Tag Archives: VersaFine Clair

Make a Fun Puffed Hearts Card with Radiant Neon Amplify

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By Alison Heikkila –

Hello! My latest tutorial for Imagine uses one of the most unique products they make…Radiant Neon Amplify. This stuff is so fun! It’s kind of a runny paint, that when you apply heat to it, it puffs up. I love using Amplify with stencils. Let me show you how.

Skill Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Time: Approx. 20 Minutes, plus drying time

Directions:

Puffed Hearts 2

 

Step 1:

Tape a piece of cardstock to your work surface. Lay your stencil on top and tape it down. You may want to use something like Pixie Spray to hold the stencil even more, depending on how detailed it is.



Step 2:

Squirt the Radiant Neon Amplify all over the stencil. I went pretty sparingly at first because I didn’t want to waste the product, but I did need to add more than what’s pictured above.

 

Puffed Hearts 3

Step 3:

Using a paste spreader or palette knife, spread the Amplify across the surface of the stencil. Don’t press too hard, because you may lift up the Amplify. The thicker you apply the Amplify, the bigger the puffs will be, so keep that in mind.

 

Puffed Hearts 4

Step 4:

Fill in any gaps you may have with more Amplify. Don’t over mix the colors…you want a marbleized look. It should look sort of like mine above.


Step 5:

Carefully remove your stencil from the cardstock and immediately wash it and any other tools you may have used. You don’t want the Amplify to dry on anything except your cardstock.

 

Puffed Hearts 5

Step 6:

Heat the wet Amplify with a Heat Tool. You will see the shine disappear and it will start to puff up. Again, the thicker areas will have bigger puffs.

 

Puffed Hearts 6

Step 7:

Trim the panel down to 3 1/4″ x 4 3/4.”

 

Puffed Hearts 7

Step 8:

Cut a piece of Smooth Bristol Cardstock to 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2.” Tape down to work surface.

Step 9:

Tape down your second stencil. I also used Pixie Spray for this one, because the rays can move easily.

Step 10:

Apply Memento Ink in Rose Bud using a blending brush. Remove the stencil.

 

Puffed Hearts 8
Step 11:

Apply Memento Ink in Grape Jelly to your work surface and spritz a little water on to the ink. Using a brush, flick the color on to your stenciled panel.

 

Puffed Hearts 10

Step 12:

Add a sentiment to the puffed panel with VersaFine Clair Ink in Monarch.


Step 13:

Adhere all layers to your card base.

 

Puffed Hearts 11 Full

I love the texture you get from the Radiant Neon Amplify. It’s so unique and fun! I hope you’ll give them a try. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

Art Supplies:

Imagine:

• Radiant Neon Amplify: Electric Purple & Electric Pink
• Memento Ink: Rose Bud & Grape Jelly 
• VersaFine Clair Ink: Monarch 

Other:

• A Colorful Life Designs: Love Strands Stencil & Bitty Rays Stencil
• Mama Elephant: Creativity is Contagious Stamps
• Palette Knife and/or Paste Spreader
• Smooth Bristol Cardstock
• Blending Brushes
• White Card Base
• Heat Tool
• Paint Brush

Learn How to Make an Astrological Card

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By Alison Heikkila –

Hello! It’s time for my newest post for Imagine, as an official part of the 2022 Design Team. After the hustle and bustle of the holidays, many of us are wiped out, or even burnt out from making cards and gifts all season. Because of that, I decided to come up with a fast card that doesn’t take a ton of effort, but looks like it did because of the layering.

Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 15 to 20 Minutes

Directions:

Astrological Chart Card 2

Step 1:

Adhere your 3″ x 5″ Gel Press to an acrylic block. While you can adhere it to your work surface, but if it’s attached to a block, you can control where it goes on your printing plate.

 

Astrological Chart Card 3

Step 2:

Apply Versa Fine Clair Ink in Twilight to the Gel Press Plate. I applied it in rows, but you can do it however you like.

Step 3:

Squeeze on a bit of Silvery Shimmer Delicata reinker. You don’t need too much.

