Good morning! Today I’m hopping along to celebrate the Diecember release from Simon Says Stamp!! I shared my first Diecember card yesterday and today I’m sharing eight cards along with a video! I know, I know…I never make this many cards at once…but you’ll see how easy it is and you’ll make a ton, too! 😉
You can watch the video below or in HD at my Youtube channel:
Alcohol inks are making a comeback in a BIG way these days and I wanted to try using them as I see alcohol ink artists use them on big canvases on instagram! I’m not a fan of using the felt blending pads…they never really seem to give me the effect I want and all the colors blend together too much for my liking. I follow several alcohol ink artists on instagram and I love the way they put droplets on a canvas, blow them around, and then add more colors. It seems like a very free-flowing organic process and I figured there’s no reason I can’t do something similar for a card, right? So basically I used that concept but on a much smaller surface, a 9×12 piece of yupo paper. I used alcohol inks in indigo, denim, turquoise, amethyst, pool, and sailboat blue. Off camera I used those colors with pitch black alcohol ink on one piece of paper and then on camera I used those colors with silver mixative for a brighter, sparkly look. After the inks dried I splattered the yupo paper with copic opaque white paint to create the look of snow across a wintery night sky. I let that dry as well and then cut up the 9×12 paper to create a variety of cards!
For the first two cards I simply cut 4″ by 5.25″ inch panels of the alcohol ink background and adhered them to a white card base. Then I die-cut the Bliss, Joy, and Felicity snowflakes using the new glitter paper from Simon Says Stamp and adhered them to the panels. Finally I die-cut the sentiments from older SSS releases and adhered them over the snowflakes. I used two layers of white cardstock on the lighter card and a layer of blue glitter over a layer of white cardstock on the darker card.
I mention this in the video but either of these backgrounds could be used for galaxy cards or underwater scenes! Lots of ways to use these fun backgrounds for a variety of cards! 😉
For this card I die-cut the Sensational Snowflakes from white cardstock and reserved the snowflakes. Then I adhered the alcohol inked background behind the white cardstock and adhered two white snowflakes on top. Finally I added a die-cut sentiment using the silver glitter paper!
My next card uses the pretty Picture Book Tree die! Again I die-cut it from a white card panel, adhered the alcohol inked background behind it and finished it with a glittery sentiment!
This card uses the same Sensational Snowflakes Collage die I used on my card yesterday but this time it’s backed by the alcohol inked panel. I stamped the sentiment from Christmas Essentials with versamark, heat-embossed it with silver embossing powder, and then popped it up with foam mounting tape.
The rest of my cards follow a similar layout just using different sections of the alcohol inked background. I love how unique all the cards look even though they’re using the same panel! I hope these cards give you some ideas for how to incorporate alcohol inked backgrounds into your card designs. And if you don’t have alcohol inks…you could easily create a similar look with a watercolored background, color burst sprinkled background, or a distress ink blended background…or even by using patterned paper or glitter paper! I used only a small portion of the amazing dies that Simon Says Stamp just released for Diecember so make sure to head over and check out the full release! What’s your favorite one?
And what’s a hop without a giveaway, right? Simon Says Stamp has generously offered a $25 gift card to EVERY stop on the hop!! All you need to do is visit and leave a comment on each blog. The winners will be randomly selected from each blog and announced on the Simon Says Stamp blog! There’s also a second blog hop tomorrow with even more inspiration and giveaways so don’t forget to check that out! In case you encounter a broken link here is the full hop list for today:
- Simon Says Stamp Blog
- Jennifer McGuire
- Kristina Werner
- Debby Hughes
- Amanda Korotkova
- Jessica Frost-Ballas —> You are here!
- Kathy Racoosin
- Bibi Cameron
- Heather Hoffman
- Barb Engler
- Sarah Moerman
- Anna Kossakovskaya
Good luck! If this is your first time visiting my blog I hope you’ll come back again! You can subscribe to my blog via the sidebar on the right or find me on Instagram and Youtube. Thanks for visiting and have a fabulous day! Happy Hopping!
Interested in the products I used? To make them easy for you to find, I have listed them below. (Affiliate disclosure can be found here). Your purchases through my links help keep my blog running with no additional cost to you and I thank you so much for the support!
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Susi says
Wonderful cards using this new Simon Says Stamp Die-Cember release, along with previous wonderful products!
Cheryle King says
Excellent demonstration and tips. Thanks for sharing.
Barbara Chapman says
gorgeous backgrounds and cards from the alcohol inks
Janet D. says
Fantastic backgrounds, I love alcohol inks, the colors are so vibrant. I will have to try the technique you used.
Natalie says
Awesome backgrounds! I watched your video and love that little tip for applying the “snow” spatters. Next time I try spatters I will put my work in a box and tap the box edges like you did to get my spatters to go straight down on the paper instead of shooting off on an angle.
Kati Caprara says
Jessica, these cards are just gorgeous! I love your designs and these new dies are just fantastic! I just had to put the snowflakes in my cart!
Cindy Beach says
Amazing cards and technique, Jess! You showcased the dies beautifully against the gorgeous backgrounds.
I alos want to tell you I loved your video and beautiful card from the Craft Kindness class. I will be giving that a try!
dannscraftingwhims says
These background are gorgeous and set off the new dies perfectly! I need to play with alcohol inks more!!
littlen says
Beautiful backgrounds. TFS.
Ava G says
Great presentation. Love the deep tone of the alcohol inks
Deborah Kaye says
Your cards are beautiful! The alcohol ink backgrounds are amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Candace W. says
gorgeous cards! the backgrounds are really cool. I have wanted to try alcohol inks and this Yupo paper….they are on my Christmas wish list. hoping I get some to try :))
Betty says
beautiful cards, Jess – gotta get those alcohol inks out and give this a go!!
Debbie Scassera says
Awesome backgrounds and cards! Alcohol inks are a lot of fun.
Joy Blonska says
Wow! Amazing. Love them.
Oliev says
Awesome cards!
Carmela says
Love the vibrant blues and purples! Makes for some beautiful night skies and amazing cards!
vdoyle8 says
Beautiful! You’ve inspired me to dust off my alcohol inks!
Becky Schneider says
Love the vibrant colors! Very pretty! Thanks for sharing
Samantha Johnson says
I love your inking, I was so inspired.
Caro Geo says
This looks like you had a lot of fun — my kind of fun. Very appealing.
kathy Forpahl says
Beautiful! I love the idea! Thanks for sharing your ideas!
mckcampbell says
Those cards are so beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing the alcohol ink process. I will be trying this myself today.
Stephanie W says
Absolutely gorgeous cards!! Wow! love the look you made with the alcohol inks.
SuzanD says
Jess, your alcohol ink background is a stunning. I need to try this technique to add artwork to my walls.