Inky Creations with April

Welcome Crafty Friends! Today’s card was created for the Magical Marker Techniques class through the Altenew Academy. This class is taught by Sara Naumann and it is a great class to take to learn more about alcohol markers and ways to use them. The Altenew Academy has a wide variety of classes for all levels of stampers. They add new classes regularly and is worth checking out.

For this card I used the following:

• Darling Rose – Altenew
• Artist Alcohol Markers (Tropical Forest & Cool Summer Nights) – Altenew
• White Alcohol Ink Yupo Paper – Tim Holtz
• Pitch Black Alcohol Ink – Ranger
• Intense Black Ink – Simon Says Stamp
• VersaFine Onyx Black Ink
• Island Blue Cardstock – Simon Says Stamp
• Satin White Sequins – Altenew

I am fairly new to using alcohol markers. I have a small collection of Copic Markers and got my first sets of the Artist Alcohol Markers from Altenew for this project. I am still learning about blending and all the ways to use these awesome markers. I used several techniques that Sara taught in this class. I did some ink smooshing, edging, and blending with alcohol markers.

• I began with a piece of Yupo Paper to create a background on. I scribbled some of the Desert Night marker on my Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat. I then spritzed some water on the ink and smooshed the paper into the ink in several places. I set this aside to dry.
• Once dry, I trimmed this down and used the same Desert Night marker to edge the cardstock. I wanted this to be seen when mounted so I made it a bit messy around the edges.
• Next I stamped the floral image and leaves from the Darling Rose Stamp Set on some Neenah Solar White Classic Crest 80lb. cardstock with Intense Black Ink which is alcohol ink friendly. I set this aside to make sure the ink was dry before I began coloring the image.
• I stamped a sentiment from the same Darling Rose Stamp Set with VersaFine Onyx Black Ink on white cardstock. I trimmed this and mounted it on a piece of black cardstock.

• I then used the Tropical Forest Artist Alcohol Marker Set and the Cool Summer Nights Artist Alcohol Marker Set to color the flower and leaf images.
• Next I used the coordinating dies to die cut the colored images. I then figured out my layout and used foam tape on the floral image and the sentiment to add a little dimension and tucked the leaves around the rose and adhered them directly to the background with liquid glue.
• This was then mounted with more foam tape to the Island Blue Cardstock.
• This panel was then mounted to a heavy weight card base. I added a few White Satin Sequins for a little bling.

I loved how this card turned out and that I choose a main color that I usually don’t reach for but have been lately. I am excited to continue to practice blending and coloring with alcohol markers and put the tips and tricks I learned in this class to work. I hope you enjoyed the card and that it inspired you to grab some alcohol markers and create something wonderful. Thanks for stopping by!