Veg i inked today!!!

Thursday night again folks, time to get yourself a cuppa, take the weight off of your feet and spend a few minutes of your week in the capable hands of a guy they said would never escape! :)

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This week has been a bit of a difficult one for me as far as the veg inking is concerned. Believe it or not i am running low on veg that is good to ink. There are some veg that i could ink, but know from practise runs that they are rubbish, and not even worthy to be seen here.

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So today i just hoped for the best during my visit to the grocers and something little. So give a warm welcome to......the SUGAR SNAP PEA!!!

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The pictures just don't do these peas justice! They did dry out quite fast which always leads to dulling, but they did well to retain at least some colour.

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Maybe not the best place to try out my new Brights alcohol inks, you can't see how totally cool these new inks are on a pea....but i cannot recommend them enough for those of you who don't have them already.
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The most common question i get from bloggers is simply "Why?". Well i like the fact that you can take something that we don't usually look twice at, and turn it into something that is worth a second look.

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This one below reminds me of a big fish for some reason. :)
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Veginkability for the sugar snap peas? Well they didn't ink as well as expected. but then again I'm definitely seeing a pattern in what makes a veg good to ink. The shiny skin. This just doesn't fit the bill.....then again it did result in at least some colour.....so i think I'm going to go with a 4 this week.

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I am a bit disappointed that the Brights didn't reveal themselves as well as i would have hoped, they really are the most gorgeous of colours. Next week i will endeavour to give you something much brighter to view!

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Thanks for looking everyone, I'd better go and check on what Rotty is up to, you just never know with him these days!

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Night all. :)

Veg i inked today!

Good evening veg fans!!! :)

Welcome to another ....and rather late episode of "Veg i inked today!!!". I have to admit, tonight's veg inking was done in rather a rush, due to the fact that unlike me i have been busy completing a lovely little make.....more about that another time.

So i was left with hardly half an hour before midnight to get something inked.....or else risk letting my faithful barmy army of veggie followers down. That my friends, just wasn't an option!

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Off into the depths of the fridge i delved, dodged the onions, glided over the leeks, came very close to an incident with the eggs......but eventually i found it, tonights veg to be inked......the CUCUMBER!

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Sliced for the artistic touch! :)

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Although not my greatest work, i must say they inked rather nicely! The ink stayed nice and vibrant long enough to be photographed, there wasn't the usual mess i make on a Thursday night, and the colours seemed to more or less stay separate, which saves a muddy mess at the end! :)

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Some were deeper colours than others.....

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Whilst others presented themselves with a look so bright and cheerful, you could think you were looking down at the coastline waters of some far off tropical paradise. That's what i see anyway lol.

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So a very quick, but pleasant veg inking for you tonight, nothing big, nothing fancy, but sometimes as they say, the best things come in small packages.

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Veginkabiliy rating for the cucumber? Hmmm....tricky one, however i think a 6 would be very fitting for this colourful little gem!

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The cucumber is a very juicy vegetable indeed, tons of water content, so this let the inks flow really nicely. Also, usually a green background on a veg can be a nightmare scenario for a professional fruit inker such as myself, but this was a delight!

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Thankfully, Mr Holtz's alcohol inks are such amazing colours, you just canlt help but improve anything they touch. Just you wait till i get my hands on those new brights colours!!!

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Thank you everyone for tuning in once again, for what is now an early Friday morning blog post.

I hope you are all well, now that i have done my veg, i can get on and look around your blogs....i can't relax until my weekly veg is inked......you know what it's like don't you?

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Thanks again and take care. :)

Veg i inked today!!!

