Double Trouble Challenge #207 “Cool, Wild and/or Crazy”

https://doubletroublechallenge.blogspot.com/2026/01/Challenge-207.html

Happy New Year, and welcome to the Double Trouble Challenge! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas full of blessings. Are you ready for some more 3-2-1 recipe challenges with a twist and a double dare? Remember…only the 3-2-1 recipe components are required to enter the challenge. The twists and double dares are optional!

Thing 1’s first 3-2-1 recipe for 2026 is: 3 colors, 2 shapes, 1 sentiment. You can use more of any ingredient but be sure to not use less than what the recipe calls for. Thing 3’s optional twist is to use 2 squares, and Thing 2’s Double Dare is to follow the sketch from the TSOT sketch, shown here.

To get my two shapes (squares, for the optional twist), I decided to use the Waffle Flower postage collage set, specifically the snowman stencils. By using blue, purple, white, orange and black (oxide inks) I have more than 3 colors. The sentiment is from a Simon Hurley stamp set, “skating by”. I embossed the background with a Spellbinders 3D embossing folder and did a little ink blending with broken china and peacock feathers oxide inks. I found some felt doilies by Brutus Monroe in my stash that I have never used. I cut a white one in half and was pleasantly surprised to see that with the rest of the card elements, it resembles a snowflake.

I decided I might as well make a second card with the remaining bits, since I had half a doily and some more snowmen sitting there on my desk. I also had made an alternate background with the same embossing folder out of silver foil paper when designing the first card. So just for fun, here is how the sister card turned out.

Thank you for stopping by TuffAzNailz! I hope you will join us for the first Double Trouble challenge of the year and many more to come.

August 2024 ATC

The theme for this month was ransom note poetry. The background technique was using alcohol inks on our gel plate, with stencils. You apply the alcohol ink over a stencil onto the gel plate with a brayer, not being concerned if it seeps under the stencil. Remove the stencil and let it dry a couple of minutes. This can be done a second time with a different stencil and different ink color. Then use the brayer to apply white acrylic paint and lay the paper on top when done. Let it sit for a minute or so, then pull it off. My gel plate is small, so I could only get two ATC’s per pull. Then for a few of the cards, I used the “leftovers” from a couple of different pulls and put them onto one ATC which I thought gave it a neat look. Then we made the “poetry” look like a ransom note by using different fonts. Note: Alcohol ink will stain a stencil.

June ATC Class

This month, we used metal duct tape, embossing folders and alcohol ink to make the backgrounds. We started by putting the duct tape on our full sheet of cardstock, then adding the alcohol ink. I applied mine (3 shades of blue) using dauber/felt pads designed for use with alcohol ink. Then I cut the paper down into ATC’s, followed by running them through a pressure machine in an embossing folder. The metal tape holds the embossing so well!

While I thought the backgrounds turned out great, I struggled with figuring out what to put on them. I found some fish ephemera, but they were a little too big for the ATC size background. I found a tropical fish die and cut the fish cut out in bright colored cardstock and then figured out a layout I liked with them that involved stamping oxide ink onto the background. I made 3-4 of them and then realized that the stamped ink never dried! Even after letting it sit for 48 hours they were still wet. I had to wipe the stamped ink off and come up with a new plan. I used a small tag to put the message on, and then cut out more fish in different colors, silver and coral. The coral color fish were cut out from a pull I made a while ago on the gel plate with acrylic paints.

April 2024 ATC class

This month we learned a technique for using Distress Crayons. We made layers of color by coloring with the crayons, rubbing/blending them, and then putting a light coat of white acrylic paint over it with a brayer…and repeat this process several times. The theme was to put a snarky sentiment on it. I used the closest thing I had in my stash for snarky.

December ATC Class

We got to choose our technique, and the theme was “sparkle” and winter. My background was alcohol ink with glitter additive. The trees are stamped in distress oxide inks and fussy cut. The snow is texture paste then covered in gesso after it dried to make it whiter. Snow flakes are stamped and heat embossed with a sparkle embossing powder.

August 2023 ATC Class

The technique was using alcohol ink on acetate. A top and bottom layer with the image in between. Then I added some botanical rub-ons.

ATC Workshop, March 2023

The theme was floral, the technique was to use stencils and stencil butter on top of “ugly paper” to give it more interest. Then we added floral accents and I stamped a sentiment on mine.