side of the card.  Then I attached the mini cabinet card folder in place using 1/4" Scor Tape. I also added two stacked metal pieces of trim from Tim's Borders Industrious Stickers to the top of the card. Finally, to tie in a bit more of the patina look, I gently added some Juniper paint randomly on the metal Industrious Stickers pieces. Here is the card front with the mini cabinet card closed. The sentiment ...
"come what may ..."

"light the way" ... with the mini cabinet card folder open.

Now it's YOUR turn to experiment with the Alcohol Ink Ombre technique. Follow the simple rules to be eligible and then enter our challenge over at Compendium of Curiosities III Challenge.

You could be one of our lucky winners!  Yes, I said ONE of our lucky winners.  We have TWO winners at every challenge.

This time, the wonderful Linda Coughlin of The Funkie Junkie Boutique is our sponsor.  She has a fabulous online store and is offering a $25.00 gift certificate to our randomly chosen winner. Click on The Funkie Junkie banner below to be whisked away to her online store. 

Our other prize package is FULL of wonderful products from the one and only Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi.  Each challenge, we have an armful of "goodies" generously donated by Tim and Mario to be awarded to the project that the Curiosity Crew chooses as the most inspiring, unique or best example of the technique or product for the challenge. 

As we are winding down the challenges, I hope you will take a few minutes out of your day to play, try Tim's Alcohol Ink Ombre techniuqe and then join us.

Good luck!