Good evening to you all on this fine Thursday evening. :)

I am still at Maddy's, hence the lack of blog activity, however after a two weeks of veg-inactivity i buckled under the pressure and sought out another trusty vegetable for me to brighten up.
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My task was fraught with danger from the start though. My only source of veg this evening was Maddy's local corner shop, and this meant the daunting prospect of possibly forgetting Maddy's coffee amidst the excitement of choosing a vegetable!
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That just wasn't an option, Maddy loves her coffee and rumour has it, last man who neglected to remember Maddy's coffee from the shopping list was never seen again! Anyway, my trip to the shop was a disappointment and i returned home with just the contents of the fridge to save me.
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I opened the fridge door, peered inside, and there....right at the back.....peered a little veg, left over from the beef roast we had the day before....forgotten in the packet, lonely and unwanted.....so tonight i decided to give it the spotlight and ink.......a sprout!!!
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There is only so much you can do on a tiny sprout, so i went for the minimalistic approach on this little fella. Three colours....that's it, but the stream blue and the wild plum make the most gorgeous purple.

The sprout was another veg that kept it's colours well, and didn't dull like some of the others.
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The way the veins on the sprout leaves show up, makes it look to me like a little brain lol. In fact, in my world ever crafter has a brain this colourful!

Not a masterpiece by any means i know, but i just wanted to get some veg back on the blog.....they really were missing the spotlight you know!

Veginkability rating? I'm going for a 4 for the sprout. Not that high, but it was nice to ink and the colours come out nice on it, so i can't really complain about the effort put in by such a tiny chap.

Hang on....who's that i can hear muttering away?



"Ummm......hi Rotty......and may i ask what you are doing with my bottle of alcohol ink?"

"I ask myself the same question every Thursday night when i see you making a mess with them boss!"

"Excuse me Rotty. fruit and veg inking is not something for amateurs you know, it takes great skill to produce some of the masterpieces that you see here every week!"

"Yeak ok, if you say so boss.....might give it a go myself actualy, i mean it looks pretty simple.....you just unscrew the top.......give it a little squeeze.....bit here.....bit there.....another colour here......bit there.......

"DA DAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!"
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"Hmmm very impressive Rotty....you've excelled yourself, even for you!!!"

"Cheers boss......i thought it could have done with a bit more colour here and there, but overall i was quite pleased.......what do you think?"
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"I think you need a bath Rotty.......make sure you scrub your ear.....i think you got some ink on it my little inky mate!!!"
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"Sure thing boss.....see......i told you Calvin Mouse is a drama queen......anyone could do this crafting lark if they wanted!!!.......big girls blouse he is!!!"

"Goodnight Rotty :)"

Goodnight everyone, thanks for stopping by! See you next week, same time...... :)

Right then! Times up!!!

So then Calvin Mouse! I went easy on you earlier due to Maddy waking up, and i gave you a day to get my stamp back....so why do i find myself sat here without a certain Sugar Nellie stamp?

Not good my furry little friend.....not good at all!

I mean we are mates and all that Calvin Mouse, but a stamp is a stamp and I'm sure any crafter would feel the same. In fact I've seen crafters do terrible things over missing stash, you should see Maddy when her fave ribbon is missing!!! I'm still having therapy from when i accidentally used her new 12 x 12's for wiping up glue!

So I'm sorry Calvin but.....

The alcohol ink it is then!!!

Sorry Calvin Mouse but you brought this on yourself. Assisting a known stamp thief is a crafty crime beyond belief, and one that must be dealt with swiftly, and colourfully

So then, we've started with the Stream blue ink....do you want to divulge any info yet? Or do i have to go for the.....CRANBERRY!!!

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OK, we're playing hard guy are we? Right then......oh hang on....postman is at the door.....

Ah.....um......well......um........well......thing is.......it's a funny story actually.......you see......in fact you really wouldn't believe it......the postmen has just brought me a parcel.

On the front of the envelope is some writing which says, "Sorry about the delay, got lost at the sorting office".

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I've just opened it....and you'll never believe this.....um.....how do i say this....ummm....this was inside.....

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It would appear that Maddy sent it a while back and it got lost in our wonderful postal system!

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I am so sorry Calvin Mouse! I should have known you wouldn't have helped out in such a terrible crime when you have such an honest and lovable name as you do. I feel really bad,i really do.

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Tell you what, so there are no hard feelings, I'll do this for you. Firstly I'll give Maddy my brand new bottle of blending solution to get you cleaned up. Secondly, it's really bad weather up here and i need to get back to collect my girls from school tomorrow. If i stay, the snow will not let me travel, so as a gesture of friendship, from one man to another......you can have my Grease night ticket so you can go with Maddy!!!