 

Astrological Chart Card 4

Step 4:

Using a brayer, roll the colors together. Try not to overmix them.

 

Astrological Chart Card 5

Step 5:

While the inks are still wet, flip the Gel Press Plate on to the printing plate. Since it’s on an acrylic block, you can place the Gel Plate wherever you want easily. Press the Gel Press into the printing plate firmly.

Step 6:

Flip the Gel Press back over, and lay a piece of copy paper on top. This will create your print. Press the paper firmly and evenly all over the plate to get a good transfer.

 

Astrological Chart Card 6

Step 7:

Carefully peel back the paper to reveal your print. You can place the paper back down before you peel up the entire thing if you feel that you need to transfer the ink more.

 

Astrological Chart Card 7

Step 8:

After I made 3 more prints, I chose the one I wanted to use on my card. I went with my first print, which is the upper right. I tore the edges around the print instead of trimming it smoothly.

 

Astrological Chart Card 8

Step 9:

Using an edger die, trim a piece of navy colored cardstock to create a mat around your print.

Step 10:

Using Silvery Shimmer Delicata Ink, ink up the edges of the die cut mat.

 

Astrological Chart Card 9

Step 11:

On a gray card base, ink the right side with VersaMark ink. Try to not make it even, so that it has a more organic feel.

Step 12:

Sprinkle Mboss in Shimmering Night Sky on to the wet ink. Shake off excess, and heat set with a heat tool.

 

Astrological Chart Card 10

Step 13:

Adhere your layers. I added a stamped and die cut sentiment, as well as some jewels. For the jewels, I used On Point Glue.

 

Astrological Chart Card 11 600

The finished card has lots of shine and cool texture. Using your inks and reinkers on a Gel Press Plate gives you the ability to mix colors from different lines and get beautiful, soft effects.

 

Astrological Chart Card 13 600

Again, using all of these layers may make it seem that this card took a lot of time, but it really didn’t because making the print is such a fast process. And you can choose to use a larger Gel Press Plate to cut down on some of the layers.

 

Art Supplies:

Imagine:

• VersaFine Clair Ink in Twilight
• Delicata Ink Pad & Reinker in Silvery Shimmer
• VersaMark Ink Pad
• MBoss in Shimmering Night Sky
• On Point Glue
• Craft Mat

Other:

• Gel Press: 3″ x 5″ Plate
• Carabelle Studio: Zodiac Printing Plate
• Speedball: Brayer
• Stampendous: Deckle Die Set, Slim Acrylic Handle
• Pinkfresh Studios: Perfect Sentiments stamp & die set
• Doodles Paper Playground: Silver Starburst Rhinestones
• Gray card base, white copy paper, navy cardstock
• Heat Tool

Make a Faux Watercolor Poinsettia Gift Tag

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Poinsettia Tag 1

By Alison Heikkila –

Hello! This is the time of year that people get really into making tags. Tags for gifts, tag books, etc. Today I’ve got a fun way to use Memento Inks to make them look like you’ve watercolored, but you didn’t need to work as hard. We will be using a layering stamp set to create the focal point of the tag. I used Poinsettia Parts from Stampendous.

Skill Level: Beginner
Time: 10 Minutes, plus drying time between layers

Directions:

Poinsettia Tag 2

Step 1:

Using an acrylic block or stamp positioner, adhere your most solid layer.

Poinsettia Tag 4

Step 2:

Ink up the stamp with at least 2 colors of Memento Ink. I used Sweet Plum and Lady Bug.

Step 3:

Spritz the inked stamp with water. Let the colors start to run together, but don’t spritz the stamp so much that the colors become totally washed out.

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Step 4:

Carefully flip your stamp over on to a piece of watercolor paper. Gently press the stamp into the paper and leave it there for a few minutes. You can even add something heavy on top if you want more consistent pressure.

Poinsettia Tag 5

Step 5:

Repeat Step 4 with any additional parts of your image. I needed to add a leaf and another petal. I used Pear Tart and Cottage Ivy for the leaf. Let all of the “watercolor” layers dry thoroughly before moving on.

