Happy Saturday! Minnesotans have their shovels ready for another snowstorm later today. I saw some comment about dusting off your shovel and I couldn't imagine how there would be time for it to even get dusty. I must confess, though, that we don't own a shovel anymore. It's been a very good year to live in a condo!
Anyway, while it snows in Minnesota I'm going to share the first cards I made with the blended backgrounds - using the Occasions set, Flowering Desert. As I've mentioned previously, I introduced this technique on a Facebook Live recently. I'd been wondering if dye and craft ink refills could be mixed. I was recent cleaning out of a box of retired craft ink pads, and questioned whether I should keep them. That, along with Stampin' Up!'s Flowering Desert, inspired me to actually try it. What I'm showing you here is all current Stampin' Up! ink. I've decided I won't be needing to use valuable storage space in my condo for those retired inks anymore.
Starting with my very first card using this technique: I think this is pretty close - I didn't write the specifics down as I excitedly played with this.
- I mixed the following inks, individually, with Whisper White craft ink: Poppy Parade, Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green and Coastal Cabana. I applied these to some Crumb Cake cardstock one at a time, going back and forth a couple of times to get a nice blend. Isn't that mix between Poppy Parade and Mango Melody something? I can't tell you how amazing this combination of dye and craft ink is as you blend the colors. You'll just have to try it for yourself!
- You can do this technique on any color of cardstock. You will get interesting richness to your backgrounds by using a medium colored cardstock like Crumb Cake, Mint Macaron or Granny Apple Green. I've tried it with Basic Black and was less successful but it could have some dramatic applications. The birthday cards I showed a few days ago were done with Whisper White.
- You do need to allow a little drying time but it doesn't take long. When they are first done you need to take care when handling them so you don't leave a finger print. Since this was my very first attempt, I was impatient to see how I could stamp on it so I didn't wait at all. I stamped an uninked cactus to pull away any ink that wasn't dry - it was just a little. Then I stamped again in Old Olive and I was very happy with how the ink took. Now I make 3-4 backgrounds at a time and by the time I'm done with the last, the first is easily ready to work with. I've since stamped successfully, even with Distinktive stamps on these backgrounds.
- I trimmed the piece down and added just a bit of black to help set it off against the Whisper White card base. HINT: when I'm cutting my layers to get this look I cut them 1/16" larger or somewhere between 1/16" and 1/8". If you use an adhesive like the Liquid Multipurpose Adhesive you will have time to straighten your top image to make sure it looks even on both sides. The smaller your borders are, the more attention you need to pay to centering them.
- I embossed my greeting by stamping with Versamark ink and using black embossing powder. I trimmed it down to about 3/4" or so, just so it looks relatively even on top and bottom. I added this at the base of the cactus and embellished it a little with the Basic Black Faceted Dot.
Moving on to the second card I did as I worked with this technique: When I visit my parents we see the Santa Rita Mountains from their patio. So of course I needed mountains!
- The panel for this card is Mint Macaron. I embossed the cacti/succulents with Versamark and clear embossing powder. The background technique is similar to that above except:
- I used the following classic inks: Mango Melody, Poppy Parade, Rich Razzleberry and Blackberry Bliss. The Blackberry Bliss was used towards the bottom of the panel, with the Rich Razzleberry for the mountains.
- I made the mountains by using a mask made by tearing paper.
- I couldn't really find a good place to put a message on this one; maybe the sky would have worked but I was hesitant to cover any of my precious blending.
Here are one more variation:
- This was done on Granny Apple Green, with the cactus embossed with clear ink prior to adding the background.
- The lower cactus isn't a perfect image but that's kind of the way the real ones look. Animals live in them etc.
- Embellishments include Rich Razzleberry velvet ribbon and Blackberry Bliss Faceted Dots. The ribbon has been added as a Sale-A-Bration free item choice and you get 2 rolls of this lovely embellishment. I've listed both the regular and Sale-A-Bration versions in my product list. Make sure you use the number for the one you want.
- The greeting is from Friendly Expressions which is in Stampin' Up!'s annual catalog. It is stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Doesn't the "You Make Me Proud" message go well with the mountains?
Ink Refills: if you don't yet have many ink refills, may I suggest starting with some or all in the Brights collection, especially if you have any of those pads. These colors work exceptionally well for this technique and will give you lighter looks if you use them on Whisper White paper and richer looks if you use them on a darker paper such as Crumb Cake. I've included that group in my product list.
My Palette: I've stopped cleaning this off since I've been making these backgrounds rather frequently and hate to waste any of the ink. I simply store the large acrylic F block in a full wide stamp case and keep it in a safe place where it won't be knocked over. The first time I cleaned out the sponge daubers it took several rinses and I determined I was wasting a lot of ink. Then, the next time I went to do this they soaked up quite a bit of ink. So, I ordered more and am no longer cleaning those between uses either. If anyone wants to suggest a good, easy to find storage box for these I'm all ears!
My shopping reminder of the day: The deadline to sign up for the March Paper Pumpkin is Sunday March 10th. Though I don't know exactly what will be in it, I can tell you that Paper Pumpkin is celebrating it's 6th birthday and March's kit will have not one, but two stamp sets for birthday cards with a "pop" that are easy to mail. Featured colors are: Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo, and Poppy Parade. Looking ahead, April's kit will be the first Paper Pumpkin to feature a Distinktive stamp set. I'm excited to see this one too. Maybe you would like to sign up now for a 3 month subscription. You will earn a free Sale-A-Bration item(s) if you purchase subscriptions during the month of March. I'm including a 3 month link in my product list. 6 month and 12 month subscriptions are also options along with month to month subscriptions.
I so appreciate your time as you visit my blog. Congratulations if you've managed to read this long wordy entry! Let me know what you think and come back again soon.
Check out the Stampin' Up! catalogs link at the top of my blog. If you don't have regular Stampin' Up Demonstrator and would like hard copies of any of our current catalogs please feel free to email me at [email protected]
***If you don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I would love to help you with your stamping journey and have you shop with me! You can click on "Shop with Chris Smith" at the top of my blog. Clicking on any of the items in the product list below will also bring you to my shop.
Chris
If you place a minimum $50 (US) order using the March host code, YDZJFZWA, I will send you the free gift of product that will be featured in my April projects. March orders are also eligible for a free Sale-A-Bration item . US customers only. Customers placing an order smaller than $50 will still receive my March thank you card.
If you place a $150 or greater order please don't use the hostess code. You will still receive the gifts but you will also get your own hostess benefits.
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