Oh yes my groovy little rodent friend.....yourself......and the leather jacket and medallion WILL GO TO THE BALL!!!

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Sound good? Aha i can see that smile under that ink there.....so off you go, and let me know how you get on OK. I'll keep an eye on Maddy's blog for the update.

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Sorry again Calvin Mouse, i will go forth into my craft room and ink myself as punishment!

It would appear i am a rodent!!!

Most people turn on thier computers in the morning and read the news, catch up with friends....maybe plan thier day ahead.

But not me.....oh no! I wake to find i've been immortalized in Fimo as a mischeivious MOUSE!!!

Over at Maddy's blog, she has done a most excellent tutorial on a colouring technique she discovered the other day. Well worth a look. However she also gives you a little look at another character from her craft room......"Calvin mouse"!



Complete with inky fingers, he looks to be a mischeivious fellow that will be worth keeping an eye on......heaven knows what he'll be getting up to in the future!

Thanks Maddy....i think! :)

Want a giggle?

Well look no further than my...what can loosely be described as an "effort" for this weeks challenge on "Objet D'Art". Jennie gave us an arty challenge involving a frame......so i tried doing something arty with it!



Before anyone asks.....no my kids didn't do this for me! I wish they had as they'd have done a better job!!! OMG doing something "arty" has got to be the hardest thing i have ever done since getting into crafting! I have new admiration for people like Jennie, and the many others who can make such wonderfull pieces of artwork. This just looks like i fell into my crafty stash whilst plucking a ginger chicken!!!



Firstly, it appears that the bits that took the longest to do, have not come out well on photo. Typical! First i sanded down a frame i found in a charity shop. Then i painted it white. Next i stamped it with some of Jennie's new swirls, they looked really cool like tiger stripes.

With those all around the frame, i thought i'd colour it a deep orangey red, so out came the spiced marmalade and fired brick Distress inks. The frame is really orangey, but it looks light in the pic.

Next i stamped, alcohol inked and UTEE'd some chipboard letters to spell out "ART", just so people know what this is supoosed to be lol! :)



I love using alcohol inks with UTEE, the heatgun blows the inks into all kinds of crazy patterns, you never know what you're going to end up with.

Now the trickiest part of the project, i used multi-coloured metallic thread to wrap all around the frame, but i also suspended each individual letter in the air with the thread too. This was really hard to do and very time consuming, but worth it in the end.



A few orange feathers, some fibres, blooms held on by upholstery tacks.....and a gold tassle on the side and there you have it! The biggest mess since Messy McMessy messed up his massive mess.....and made a huge mess!!!

Thanks you Jennie for introducing me to the world of art.....your stamps were great on the wood. :)

Fruit i inked today!!! Almost....

Hi everyone......huge apologies for the lateness of my posting this weeks episode of "Fruit i inked today!", it's been as eventful as ever, so pull up a pew....or take a seat if you prefer....grab that cuppa and let me tell you ALL about it! :)

This week my fruity adventures have been plentiful and sorrowful all in one! Plenty of fruit to ink, but a sorry state they all turned out to be.....well almost. I had planned to ink a kiwi fruit, that little hairy gem of a fruit, however once ink hit kiwi, it just went downhill from there on. I may put a piccy up later, but i have a reputation to uphold you know. ;)

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Then i went to ink a fig!!! I'd heard figs were an aphrodisiac, so i thought it may get some of my fruity fans in the mood for lurrrve! :) I'm sure it was an aphrodisiac, either that or a laxative.....not too sure now? Anyway the flamin thing was mouldy when i went to ink it....so in the bin that went!

So i had to make a decision, and not one that i took lightly. I decided to ink the fruit that i bought the other day "thinking" it was a fruit, because it was in the fruit isle.....but it turned out to be a vegetable!! Yes my friends, this week i have inked a "guest veg" on "Fruit i inked today". Now it was a bit shy at first, so I'll introduce you to it in the "before state".....fruity fans of blogland.....please say hi to the HARLEQUIN SQUASH!!!