Poinsettia Tag 6

Step 6:

Stamp the top or detail layer with VersaFine Clair ink in Nocturne.

Poinsettia Tag 7

Step 7:

To add additional detail, you can apply some ink to your Craft Mat and spritz with water, then apply with a paintbrush. Here, I used Dandelion and Morocco to color in the center of the poinsettia. Fussy cut the stamped image.

Poinsettia Tag 8

Step 8:

Apply Rich Cocoa Memento Ink to a background stamp. I used an older Stampendous stamp with sheet music on it. I like to flip my stamp up and apply my substrate (in this case, a tag made with Kraft cardstock) on top of the stamp. I press the tag into the stamp with my fingers. This allows me to place the tag where I want, and I don’t need to fuss with a large, sometimes unwieldy large stamp. You may also do this step while allowing your poinsettia to dry.

Poinsettia Tag 9

Step 9:

Ink up a blending brush with more Rich Cocoa ink and gently buff the edges. You may smear some of your stamped image if it hasn’t dried completely, but I don’t mind that look. It helps to make the tag look old.

Poinsettia Tag 11

Step 10:

Add a sentiment strip to your tag, adhere the poinsettia, and tie on some ribbon.

Poinsettia Tag 10 600

Now you’ve got a completed tag that you can add to gifts, use it as a place card at the dinner table, or even to decorate a card base. Experiment with different color palettes to get a wide range of looks. And remember, these techniques don’t have to be used only at holiday time! Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

Art Supplies:

Imagine:

Memento Inks in Lady Bug, Sweet Plum, Dandelion, Morocco, Cottage Ivy, Pear Tart, and Rich Cocoa
VersaFine Clair Ink in Nocturne
Tear It! Tape
Craft Mat

Other:

Stampendous: Poinsettia Parts and sheet music Cling Stamp
Kraft Colored Tag
Ribbon
Blending Brush

Create Fall Inspired Cards With VersaFine Clair Inks

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By Katy Ingram –

Hello and welcome! Katy here with a new video. Many of you may have noticed from my last couple videos that I use VersaFine Clair Inks a lot and that I love to ink blend with them. Today’s video is no exception. I used two VersaFine Clair Inks that blend beautifully and create the most amazing burnt orange color that is perfect for Fall. In the video I also talk a bit about how to have better success with your ink blending by using Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper and I also show you a simple way to create sentiment strips that are fool proof. I hope you find these tips helpful and I hope you enjoy the video. Thanks so much for watching.

Thanks For Watching.

Skill: Intermediate, Advanced
Time: 30 minutes

Art Supplies:

Imagine

• Delicata Golden Glitz

• Versafine Clair Inks Cheerful, Glamorous and Chianti.

• On Point Glue

• Sheer Shimmer Spritz in Gold

Other Products Used:

• Gina Marie Designs Tribal Stitched Nested Rectangle Dies
• Honey Bee Large Thanks Die set
• Concord & 9th Lace Leaf Stamp & Die Set
• The Greetery Sentiment Suite Thank You stamp set
• Waffle Flower Oversized Hugs Stamp Set
• Altenew Leaf Burst Stencil
• Strathmore 500 Series Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper.
• Gina K Designs Dark Chocolate Cardstock

 

THANKS, You Mean So Much To Me with Imagine Crafts

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By LeeAnn McKinney –

Hi there friends and fellow crafters, LeeAnn here with a fun Thanks card, using products you might not think about when not using them in the means intended.

I purchased a few (4) Hot Foil Dies a couple months ago, and didn’t have the machine needed to play with them. So I’ve been thinking, and decided to use them like a letter press. I inked up the Fall Leaves with VersaFine Clair Pigment Ink in Tulip Red, Summertime Cheerful, Verdant and Pinecone, taped it to a panel of Mixed Media Cardstock and then did the same with the word “Thanks”, using Delicata Golden Glitz. I used a piece of heavyweight cardstock and rubber embossing pad, on my big shot platform, then added my panel with the foil plates adhered to it and then the regular top plate, ran it through my big shot twice (forward then back) and wow, other than a little over-inking where I tried to cover up with some sequins they turned out amazing. I used On Point Glue to adhere the sequins and Tear It! Tape to adhere the panel to my cardbase. I also heat embossed the secondary part of the sentiment using Mboss Gold Embossing Powder.

