With a Twist

The With a Twist class is my last class with Altenew Academy level 2. Not my last class. I have purchased a few Watercolors that I will be taking at some point. This class is meant to stretch your imagination. The lessons were about using odd colors, making an irregular shape for your card, using your stamps differently than you usually would, using acetate to create a shaker, or using your diecut images differently. I am trying to get you out of your comfort zone and stretch your imagination and creativity.

With so many choices, I had difficulty deciding what I wanted to do. The stamp sets I had did not jell well, with some ideas swirling around in my head. So what do I do?? I recently got the alcohol markers from Altenew the Rock Garden set. I used them in my last class, Magical Markers techniques. I wanted a similar look but decided to use Alcohol inks by Tim Holtz instead. I created several “background” pieces and decided to use one to cut out my flower and leaves. I even tried embossing the piece. Embossing is tricky since you are using a nonporous surface that is essentially plastic and warps with the heat. You MUST make sure that you move that heat around.

I learned that after you blend all this alcohol ink on your Yupo paper or other surfaces, you MUST seal it. So if you are trying this, do not forget to seal it, so your project does not lose its beautiful color and shine. I suggest a Krylon UV resistant or Crystal clear spray.

My color choices were limited to what I had on hand. So I choose to use my bright yellow Dandelion and the bright blue Glacier. These two blended in the middle and gave me the great green you see in my leaves.

I chose my background paper from my retired paper in my stash called Bumblebee and used the same ink to stamp my background leaves and berries.

After trimming the card to give it an odd shape, I placed my diecut flowers and leaves on the front. This card needed something. So I added a touch of black splatter from an alcohol marker and some rhinestones that are also retired. You can use any gem here and color them to match your alcohol markers. My sentiment comes from Pink Fresh Studios Miss your Smile stamp set.