Thinking Inking

Hello, Gorgeous: MFT Release Countdown Day 5

Welcome! It's Countdown Day 5 for the My Favorite Things Stamps August Release, and I have a "Flamazing" stamp set to share with you! I chose cooler-toned pinks rather than the warmer salmon tones for my flamingos, though they are cute no matter what colors you stamp them with. (For the record, yes, I have seen live flamingos before, and, no, they weren't the same pinks that I used here. They were warmer coral-y pinks. Could we call it artistic license and not worry about it? These little guys don't mind. ;-)

I airbrushed my sky (Copic B12) and my water (Copic BG72), then stamped the wave lines in the water with Blue Raspberry Premium Dye Ink. I used the Mini Cloud Edges stencil--It's my new background obsession! Also, I used my MISTI stamp positioned to get all of the pieces aligned on the flamingos. It came in super-handy for this stamp set especially. If you've been waiting for an excuse--ahem, a reason to get a MISTI, this is a good reason. Finally, I used the new Make Your Mark background, inked in Versamark ink and heat embossed with detail white embossing powder for a subtle white-on-white card base. 

Keep in mind that the NEW August Release products that I've used (noted with asterisks below) in this post will be available on Release night, Tuesday, August 8, at 9pm Eastern Time. All other links should work now, but the new release items will not show in the store until release night. Be sure to check the MFT Stamps blog for more August Release inspiration from the MFT crew, and prizes! Thank you for visiting,

*Flamazing

*Flamazing Die-namics

*Make Your Mark Background

Smooth White Cardstock

Cotton Candy Cardstock

MFT Premium Dye Inks Used: Steel Gray (Legs, beak), Insulation Pink (beak), Ripe Raspberry (flower), Blue Raspberry (stamping in water), Sour Apple/Limelight (tree fronds), Milk Chocolate (coconuts), Kraft (tree trunk), Tickled Pink (Flamingo Body), Cotton Candy (Flamingo Wings)

Blueprints Die-namics 30 (for sentiment strip)

Stitched Dome Die-namics STAX

Stitched Dome Die-namics Frames

Stencil Mini Cloud Edges

White Detail Embossing Powder

Versamark Ink Pad

White Blizzard Nuvo Glitter Drops

1/2" foam tape

Tombow Mono Glue

MISTI (Super helpful for the Flaming stamp set!) 

Copic BG72 and B21, and Copic Airbrush System (for background sky and water)

Cotton string, button (from my personal stash)

Copic Various Inks: Washer Pendant

Welcome! What do you think? Would you believe that two days ago, that pendant was a huge silver-y washer sitting in my husband's tool box? I've got the pictures to prove it, and it's EASY too!

Here's my washer--just a basic, albeit huge, washer. I chose four Copic Various Inks that would coordinate. (I probably could have left the G40 out since very light values don't show up well.)

Here I have randomly dripped Copic Various Inks (ink refills) onto my washer. See how it's beading up a bit? That's because I didn't clean the washer throughly first. I had to use my Copic Colorless Blender to thoroughly clean my washer before I could get the ink to stick well (paper towel with a bit of colorless blender, and some good rubbing).

There--that's better! I dabbed at the ink with a scrunched up paper towel. Use whatever you have. . .

I thought it needed a bit more variation and character, so I lightly spritzed it with Colorless Blender.

Inking the washer wasn't hard. Finding an appropriate sealer is a little bit more of a challenge. The problem is that most good sealers--especially aerosol sealers--are solvent-based, just like Copic inks.  So if you get a little wet with your spray, you'll start moving ink around. I researched sealers for metal and ran across several ideas online:

• Mod Podge (water based, but I thought it might peel off of a really smooth surface)
• Krylon Crystal Clear (solvent-based, so would react with ink, though I have in a pinch lightly sprayed Workable Fixative, then Crystal Clear, with heat tool in hand to dry each layer quickly)
• Clear automotive paint (but it's also solvent-based)
• Ice Resin, or a similar two-part epoxy resin (takes a LONG time to dry and cure, but is a really tough finish if you want to wait. . . for. . . it. . . And it does NOT disturb the ink--SCORE!
• Krylon Kamar Varnish (I've ordered some, but it has to ship by Pony Express since it's flammable, making it officially slower than the Ice Resin that I had on hand already! :-)  I'm sure that it is also solvent-based. So I will have to use my heat tool trick when I get a chance to test the Kamar Varnish. I'll let you know how it works.) 

After a good 24 hours of drying time, I needed a way to attach a chain to my pendant. I could have asked my husband to drill a tiny hole, but where's the fun it that? I found some really heavy duty silver wire in my craft stash (18 gauge non-tarnish silver Artistic Wire), and used a pair of pliers to twist a couple of loops at the top and then wrap my wire around the washer three times. It's not perfectly symmetrical on there; a thinner wire would have been easier to wrap perfectly. But I'm okay with it. In fact, I think I like it! 

This was just ONE use of my Copic Various Inks. How about a few others?

• Refilling Copic Markers (Yes, I thought I should start with this one!)
• Faux stone on glossy cardstock
• Coloring absorbent surfaces (Have you seen the Sharpie canvas pillows on Pinterest? Hint: You have Copic 358 alcohol ink colors to work with. . .)
• Coloring non-absorbent surfaces such as glass, metal, resin, plastic, acrylic, etc.
• Painting on Yupo
• and the list could go on and on!

In short, if you have a set of Copic Various Inks/refills, you may want to consider a playdate with them! Thanks for stopping by,