Ink

SOS Cards: Ink Solutions

Erika L Hayes1 Comment
Created using the My Monthly Hero Arts Kit Basic JUNE 2023

HEY! The Craft Dash is going to have a new segment called SOS (Send Over Solutions) Cards

Have you ever had a beautiful card panel end up in the trash because you thought you messed it up? happened on this card!

Let’s start at the beginning, you have not seen the June 2023 Hero Arts, My Monthly Hero Kit you are missing out! You can check it out here. (June 2023 MMH Kit). It’s stunning! I couldn’t wait to try it out.

I created the watercolor background using the reactive inks that were included in the kit. (yummy). A project sheet for this card can be found on the RESOURCES Tab that will walk you through the entire process. Today we are focusing on the SOS

I used watercolor paper which was a bit rough and when I stamped it, the image would not clearly stamp. So after several attempts in my MISTI, I ended up with pock marks and I didn’t like it. So take a look at the quick video (my first try at it btw with my new software) to see how I corrected the issue.

Let me know what you think of this quickie video and check out the other pages on my blog. I will be uploading more SOS segments soon. If you have a card that is headed to the trash bin, STOP and send it to me. Go to the contact page and let’s see what we can do to add it to the SOS Line up!

Have a fantastic week! YouTube is still on the way. Baby steps my crafty friends! Be sure to like, share and subscribe. (I mean if you wanna, I would really appreciate it!)

Click to share this on twitter!

UPDATE: Project Sheet Available on Resources Page

Erika Hayes

Crafter her entire life Erika spends hours creating every day. She loves the crafting community and all the humans that are a part of expressing themselves in creative ways. She has been lucky enough to work in the industry as a concept designer and is a multiple-time published artist. Encouraging crafters to take part in education to better their craft is her passion.

“Practice makes progress, perfection is unattainable.”

The Craft Dash

A Celebration of Stencils

Erika L Hayes1 Comment

Stencils one of the most versatile tools in your crafting stash! They are easy to use and also are relatively inexpensive! This is one reason I love them so very much.

One issue I have when using stencils is shifting, especially the edges. It can be really annoying when you have a beautiful start to the stenciling and then it shifts. Using a bit of removable adhesive on the back of your cardstock and press it into your work surface. I found especially on this card when using the embossing paste on the edges it was particularly helpful.

I love adding texture visually with stencils and ink. Adding to the fun can be using texture pastes and glazes. I used the Altenew Embossing Paste and let me tell you, it was the best embossing paste this girl has ever used. Using texture paste can be a very messy process. When using the Altenew paste I found clean up to be very easy and it takes ink like a breeze. I will link to it here because once you use it, you can never use another!! Click here.

A few other things you can try with embossing paste is adding color to it with ink. On this card I used Altenew Half Tone stencil and simply used my ink cube (Ruby Red) added a dollop of paste and mixed it on my worksurface. The paste will soften the color a bit because in color theory if you add white to a color it will lighten the color. I would suggest if you want a brighter color that you increase the amount of ink and go brighter than you think you need.

If you find that you made a little too much? That a great thing you can do a few things, you can put it in a plastic baggie and save it. Another fun thing if you put it in a baggie is to use it like a piping bag on another project or you can grab another piece of cardstock and a stencil and make a background for future use!

One more thing I found to be helpful is to swatch your stencils. I know another swatching project. (You’re welcome) I discovered using black and grey ink to swatch my stencils was the best as it kept the stencil images the focus. I keep my swatches with my inks swatches to encourage me to use them more often.

A flip through my stencil swatches

Thanks for taking a look! Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or if you want to contact me directly, please go to the contact page!

Blessings Friends!

Erika