Now this little beauty was just begging to be inked, but it needed something more. Now with that shape, there was really only one thing i could do wasn't there? Yep that's right people, i did what any other normal person would do on a Thursday night.....

I BUILT A FAIRY'S HOT AIR BALLOON!!!! :))))

How cool is that?!!! Oh yes my good friends, this veg was just built for this project, so build it i did! It was a bit tricky to ink, the long curves made the ink run away from me before i could do much with it. Photographing it was even harder! I tried holding it between my fingers under the light tent, but it was pretty heavy you know. Then when the fairy jumped in (they are quite heavy actually, very deceiving), it was very hard to hold, so i ended up whacking a hook in the top and using that.

Underneath you can see I've cut another coconut up for the basket, and of course crafty balloons do not have ropes, they have ribbons! :) I would like to thank my plant pot outside my front door for lending me it's fairy to use as a model, she was quite keen on the task actually, a change of view and all that jazz.

The maiden voyage went well, once around the craft room, the fairy threw up a couple of times but i never said i was a great pilot. I ink fruit for heavens sake......I'm not a pro balloonist!!! Yet look at her, bless....despite having ink in her hair....she looks so happy on her first balloon ride, who can argue with the satisfaction on that face? :)

Now then, fruityvegyinkability rating for this? I'm going to have to go for a mighty 8 for this one, partly because it was great to ink, but also for the adaptability of it. Despite being a veg, i think we can safely say it did us proud tonight. As for the balloon itself, I'm telling ya....Richard Branson would be proud of this one!

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I have to leave you all with a rather sad bit of news. In the next few days, i am going to have to bin all of my frozen fruit, my babies are going to that big grocers in the sky. :( Sad i know, but i think if we all rally round, we'll get through this together. I'm not saying it will be easy, far from it, but i do like to think that when one freezer door closes, another one opens. The old fruit will make room for the new. The next generation of fruit, and very shortly....the vegetable! :)

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Oh yes, before i go, here's the kiwi fruit, i sliced it up into segments and inked it randomly......turned out OK i guess but the rest was a mess....and at the end of the day it's no fairy hot air balloon!

So i thank you once again for sitting through what has to be the biggest load of waffle on the worldwide web.......some may call me barmy, but hey.......it's you lot who come back every week for more lol!!! ;) Cheers for that. :)

Take care everyone, tune in next week for another episode of, "Fruit i inked today!".

Would be rude not to wouldn't it!!!?

A very fine Thursday to you all inky fruit fans! Actually it's Wednesday night......but i was so excited i had to post this early lol......

It's that day again when we forget just for a few minutes who's having an affair with who on your favourite TV soap, forget about all those important chores that need doing, and forget about feeding the family....because once again it's time for......."Fruit i inked today!!!".

However something is different this week. There is something in the air, something mystical, magical.....dare i say hauntingly terrifying.....yes folks it's Halloween!!!! :)

So this week, influenced by the hundreds of fantastic works of art i have seen on the net at this spooky time of year, i thought it only right that i should stray from the fruity path and ink a....

PUMPKIN!!!

Now usually i have always done the basic two eyes, a nose and a smile on my pumpkins. However this year, and especially since i have started blogging, i have been totally gobsmacked at the amazing pumpkins out there! Some fantastic works of art, all hand carved. So i thought it was only right that i try my hand at some kind of design, so i went with a basic scary skull.

I was pretty impressed as it was my first try, but even more impressed when i saw it in full effect with the lights off!

A success!!! As far as the inking was concerned, you may be wondering about the lack of colour. Well i thought that to keep the Halloween look, I'd keep as much orange as possible, yet i wanted to use some ink at least.....after all it is that time of the week! So i opted for what can loosely be described as tiger stripes. Just using Adirondack "Pitch Black", i had a great time making this scary fella stripey!

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Now unfortunately, i did not have one of those Dremel hobby drills that many people seem to cut intricate patterns out with, so i made do with a scalpel, a pokey tool and a big DIY drill! :)

Hence one of the teeth being slightly wonky, it's difficult being as precise as a dental surgeon with a drill i usually put shelves up with!