Hope you enjoy. Watch until the end and let me know which card you prefer, the card on the left without the sequins or the card on the right with the sequins. Oh, forgot that I used Gold Sheer Shimmer Spritz on my panel as well.

Thanks for watching, have a great day.

 

Art Supplies

Imagine:

 

• VersaFine Clair

• VersaMark Watermark Ink

• Paper Delicata

• Mboss

• Craft Mat

• On Point Glue

• Tear It! Tape

• Gold Sheer Shimmer Spritz

 

Other Products:

• Kraft Cardstock (heat embossed strip)
• Heavyweight Letter Press Cardstock
• Aww-Tumn Embellishment Sequin Mix

 

 

Make a Thankful Card Using Multiple Stencils

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By Alison Heikkila –

I love to use stencils. They’re an inexpensive and simple tool that has a ton of options. For this Thankful card, I used stencils in a few different ways, along with a fun background stamp. You do not need to have the exact items I used to get this effect, so check through your stash to see what you have to recreate this look. Combining these tools along with some of your favorite inks from Imagine, will give you a visually interesting and unique card.

Skill Level: Intermediate
Time: 30-45 Minutes

Directions:

Thankful-1

Step 1:

Tape your background panel of Smooth Bristol Cardstock (4″ x 5 1/4″) to your craft mat. Adhere your stencil on top with washi tape.

Step 2:

Using a Blending Brush, apply Morocco, Tangelo, and Dandelion Memento Inks on to the panel, being sure to blend the colors where they meet.

Thankful-3

Step 3:

After checking the panel to make sure the stenciling is complete, transfer the panel and the stencil to a stamping platform. Adhere the 2 pieces in the middle of the platform temporarily.

Step 4:

Attach your stamp to the platform. We’ll be using this houndstooth background stamp with VersaFine Clair in Pinecone.

Step 5:

After inking up the stamp, press the stamp very firmly. You need to try to get the inked image past the stencil, which has some dimension. Depending on your stencil and the stamp, you may or may not get a complete image. This is fine, either way. It just depends on the look you’re going for. You can see on my example below, that the houndstooth pattern didn’t go from edge to edge on all the leaves, but I like this look.

Thankful-5

Step 6:

Using another stencil with a small design, apply Pear Tart around the foliage. We’re only inking the white spaces with this design. I chose a grid pattern that is easy to line up as I work my way across the card.

Thankful-6

Step 7:

Using the same grid pattern, I inked it up on to a deep pumpkin colored cardstock with Memento ink in Morocco.

Thankful-7

Step 8:

Arrange the sentiment die on top of the stenciled cardstock and die cut.

Step 9:

Repeat the process with brown cardstock

Thankful-9

Step 10:

Adhere the brown outer portion of the die cut to the card panel.

Step 11:

Adhere the stenciled letters into the negative spaces. Don’t forget to add the center of the “a” in brown!

Thankful-10e.

Step 12:

On an A2 sized card base, ink the edges with Pear Tart Memento ink.

Step 13:

Adhere your card panel to the card base.

Thankful-14

Art Supplies:

Imagine:

• Memento Ink in Morocco
• Memento Ink in Tangelo
• Memento Ink in Dandelion
• Memento Ink in Pear Tart
• VersaFine Clair Ink in Pinecone

Other:

• Brutus Monroe: Fall Foliage Stencil
• Simon Says Stamp: Game Day Patterns
• Simon Says Stamp: Bold Thankful Die
• Erin Lee Creative: Houndstooth 6×6 Stamp
• Strathmore Smooth Bristol Cardstock
• Brown and Pumpkin Colored Cardstock
• White A2 Sized Card Base
• Blending Brushes
• Adhesive