Drunken Scotch

Has it been a week already and no new posts?  I'll try to do better.

Had a playdate with my mom and my aunt where I taught them a technique called Drunken Scotch (and no, I didn't tell Mom the name until AFTER we were finished!).  I read about it on KAT Toys website here.  I'll give you our take on it.


First, we needed some die cuts, but I forgot to bring the chipboard, so Aunt D dug through the trash (excuse me, recycling) for some empty cracker boxes.  And to my scrapbooking sister, yes, I know - cracker boxes are NOT archival.  But I figure my cards won't care.  


We used a Spellbinders die called Timeless Heritage to cut out some keys and lockets.  Cut them out with the Wizard, but it was a tiiigghhtt squeeze.  They really don't need the second step of embossing because of the finish that's going on them.

It's pretty easy - just squirt some glue on the diecuts, spread it out to completely cover (we used our trusty fake credit cards) and while it's still wet, drop a few drops of alcohol inks on top of the glue.  We used a couple of different shades of brown, which all kind of ran together on the wet glue. 

Now zap it with the heat gun until it starts bubbling.  You want to be careful and not really let the bubbles burst, because then you're left with holes in the coating.  If you look closely, you can see the spots with the bare chipboard in this picture.

So just keep the heat gun moving around so that it bubbles and then deflates, until the whole thing is dry.  If you do get some holes, don't panic - you can fill them in later with a Sharpie.


The reason it's called Drunken Scotch is because the creator used Scotch clear glue for the technique.  None of us had any of that, so we tried a few others and the one that worked best for us was Elmer's Glue Pen.  I think it used to be clear, although it's turned kind of amber with age - but it still worked just fine. 


That's it - pretty easy, huh?  I did notice that it was still tacky a day or two later - in fact, one of the pieces was sitting underneath another sheet of paper and the paper stuck to it.  Now that was going to be a problem for making a card!  So I took my Embossing Buddy and pounced it over the top and then dusted it off on my jeans.  No more sticky!  In fact, it dulled the finish down and made it look even more rusty, which I liked.

Oh, you want a card with it?  Oh, okay - nothing fancy.  It's a Stampin'Up background stamp (French Script), a Fiskars clear stamp for the sentiment and two Spellbinders dies for the middle piece, all sponged with Distress ink.  Used the Martha Stewart picket fence border punch for the border and the locket is hanging from a small brad.

Thought the turquoise added a little spark of color in that sea of browns!

Enjoy - but don't get too drunk!  Moderation is my mantra~    

Hi there

o-li-o: a miscellaneous mixture; a hodgepodge
(from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary)

That's what my blog will be - a miscellaneous mixture; a hodgepodge of paper crafting techniques, experiments and hopefully, cards. As a short introduction, I originally was a jewelry maker - nothing fancy, just liked to string beads. This papercraft obsession all started a few years ago when my mom and aunt gave me a few of their leftover rubber stamping supplies "so I could play too".

I had no interest in adding another craft since the beading was already my thing, but they started showing me a few techniques and pretty soon I was hooked (there's nothing better than the first time you heat emboss something, is there?) Now the papercrafting has eclipsed the jewelry making, although I try to combine the two occasionally.

I'm lucky to live in the same community as my mom and aunt and seem to be the designated keeper of the memories between the three of us. I decided to start a blog to catalog some of our creations and experiments. I'm fairly good at recalling how something was made, but there are plenty of cards and backgrounds that I just look at and think how in the world did I do that?

So I thought I'd try writing it all down - for us, and if I inspire someone else along the way, I will be humbled.

Okay, enough. Let's get to the good stuff. I love, love, love to make backgrounds and have umpteen drawers full of background papers (color-coded, of course - something else about me) that are just waiting to become cards. That's where I fall down on the job - there's always a new technique I'd rather try. Maybe this blog will force me to actually finish a card - lol.

So without further ado, here's a card I just made that I think will be a birthday card for my hubby:

I was inspired by this card on the Hero Arts website created by Shari Carroll. I was drawn to the white fleur-de-lis design and although I don't have that specific Hero Arts stamp, I knew I had something similar (in fact, it's just an el-cheapo foam stamp from Michaels - made by Plaid Enterprises).

While the designer started with a blank piece of cardstock and added color and stamped designs for the background, I wanted to use up something from the drawers full of background papers. I had this very dark alcohol ink background leftover from Christmas cards three years ago that jumped right out at me.

I can’t tell you exactly which colors of alcohol ink it was made with, but do remember we used both Piñata and Ranger brand alcohol inks. It didn't get used then because it was just too dark and murky. I thought the bold white design on top would perk it right up.

Wasn’t sure how well embossing would “take” over the alcohol ink background, but I inked up the foam stamp with

Ranger’s Snowcap Pigment Ink and embossed with Ranger’s Seafoam White embossing powder. It worked just fine!

Used a 1 1/8" punch to cut the squares, trying to get some of the white embossing on each one, and then arranged them randomly ( I learned this technique originally as Serendipity Squares, I believe). Tried several background colors against the squares and finally decided on Stampin’ Up’s Kiwi Kiss. I don’t have very much Stampin’ Up paper, but just LOVE this shade of green.

Then it needed black to set it off and since the main panel was already A2 size, I had to come up with something bigger for the frame. I have a new set of Cuttlebug folders that I ordered directly from Provo Craft called Asian Bundle that includes four of the larger 5 x 7 folders.

I chose the one called Oriental Weave and embossed a piece of black cardstock. I then swiped Colorbox black pigment ink over the top of the raised area and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. It just made the layer a little shinier and sturdier, but it’s hard to see that in the photos.

Before mounting the main panel on the black layer, I cut out the center (oh, did I also tell you that I’m frugal? No need to waste all that embossed black paper under the main panel!) by tracing on the back with a white pencil and then using my nifty Fiskars finger-knife and a straight edge to cut slightly inside the traced lines, leaving a 3/8" frame to put under the main panel.

It needed an embellishment of some sort, so I chose a spiraled

wire piece (which is actually a Christmas tree ornament hanger that Aunt D found last Christmas and shared with us). It's "hanging" from a snap-type eyelet (which I have tons of and love the look of, but I can never seem to set them with either the Crop-A-Dile, the Big Bite or the old-fashioned hand setter. If you have a trick, please let me know!) Anyway, after I’d mangled both the front & back of the snap, I gave up and just used a glue dot to adhere it to the card. It’s only slightly dented! The wire is glued on with a Pioneer craft gluestick, set under something heavy for the night.

The final white card base is approximately 6½ x 5”. I’ll have to look for an envelope that fits or make one myself. That was one of the pieces of advice from my mom early on – choose the envelope first and then make the card – but my brain doesn’t work that way.

One project done – yeah! Gee, this post took almost as long as making the card. Hopefully this will get easier....