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After trying to keep the pumpkin steady whilst i used this drill on the teeth, i decided to cross my legs and hold it between my thighs whilst i did the rest of the teeth. So as i am sure you will appreciate, being in that position....the last thing i was worried about was me drilling a wonky tooth!!!
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The only mishap was that afterwards, whilst admiring my masterpiece, i noticed i'd cut the bottom off instead of the top lol.....but i won't tell if you don't! :)
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Despite this being a vegetable, i'm going to give the pumpkin an honourary fruitinkability rating of 8......purely because this was such a cool thing to make and ink.
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Thanks for tuning in everyone, i hope you like my pumpkin, and i hope you have a great night on Friday.......watch out for those witches!!!!!!!! :)))

Warning!....Ink bottles squirt!!!

On Friday i received some new inks fron Jennie at The Artistic Stamper, and was very excited to test out my new "pink" Zig alcohol ink. I wanted something nice and bright to enhance my fruit inking.

So i opened the bottle, pierced the top with a needle and when i took it out i was met with a fountain of pink! Result......one pink thumb!!!



Believe it or not, this was AFTER washing it! However it did ensure i fitted right in with the evenings activity, i took my girls to see High School Musical 3 and the pink was most definately at home with the rest of the outfits worn!

Three days on, my skin is back to normal, however my nail is still a lighter shade of bright pink. I do seem to be getting some funny looks when i pay for things in shops, personally i just think they are jealous! :)

So watch those alcohol ink bottles people.......meanwhile, i'm applying for an adult to supervise me during crafting! :)

Easy way to display your makes.

Hi everyone :)

Quick post tonight, or should i say this morning! The clocks have gone back here in the UK, so we get an extra hour asleep or so they say, however as i sleep about as well as a.....well something that doesn't sleep very well, so i guess that means another hours crafting! :)

I am having trouble finding places to display some of the makes that i keep. So tonight i knocked up this super easy hanging storage for them. (I've led it down to photograph as i haven't decided where to hang it yet).....



How much easier can storage get eh? Just a few wooden clothes pegs, stamped on with black archival ink using a stamp of your choice (i used a large journey stamp with lots of postage marks and writing on), then thread some string or nylon cord through the metal spring like i have done.....



I am going to leave my pegs as they are, but you can colour them as you wish. Here i used red pepper alcohol ink to give it some colour....just be careful not to ink the inside where the peg grips your make, it could leave a mark.



The great thing about this, is that you can hang them anywhere. Under existing shelves between the brackets, across doors and windows, wherever you feel like it.

It's only a very simple idea, but the pegs have potential to be artified up to the max if you wish.

Another great hanging display option are these lovely little wire hangers which i purchased from Jennie at The Artistic Stamper. There is also another style too which has a book plate on it for naming if you wish.

Ideal for giving a nice antique "arty" feel to your work.

I hope it proves useful to someone out there. Thanks, and Nite all. :)

Fruit i inked today!!!!

Well tried to!

Welcome fruit fans, tis another fine Thursday and time once again for "Fruit in inked today"!

This week started off with excitement at the prospect of inking this fruit, however turned into something very different. The fruit i chose this week is one of my faves to eat, but will go down in inking history as one of the worst to inkSo without further ado....i give you......the STRAWBERRY!!!

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This was an absoloute nightmare to ink! No other word for it....total NIGHTMARE! In fact, i'm going to throw this a fruitinkability rating of 1 whilst i have the generosity in me.

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I had this great plan to ink each seperate segment and produce something magnificent, however it was not to be. The texture of the fruit just made the ink race off in all directions at will. This quickly produced a mess that was hard to rescue. Silver mixitive was definately the

nicer colour to use on this, it ended up being a base for other colours to play on top of.

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The ink pooled in every segment and quickly turned the fruit squidgy, not a good thing.

Unimpressed with my efforts, i resigned myself to just have a play with some strawberries and ink.....

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I tried tiger stripes......but it had all the effect of.....well....something not very tigery!....

