Just a couple more to tease you

More finished Christmas projects! Shhhhhh....

These photo albums are covered with either copper or stainless steel and then embellished. The coasters started life at Home Depot as tumbled marble tiles.

Metal Covered photo albums

These are some of the projects I've been working on. Look for classes using these techniques in the Spring.

Arrrrrrggghhh... Why won't my ink dry?

Probably the most important paper arts tool, and the most frustrating and confusing, is ink. Knowing what ink to use for what surface and the chemical properties of the inks will make you a much happier stamper! I get asked lots of "inky questions"...hopefully this will help answer some of yours!

Dye Inks
Dye inks, in general, are transparent colors. They are easy clean up, generally acid free but not always fade resistant. If used on something that might get wet, they need to be sealed. (Think tumbled stone coaster)

Water Based: Brands include Ranger Distress, Ranger Adirondack, Memories, India Ink, Marvy Matchables, Stampin Up Classic Ink

These inks are used primarily on papers, come in may colors, are relatively inexpensive. Harder to emboss. Some will dry on vellum. Will not dry on metal, plastic, glass or some coated papers. Use India Ink over water colored backgrounds to avoid smearing.
Solvent Based : Most common brand is StazOn
This will dry on any non-porous surface. Perfect for stamping on metal, glass, acetate, etc. Comes in limited colors, should not be used with Copic markers or Sharpies.
Hybrid : VersaFine, Momento, Pallette
In my opinion the best black, all purpose, stamping on paper, inks. Use Momento for coloring with Copic markers. VersaFine comes in about 12 colors, drys instantly, does not need to be heat set and is great for very detailed images. (I use this almost exclusively). These inks can be embossed but you must work quickly.



Pigment Inks
Move viscous, opaque inks have a longer dry time and are easy to emboss.

Some properties of common brands are:
Brilliance will dry on vellum, works well over alcohol ink or chalk ink backgrounds
Color Box the best for embossing, comes in many colors
VersaColor not as juicy as Color Box but still very nice ink
Versa Magic drys to a chalk finish
Mica Magic drys to a metallic finish

Specialty Inks
VersaMark: leaves a watermark impression. Can be used to emboss.
Embossing Ink: Can be clear or lightly colored. Used to emboss and for resist techniques.
Alcohol Ink: Used to color anything non-porous. Makes polished stone backgrounds on glossy paper, great for metal, glass, beads, etc.
Castaway: Color modifier. Lightens dark colors using heat.

So, what do you REALLY need?
The answer can depend on what you plan to color with. I think a good place to start would be:

VersaMark Allows water marks (tone on tone), embossing and can be used to color with chalks
VersaFine Onyx Black Good all purpose inks to color with water based markers, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, chalks
India Ink If you pan on coloring with watercolor paints or twinkling H2Os
Momento Tuxedo Black if you have invested in Copic Markers

When you are ready to expand into pigment inks or colored dye inks I suggest:

Colorbox for embossing
Ranger Distress Inks for distressing, backgrounds, and fun stamped effects
VersaColor spots an economical way to invest in colored pigment inks
Marvy Matchables economical dye inks

Where do I buy this stuff?
Always try to support your local, independent, stamp or art store. They know about the products they sell, can answer questions and guide you and are usually pretty swell people.

Locally we have:
Stamped Designs in Dover
Wholly Scrap in North Hampton
The Paper Tree in Manchester
Ink About It in Westford, MA
Absolutely Everything in Topsfield, MA

If you can’t find what you need, I can order products for you.

Feel free to email me with your questions or comments about this post!

Bears, Bears everywhere Bears!

The tundra was amazing. So much different than we expected. When we arrived it was baren and dusty, after the blizzard the first night it was a magical snowy wonderland! All the animals love snow, especially the bears. There were bears everywhere. This fella was just hanging out beside our Tundra Lodge.
Dog sledding was...so cool. It is truly one of the highlights of my life (so far!) The mushers and dogs were friendly and welcoming and there is simply nothing better than seeing working dogs do what they love. We head home to our own loves today.

Hi bloggers: I am happy to report my hand surgery went well, stitches came out last night and I am well on the way to being at 100%! Classes resume tonight with a watercolor tools and techniques class for Portsmouth Adult Ed.

We leave on Saturday morning for the Arctic Circle. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Hopefully all the Polar Bear viewing will take our mind off the temperatures! We will actually sleep out on the Tundra for 4 nights! We are hopeful that the Northern Lights will make an appearance.

The November class schedule is published and the beginnings of December. Take a peek. If you want or need something you don't see shoot me an e-mail and I'll try to accommodate.

Check out the slide show I've posted lots of new photos. One is a collage for a friend of mine that just retired after 33 years in the Air Force! (Yeah, Denis!) It is meant to represent all the things he is and does...see what you think.

I'm signing off until we are back home around November 10. If we get a really good Polar Bear photo and can figure out how to post it we will, otherwise, get inky and keep crafting.

Schedule Changes

Well, I'm finally going to have that hand surgery they have been buggin' me about all summer. I've had to change the October calendar around a bit. Hopefully, you won't find it too disruptive. I've also put up the November calendar with just some offsite classes posted. It will change as I flesh out the studio schedule for November. Let me know if you have any requests to get a jump start on those holiday cards of gifts...perhaps a beautiful set of stone coasters? Perhaps an altered journal? Maybe some handmade gift tags to "WOW" them? The sky's the limit.

Charleston, SC Copic Certification Training

I was in Charleston last week to attend the Certification training. What a day. We learned about the differences in the various markers, what they can do, how to change nibs, refill, airbrush, blend and more. Hey, did you realize the colorless blender doesn't? It's purpose is to remove color, move color or lighten color. If you've been trying to blend with it, try no more. It simply won't work. Over the next few months we'll use the Copic markers in classes and I'll share all the things I learned with you. If you need information before then Marianne's blog is FANTASTIC www.ilikemarkers.blogspot.com. Marianne is the educator from Copic and is the Coloring Goddess. I believe when we choose gratitude good things just come to us. I am so very grateful for this amazing journey I am on.