Creation Station Ink Blending Blog Hop

Playing with ink is one of the best parts of spending some crafty time, so this month's Creation Station theme of ink blending was a fun one.  I dusted off an old technique I learned as "Joseph's Coat" and created this card with lots of blended ink:

You may have noticed a new (old) colour in my project today--Pretty Peacock!  Rumour has it this retired In Colour will be making a permanent return when Stampin' Up! does a colour refresh this Spring, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's true.  I still have some cardstock and my ink pad in this colour, so I decided to use it along with a current In Colour, Parakeet Party, and Granny Apple Green, to create my foliage back ground.

Believe it or not, I started with a piece of Basic White Cardstock for the front panel of this card.  I masked a 1" section just above centre on the card so it would remain white with Masking Paper, and then I started blending.  Using my Blending Brushes I added circles of Parakeet Party, Granny Apple Green, and Pretty Peacock Inks randomly on the cardstock.  This is a great technique for beginners, since you don't have to be precise in laying down the ink, and you get to familiarize yourself with how pressure changes the look, and with how colours blend together.

After the panel was thoroughly dry (I hit it with my heat gun just to be sure), I stamped the leaf image from the Cup of Tea Stamp Set in Versamark Ink randomly over top of the ink spots, and then heat embossed it with Clear Embossing Powder.  This adds shine to the image, and also seals the lighter ink underneath the stamped image, so it is protected from the next step.

Once the embossing was cool I added Evening Evergreen Ink over the whole panel with a Blending Brush, layering lots of ink to get a deep, solid background.  The ink will pool on top of the clear embossing powder, so I took a dry paper towel and buffed it off, which really lets the colours underneath shine.  

Then I pulled away the Masking Paper to reveal a crisp strip of white.  I stamped my sentiment in Evening Evergreen Ink on the left hand side, leaving room for my focal image on the right.

I added a thin layer of Pretty Peacock Cardstock, and then added the whole piece to my Evening Evergreen Cardstock card base (4.25" x 11", scored at 5.5").

The rest of the card was easy-peasy.  I stamped a tea cup image from the Cup of Tea Stamp Set in Pretty Peacock and added some foliage in Granny Apple Green and Pretty Peacock behind (all die cut with the Teacup Dies).  This was popped up on Dimensionals, and I added some Basic Rhinestones for a little glimmer too.

I repeated the process on the inside of my card, but kept the blending to the bottom 1" of the panel so there is lots of room for a personalized message.

Thanks for stopping by today, I'd love to hear from you in the comments section before you head on to see what Denita has for you next!

Happy crafting,
Barb