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More mixative and wild plum...got in a real mess with this one....

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I even tried people.......this little fella was not even scared next to my tiger......

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So what can i say to sum up the strawberry? Most certainly a fruit to keep for cream and sugar, ink just has no part in this fruits life!

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I have to say, i am seriously getting to the point where i may have to move on to inking veg. A sad day that will be i know, but whilst there is many fruits still left to ink, not all are suitable and some are just impossible to get around here. I still have one up my sleeve that i want to try next week, and if i am successfull, it will be lovely.

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Thanks for tuning in again everyone, i do appreciate it, especialy when you return every week knowing that i've probably just got in a mess again! :) Before you ask.....yes i forgot to wear gloves again so i have pink hands now for the rest of the week!

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Till next week.......stay fruity!!! :)

Yes it's that time again folks!

Good evening my fruity friends! :)

Yes it's Thursday again, and we all know what that means, it's time for episode five of "Fruit i inked today!"

Well my little fruit bats, this week i have not only travelled afar to get my fruit, but have also risked the most dangerous parts of this country to get it too!!! I jest ye not my fruity friends, this week i travelled a monstous thirteen miles to get achieve my fruity goal. The place i got it from, is one of the roughest parts of this area,not ideal for an afternoon stroll put it this way!

However i had it on good authority that there were plenty of foreign food shops there which supplied nice fruit. So off i went.

May i just say, that i put my fruit inking mission above many other things so as not to let you down. Example: Whilst in this less than desirable place where i brought the fruit, i was approached by a lady who was obviously recognised a "business oppurtunity" with me, and shall we say that this lady probably did most of her business at night.....hmmm say no more! I politely declined the offer whilst trying hard to stop going a lighter shade of scarlet.......and carried on relentlesly on my fruit mission!

Thats dedication for you people!.......and a lesson to anyone who wants to stop me and ask "Are you busy love?" Whilst i'm trying to find fruit to ink!!! (Plus Maddy can do with embossing tools what Ninja's do with throwing stars....so it really wasn't a viable option.)

Just kidding Maddy :) xxx

SHUT UP WAFFLING CALV! i hear you say.....so heres what i inked today!!!! A bunch of dates!!!

As soon as i saw these i just knew i had to ink them! I have never seen dates like this before, the only dates i'd seen before this was the brown sticky ones you eat at xmas. This is what they looked like before they were inked......

I have to say that these were an ablsoute pleasure to ink. Even more than the melon last week. Very hard, and smooth enough to get some nice colours going on them.

Some turned out better than others, but over all i was very pleased with the result. The difference in results for each date made this all the more arty. When i added the different colours, neat from the bottle, they mixed so well anyway, but when i added mixative they just mingled and fizzed away until i got what i wanted.

Fruitinkability factor? Great! In fact, this week i'm going to give these a fruitinkablity rating of 7!!! Yes it was that good. The close-up above shows just how nice the colours turned out.

Thanks everyone, maybe next week i'll look for fruit in a more upmarket area. Much safer!

Time to get fruity!!!!

Is it sad that i actually look forward to Thursdays now?

It begins about Monday when i start searching for fruit to ink. One may think that it's just a case of walking into a fruit shop and buying a bit of fruit? Oh no my fruit fans, theres an art to the selection as well as the inking!

Theres much to think about. Texture, base colour, firmness (no good inking a mushy fruit), whether or not it is small enough to carry home!

Anyway, yes my friends, it's time for another episode of "Fruit i inked today!".

I rather think i shot myself in the foot with last weeks pineapple. How can you top a pineapple with all it's inkable textures and sheer mammoth size? I decided not to dwell on it to much and found myself a fruit that is not only delicious, but was a pleasure to ink.

So without further ado, i give you......the GALA MELON!!!!!!

Yes ok i know it looks like i've just blobbed ink all over it, but oh how wrong you would be!

I began by doing some blending with distress pads and applicator tool/foam pad. This went well, however the yellow background colour of the melon hid the colours a bit. The i accidentaly spilt some red on the melon, so i decided to change my design to somewhat of a "globe" effect.

