Hey everyone!! It's Lisa with you today and we're celebrating Ink Week here in the CLASSroom. Each one of the team members this week will be featuring a different brand of ink and showing how we used it. Cool, huh? AND through January 22nd you can snag 20% off in-stock items in the ink-promo category!!
I have the pleasure of featuring Distress Inks. Yay me! So here is what I created for all of you lovelies today.
Making this card was such a labor of love. The colors make me happy and so does the sort of abstract quality of it.
Let me show (and tell) you how this card came together:
I used a piece of Ranger watercolor paper and used the smooth side. I'll cut this down to the size I need later on.
I stamped pieces of the Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Mondo Peony by Julie Ebersole set using Versamark Ink onto the paper using the MISTI.
Then everything was heat set using the Wow! Embossing Powder, Super Fine in Metallic Gold Rich.
Then the FUN begins! I use the Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pads for this, but you could also use the full size Distress pads. And any color palette that is pleasing to YOUR eye. (Don't feel obligated to use the colors I did.)
Blend using a mini-blending tool. The embossing resists the dye ink, so if you wish to see more of the embossing you can always use a damp paper towel or baby wipe to reveal more of the embossing. (I didn't.)
My next step was to add more texture. Since I already used a gold embossing ink, I stayed with gold for for the texture, too. I used a hexagon patterned stencil from Faber-Castell Mixed Media Stencils, 101 Collection. Using the stencil I worked with the Faber-Castell Texture Luxe Paste in Gold and applied it through the stencil with a palette knife.
Once the Texture Luxe is dry I knew I wanted to give my panel a watercolor look. I smooshed the 2 darkest opposing colors onto my work surface and spritzed with water. Then, using my Black Velvet #2 Watercolor brush, I dipped the brush into the smooshed ink and went around some of the edges of the flowers, pulling the color out. Add more water, if necessary. I did not go around all the edges. I thought it would look more organic not to do that. I also used a white gel pen with my watercolor brush (and water) to add additional accents.
And this is when I decided to flip my panel and make a VERTICAL card!! I die cut the panel, and using thin foam squares, adhered it to another die-cut piece with scalloped edges. Then the whole thing got adhered to my card base.
My final embellishments are some sequins, a sentiment from the Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Lovely by Julie Ebersole, and a little gold thread.
Here are a few more close-ups for you, too!
And one more!
I hope that you'll consider using your Distress Inks a little differently, blend non-traditional colors or use them as watercolors! And most of all...have fun!
