Good morning! Today I’m hopping along to celebrate the Diecember release from Simon Says Stamp!! I shared my first Diecember card yesterday and today I’m sharing eight cards along with a video! I know, I know…I never make this many cards at once…but you’ll see how easy it is and you’ll make a ton, too! 😉
You can watch the video below or in HD at my Youtube channel:
Alcohol inks are making a comeback in a BIG way these days and I wanted to try using them as I see alcohol ink artists use them on big canvases on instagram! I’m not a fan of using the felt blending pads…they never really seem to give me the effect I want and all the colors blend together too much for my liking. I follow several alcohol ink artists on instagram and I love the way they put droplets on a canvas, blow them around, and then add more colors. It seems like a very free-flowing organic process and I figured there’s no reason I can’t do something similar for a card, right? So basically I used that concept but on a much smaller surface, a 9×12 piece of yupo paper. I used alcohol inks in indigo, denim, turquoise, amethyst, pool, and sailboat blue. Off camera I used those colors with pitch black alcohol ink on one piece of paper and then on camera I used those colors with silver mixative for a brighter, sparkly look. After the inks dried I splattered the yupo paper with copic opaque white paint to create the look of snow across a wintery night sky. I let that dry as well and then cut up the 9×12 paper to create a variety of cards!
For the first two cards I simply cut 4″ by 5.25″ inch panels of the alcohol ink background and adhered them to a white card base. Then I die-cut the Bliss, Joy, and Felicity snowflakes using the new glitter paper from Simon Says Stamp and adhered them to the panels. Finally I die-cut the sentiments from older SSS releases and adhered them over the snowflakes. I used two layers of white cardstock on the lighter card and a layer of blue glitter over a layer of white cardstock on the darker card.
I mention this in the video but either of these backgrounds could be used for galaxy cards or underwater scenes! Lots of ways to use these fun backgrounds for a variety of cards! 😉
For this card I die-cut the Sensational Snowflakes from white cardstock and reserved the snowflakes. Then I adhered the alcohol inked background behind the white cardstock and adhered two white snowflakes on top. Finally I added a die-cut sentiment using the silver glitter paper!
My next card uses the pretty Picture Book Tree die! Again I die-cut it from a white card panel, adhered the alcohol inked background behind it and finished it with a glittery sentiment!
This card uses the same Sensational Snowflakes Collage die I used on my card yesterday but this time it’s backed by the alcohol inked panel. I stamped the sentiment from Christmas Essentials with versamark, heat-embossed it with silver embossing powder, and then popped it up with foam mounting tape.
The rest of my cards follow a similar layout just using different sections of the alcohol inked background. I love how unique all the cards look even though they’re using the same panel! I hope these cards give you some ideas for how to incorporate alcohol inked backgrounds into your card designs. And if you don’t have alcohol inks…you could easily create a similar look with a watercolored background, color burst sprinkled background, or a distress ink blended background…or even by using patterned paper or glitter paper! I used only a small portion of the amazing dies that Simon Says Stamp just released for Diecember so make sure to head over and check out the full release! What’s your favorite one?

And what’s a hop without a giveaway, right? Simon Says Stamp has generously offered a $25 gift card to EVERY stop on the hop!! All you need to do is visit and leave a comment on each blog. The winners will be randomly selected from each blog and announced on the Simon Says Stamp blog! There’s also a second blog hop tomorrow with even more inspiration and giveaways so don’t forget to check that out! In case you encounter a broken link here is the full hop list for today:
- Simon Says Stamp Blog
- Jennifer McGuire
- Kristina Werner
- Debby Hughes
- Amanda Korotkova
- Jessica Frost-Ballas —> You are here!
- Kathy Racoosin
- Bibi Cameron
- Heather Hoffman
- Barb Engler
- Sarah Moerman
- Anna Kossakovskaya
Good luck! If this is your first time visiting my blog I hope you’ll come back again! You can subscribe to my blog via the sidebar on the right or find me on Instagram and Youtube. Thanks for visiting and have a fabulous day! Happy Hopping!
Interested in the products I used? To make them easy for you to find, I have listed them below. (Affiliate disclosure can be found here). Your purchases through my links help keep my blog running with no additional cost to you and I thank you so much for the support!
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Love how you used alcohol inks with these beautiful dies!
Hard to pick a favorite…all the snowflakes are wonderful. Like your backgrounds and sparkle, too.!
Wow! Love the backgrounds!!!
Beautiful cards! The pure white cards with the bright, shiny alcohol ink with them is striking!
Love the variety of blues in your cards. The backgrounds are awesome!
wow, beautiful and unique cards !! Those backgrounds are gorgeous !!
Cool techniques. Thanks for sharing.
Your use of the alcohol inks is spectacular! Absolutely gorgeous galactic scenes!
Love the alcohol ink for the backgrounds. It is very vibrant! The cards simply stood out because of this DIY inked paper. Thank you for creating a video using this technique. Thanks SSS for the give-away! Congratulations on your new release of awesome products.
Your cards are gorgeous with all those vibrant colors.
Very beautiful! I haven’t tried the Yupo paper yet, I need to.
I absolutely LOVE the backgrounds you created with the ink, they are all so gorgeous! I love the white paper with the trees cut out over the gorgeous backgrounds! All of your cards are stunning!
Beautiful cards! love those backgrounds.
Thanks for all the great cards! Beautiful folors?!
Thanks for sharing! I love the look you achieved.
Your cards are stunning! I love all the blues you used. Gorgeous!
Love the alcohol ink backgrounds on your cards. The glitter paper is my favourite item from the release 😍
Beautiful inspiration! The tree silhouettes with the “Believe” sentiment is stunning!
wow…that was fascinating (and mesmerizing) to watch. I love the final result and the use you put the backgrounds to — especially with the glitter cut stars. Just — wow.
Currently loving alcohol inks too!
Wow, Jessica, love your alcohol ink backgrounds. Makes a gorgeous back drop for these awesome dies. Thanks for sharing your wonderful video technique.
these are absolutely stunning!
Love your alcohol inked technique, your cards are gorgeous!
WOW ! Your cards are stunning ! Your creations are so fantastic they give immediately the envy to try this technique ! I think I really should get a few of these inks and special paper. At least to see what I’m able to create.
Gorgeous colors!