Just tell me that doesn't have some kind of "fruity world" thing going on there!!!?

Now then, once again i hear the crowds shouting for me to stop waffling and give the scores on the doors, soooooooo.........

On my Fruitinkability scale of one to ten, i think i'm going to give this a comfy 5!!!

The texture was great to ink, in the close-up below you'll see the kind of terrain i had to master in order to ink this baby!!! The ink bled nicely into the different patterns on the melon skin and all in all, it held onto the colour well.

Now then, the melon above was very yellow, very ripe as i found out later when i dropped it....and a little too moist to ink, hence the reason i had to use more neat ink than blended.

So today i got an un-ripe gala melon and it was much better to ink.

I just had a play with distress pads only, but it was still fun. After colouring it nicely, for some stupid reason i tried to put some black bands around it, for the first time in history, a melon went pearshaped!

Not a great result, but if you should ever feel like inking a melon, get the un-ripe ones, they are much drier and nicer to ink. (Even if this one looks a mess!).

Kind of looks like a funky bowling ball does'nt it? :)

Why only a five then? I think there are lot of fruits out there that can top it, i've yet to find them, but i know they are out there!

I have had some excellent suggestions so far. White grapes, a star fruit...which WILL be mine next time i find one!.....and more recently i had the request of a pumpkin!!! To be honest though, it would be rude not to leave the pumpkin for a special Halloween fruit ink.

Calv's safety tip: I have to chip in here with a reminder NOT to eat any fruit that has been inked. I am NOT Willy Wonka.....i may be as bizzare as Mr Wonka at times, but alas i merely brighten up fruit and my methods will not make it tastier!!! :)

Anyway folks, i'm tired, you were probably asleep a few minutes ago, so i'll shut up and say goodbye. Cheers for tuning in, same time next week, until then......stay fruity!!! :)

What i've learnt today.....

I've been after something to wear whilst crafting as i seem to wreck everything i craft in!

After the thousandth time accidentally splattering alcohol ink on my clothes, i decided to make a crafty t-shirt, something i am not fussed about getting messy.

So after investigating a few methods of applying different colours to fabric, i have learnt the following things.....

1. Always listen to your fellow crafters!!! If they say that alcohol ink is not great on fabric, don't think it "may be different for your t-shirt!

2. Permanent calligraphy markers, whilst good on other materials......look rubbish on fabric! They bleed, don't write smooth and basically make a hash up of your already hashed up t-shirt project!!!

3. StaZon does not come out nice when stamped on fabric. I guess the material soaks it up and you can hardly see the result!

4. Distress pads do not make your t-shirt look vintage.....it looks like you need a bath!

5. Finally, no matter how many of Tim Holtz's videos you have watched, no matter how easy Tim and other crafters make the blending technique look.......it will not work on a t-shirt!!!!!! Well not mine anyway!

So i now have a t-shirt that looks like it's subjected to a frenzied ink attack, by a colourblind two year old!!!


How not to do it!


On a positive note, i now have a t-shirt that really can't get any worse through crafty spillages!!!
Back to the drawing board methinks. Time to go and learn how to make decent t-shirts!

So i alcohol inked a banana!

Ok i was bored!

After another evening of some successfull-ish alcohol inking, and some slightly less successfull efforts, i decided to ink a banana. Well it's good to research different textures and all that eh?

Pretty chuffed with the results, might make it a regular feature on my blog......."Fruit i inked today!"



Update for fruitinkability rating.......this ones going to get a 5 from me! It was nice to apply the ink to, the colours blended well on the skin, and it was enjoyable due to the generous size and smooth texture! :) I'd have given it a higher rating, but the colour result still does'nt leap out at me shouting FANTASTIC!!!

Time for bed i think, i've learnt a few things tonight whilst playing with my inks, but most importantly.....

Calv's safety tip: Always remember to ensure the lid is on your bottle of gold mixative before vigorously shaking it near your work. Also....once you've learnt your lesson from the first time doing this, don't do it a second time or you'll find yourself needing more mixative!!! (Stupid boy!) Thank the Lord for blending soloution, a great cleaner!

Nite all. :)