2021 Christmas Ornaments

Hello blog fans!

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season.

A few years ago I started a new tradition in our family.  

Whoever comes to Christmas dinner receives

a home made ornament from me.

My son and daughter in law have been hosting

Christmas dinner the last couple years, 

but I've continued the tradition.

This year, these are the ornaments I made.

They started out like this.

 Several years ago I was out shopping at one 

of the craft stores and found packages of

metal tags dirt cheap on clearance.  Of course I couldn't pass up

that deal, so I bought a couple packages.  Had no idea

what I might do with them, but knew I'd come up with something.

This year I came up with something.

I used alcohol inks to color the metal tags,

then used stamps and Alcohol Lift Ink to

lift the ink from the tag.

It's a very simple process that turns out looking great.

I did find that some colors lifted easier than others.

Surprisingly I found some of the lighter colors were

harder to lift than the darker ones.
It's all a matter of trial and error.

I also found that some stamps did not work as well as

others and it seems rubber stamps worked better than 

the clear acrylic/polymer stamps did.

The amount of ink used also made a difference.

If I did more than one coat to make the color 

appear darker, it was harder to get the ink to lift off.

But with persistence and repeated stamping, most of

them did work.

Although there were a few that just wouldn't lift.

I'm not sure why that was.

One of the great things about using the alcohol ink

on metal, is that if you don't like the color, the way it stamps

or if the ink won't lift, all you need to do is use some

 rubbing alcohol and remove the ink and start again.

I stamped the year on the back of each ornament.

This is one case where the polymer stamps worked

well.  It may be because it was such a solid 

image, but I can't say for sure.

I'm very happy with how this year's ornaments

turned out.

Thanks for stopping in for a visit, 

come again soon.

Until then,

have a happy and healthy 

new year.

Let's all make 2022 a 

wonderful and creative year!

    Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.

I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.

         

Challenge Swap #2

Hello crafty people!

I'm in an online group of friends and crafters

and we're doing a monthly challenge swap.

Today I'm showing you the card I did for the 2nd 

challenge.  It was my turn to choose the theme

and I chose "friendship"

I got to send my project to one of my closest friends,

so this was perfect for me.

I started by playing with some alcohol inks on

Yupo. I can't tell you which colors I used,

I just chose them and got to work playing.

This is how my first piece turned out and I loved

the color combination.

I made a couple more pieces with the same colors,

but blended them a little bit more.

I then used Alcohol Lift Ink to lift the Poppies image from

the ink on the Yupo.

I stamped what I picked up onto a piece of white card

stock, you'll see that later.

I loved the colors with this stamped image, 

so I started stamping on vellum and loved the results.

I cut a couple masks and stamped over this sheet of vellum.

I then laid it over the bright colored piece that

was my original creation.

I trimmed it down and adhered the vellum by 

folding it over the sides of the base piece,

using ATG tape on the back to hold it in place, then 

mounted it onto a white card stock base.

I use my computer to print the sentiment and adhered the

pieces to the front of the card.

I then took the pieces that I lifted the ink from and

played with them a little more, by adding some 

alcohol to them and this is what I got.

I love that you can just add more alcohol, and ink

if you want, and get more use out of the pieces.

I used the 2 pieces inside the card with the rest of the 

sentiment.

The flower in the bottom corner is the original

one that I stamped from lifting the ink.

I stamped it and fussy cut it, then added it

to the inside of the card.

The card was an odd size, so I made my own envelope

with my Envelope Punch Board.

I lifted another bit of ink and stamped the envelope with 

a matching flower.

I loved making this card and sending it to one of

my closest friends.

I think she loved receiving it too.

Thanks for stopping by today,

I hope you learned something and/or have been

inspired in some way.

I hope to see you again soon.

Until then,

make something for someone you love.

Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.
I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.

Metal Tag and Alcohol Inks

Hello crafty friends!
Today I'm showing you something a little
different.  I was wandering around in Michael's one
day and happened to see some metal tags on clearance.
They were only $6.00 for a pack of 24, so I
picked up a pack and figured I'd think of something
to do with them.

This is what they look like right out of the package.
I decided that I should use some alcohol inks on
one and see what I got.

I used a few different colors of purple and just
pounced them on with a ink blending tool and a
felt applicator.  I thought it turned out pretty nice.
Now what to do with it?

My next step was to use some
Alcohol Lift Ink.
I found several different floral stamps and used them
to lift the alcohol ink off the tag.
I love how this turned out,
I'm not sure exactly what I will use it for,
but it sure was fun playing with the inks and
experimenting.
I think these could make nice bookmarks or little art
pieces to just hang somewhere.
Or even to just use as gift tags with the persons name
lifted from the surface.
At the price I got them for, how can I go wrong?

Thanks for spending time at my blog today,
I hope you've been inspired in some way
and maybe will give some alcohol ink
a try.
Until next time,
try something new and different.

Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.
I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.

Tags - Foliage

Hello blog friends.
Today I have another tag post for you.

These were made with an alcohol inked background.
I used "Further Around The Edge" stamp set from
 Dyan Reaveley to stamp the vine design

 and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder.

For these 2 tags I used alcohol inks on silver card stock,
then stamped them with a variety of leaf stamps using
Alcohol Lift Ink.
The Alcohol Lift Ink does just what it say, it lifts the ink
off the card stock, leaving the design of the stamp.
Once it is lifted, you can take that stamp and stamp
the "lifted ink" onto another surface.
I would encourage you to watch some videos on this
product and technique and give it a try,
it's fun and gives a great look to projects.

Thanks for stopping in, come again soon.
Until then,
try something new.

Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.
I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.

Ink Lift Card

Welcome to Kristie Kreates!

Have you tried the Alcohol Lift Ink yet?

If you haven't you should give it a try.

Well, that is if you use alcohol inks.

I love my alcohol inks, especially for making backgrounds.

When the Alcohol Lift Ink came out

I knew I needed to give it at try.

This is a card I made for my Aunt Marilyn.

Her 95th birthday was the same day my 

son got married.  Unfortunately, she lives in

 North Carolina and we are in Western New York,

so she wasn't able to attend.

I thought a fall themed card would be perfect for her.

There are a lot of video's out there showing how to use the

alcohol lift ink, so I won't go into detail about it.

I will say I used a glossy silver card stock,

made a background with a few different colors of

alcohol ink and stamped with several leaf stamps from

my stash of stamps.

I heat embossed the Happy Birthday with silver embossing powder,

mounted it onto silver card stock and layered them all

onto a matching card base.

If you haven't tried this cool ink, you should.

It's so much fun to work with and gives a very impressive

look to any card or project you make with it.

Here's a link to some videos on YouTube

showing techniques with this amazing product.

Thanks for stopping by today, 

come again soon.

Until then,

watch some videos and give 

something new a try.

Note the links are only to give a reference so you can

see what the products are.
I didn't necessarily purchase from these sites,

except where specified,

and you may find better prices elsewhere,

I am in no way promoting any particular site.