Woodware DT - Colours of the Earth

This week our challenge at Woodware is "Colours of the Earth". I have been playing around with alcohol ink backgrounds. The plaid effect is a technique I came across on Tim Holtz's blog. I think it was his second year of doing the "Twelve Days of Christmas" tags. I love alcohol inks and this is a lovely technique once you get the hang of it.

To create this effect you need alcohol inks, a felt applicator and some glossy card. Chose 5 or 6 colours of alcohol inks that you think will go together. Squeeze a drop of each colour into the pad side by side. For a thin stripe keep the dot small, for a wider stripe make the dot wider. I like to sprinkle a few drops of blending solution onto the inks just to lighten them a bit.
Work firmly and quickly swiping the applicator across the glossy card in one direction. Move down the card always swiping in the same direction until it is covered. Turn the card 90 degrees. Do the same again and see your plaid appearing. 

 
And there you have it .... a nice plaid background to stamp on to. If you find colour combinations that you like then write them down in your notebook so you can reproduce them quickly when required.
Over stamp with a permanent ink like Memories, Versamark or Archival for best effect. And I use my heat gun to set the ink just to be sure.

The leaves were punched from copper foil. I covered them with Versamark ink then used a combination of Aged Gold and Aged Bronze embossing powders. The "Poem Tree" is a recent release from Stampendous and it looks great on this type of background.

Here is a different set of colours. The leaves were stamped with a Brilliance pad which also dries well on top of the glossy card and gives a lovely shimmer in the light. This one is for a friend's birthday that's coming up. As I had my alcohol inks out I made a batch of backgrounds for quick cards later on.
For loads more inspiration check out our blog at Woodware.