"FREESTYLE FRIDAYS"

Last week, Julie Beaulieu issued a mission for me to create a project this week using glossy card stock.  It's been a little while since I've used any, so I wanted to try something that I hadn't tried before . . .  in this case, the Alcohol Ink Splatter technique.  My son would say that I improvised as much with this technique as I do when I attempt to cook, and he wouldn't be lying.  Here's what I did:  I used silver Encore Metallic ink to stamp the tree image, sprinkled it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder, and heat set the image.  Unfortunately, the stamp slid on the slick card stock and, since I had the same mishap with my first attempt, I decided to go ahead and use it.  I gathered three alcohol ink refills (Adirondack Meadow, Currant, and Slate), alcohol blending solution, a bronze glimmer mist, and a straw.  You won't see any of the bronze glimmer mist because this was my second attempt, and I managed to knock over the bottle between my two attempts to make this card.  Fortunately, I had a craft mat and was working on a piece of cardboard on top of the mat.  Honestly, it is soooooo unlike me to be this prepared for a mess that I was looking over and under everywhere to find signs of irreversible disaster, other than the fact that I'd spilled the glimmer mist and watched it pour out as I slowly realized that it was really happening and decided what to do about it.  Anyway . . . as I dropped ink onto the card stock--randomly--I used the straw (ETA:  the straw is used to blow the ink around on the card stock--duh!) to quickly move it around before it dried (trying to remember to not inhale between blows), and I continued doing this until the card stock was covered with ink.  I then poured the blending solution onto the card stock and turned it this way and that to move the ink around.  The final step was to dry the card stock with the heat tool and, in the process, the glitter on the embossed image came back to life.  Note:  It isn't necessary to use metallic ink to stamp an image for this technique--that's the ink that I had used on my first attempt (without heat embossing), and I knew that it would be wet enough for embossing powder because I managed to smear it as I tossed it in the trash.  While I used alcohol inks, I think a pretty background could be created with water-based inks.  All in all, I like the background created with this technique and, believe me, it looks much better in real life.  Finishing touches included adhering the glossy card stock to a Soft Sky mat and wrapping Organdy ribbon around the two layers before adhering them to a Wisteria Wonder card.  The sentiment was stamped onto Soft Sky card stock and adhered beneath the ribbon knot.  Don't you love that sentiment?  I recently bought the stamp set (Studio 490 "Evidence of Art") just for that stamp.  Well, Julie, thank you for another mission that created some excitement in my stamp room.  ;-)