Alcohol Markers. Like Them Or Not?

Alcohol Markers

I bought some cheap markers. I was put off by some of the colors and they really don’t do like I have seen some of them do. I plan to invest in a few Copic markers soon. I was watching a video on the markers and so I did some nice color reference cards so I could actually see the colors. It did help. I now like the colors but I still don’t like the pens I bought. I also learned what the blender was for and how to use it. Like the “Newbe” I am I tried using it after the fact and not before. It didn’t work on my pens before either. My pens are garbage. The streak badly and don’t blend at all. I am bummed out about it. Hopefully soon I will try some others out. I realize you need to learn how to use them and I will be new at that as well.

Here are the color  cards I made. You can see how streaked they are.  My impression is they are not supposed to do that.  I think they are imposters.  It was however nice to see the colors. 

I was watching one of Jennifer McQuire’s videos. She said you could color accessory pearls with alcohol pens. I did try that. Worked very nicely. I am working on Christmas cards so I tried that out on the little acrylic jewel. So that is some salvation for these pins.   

If you would like to weigh in on this subject I would love to hear from you. 

Now I know that this is short but I just thought I would bring it up before I moved on. Hopefully next time I will go back to some fiber and my newly found “Slow Stitching”. It was brought to my attention by a customer. I am going to explore it. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer is Here!

 We here inOklahoma finally made it to summer.  The spring was rather chilly and so far our summer has been rainy. We have had several flash floods but the drought last year has left our lake extremely low. Our farmers need that water so the rain is welcome for the most part. The floods have made the mosquitoes huge!  

I have still worked on cards. I am still loving it. I have started using some Altenew items. They are interesting to say the least. They have some very talented makers. I am bad about using everything I own to do cards. I love learning new things.  I read a lot and watch videos.  

I have been hanging on to this butterfly for some time now. It is stamped and heat embossed in white then colored with alcohol ink pins on the back. I know this is simple but I like the soft look. I used an Altenew embossing folder for the stacked look in white. It is very airy look. Probably not for everyone but I know there is someone out there who likes this look. 

I have had this paper around for quite awhile. When I saw it I fell in love with it. I was reorganizing my paper and I thought I need to use that. Reorganizing is like shopping again. I for the life of me can not remember where I got this die set. I should start labeling them. My memory is failing me. For some reason I think it might be Spellbinders. I have been very attracted to the little square things. I have a couple of them. 

Now for my purple people! You know who you are!

This butterfly is one of my oldest dies  it is also one of my favorite. Purple has always been my thing. I grew up with a room just about this color. Now who loves bling? Purple and bling! Wow! That is so sweet!  The flowers is a sugar flower. It has  Tim Holtz Distress Glitter in Clear Rock Candy on it. The butterfly is Sizzix thinlit. It is a 2014 edition. The embossing folder is Tim Holtz Sizzix Texture Fade folder.  I am crazy about that folder too.

This is an Altenew design. Hill Blossom die and stencil. I had a heck of a time with it. I finally had to ask how to do it. So I am going to say how I was told to do it. You cut it out first. Then keep it in the card without removing it. Line up your stencils and ink it. I was making it very hard. I appreciated the advice. I mad it into a card for our new neighbors who are getting married in a few days. They are just so sweet and cute.  

Just so you don’t think I just like girly things I do like to do more masculine things too. I appreciate Tim Holtz immensely.  His twist on things and his encouragement is outstanding. On this card I used Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz stencil. It is a tutorial I did earlier.  I used one of his 3D embossing folder to do the large wooden letters. 

Well I need to wrap this up. It is fun to share. If you have any questions or comments please reach out. I would love to hear from you! As always you can find me on Etsy under my shop name SweetArtAlways.