We were delighted to see so many nations represented in our 'Colours of your Flag' challenge last week, how wonderful that the love of crafting links so many of us worldwide.
Once more we are back to the second week of the month and so our challenge is for a
ONE LAYER CARD
If you are not sure of the principles of this genre, do check out our Guidelines at the top of our blog.
The special feature we would like to see this week is for you to
USE INK
** This does include ink pads **
...hopefully in a way you haven't tried before.... or using a favourite technique.
If you can avoid using the computer this week, that would be great, but we wouldn't want to to miss a week if the computer is your only method of card making.
This week is very Chrissie, not very Mandi lol
I hate getting my fingers inky and don't do inky backgrounds ever! But, I had a bash.
This technique is in various forms around blog world, but, I kinda adapted in my own way!
I took an acryllic block and with my water brush added a few drops of water to LuminArte H2o's Persimmon and Pink Azalea, so I had puddles of colour. Using the water brush to pick up the colour I then dabbed a few areas onto the block. I knew roughly where I wanted them to be. You need to pay particular attention to how close the drops are as they spread lots and merge together. Great if that's what you want! I did and didn't as you can see.
[Also keep away from the edges of the block as it creates a line]
If your blobs look a little too wet it's best to take the excess off with the edge of a tissue, let it soak it up, rather than dab.
Turn the block over and press onto your card. Hold for a few moments, lift off. Voila!
Once dry I stamped with the Flamingo [Stampabilities] added ribbon and gems.
You can use numerous different inks for this technique, watercolour crayons, and if you prefer you can also spritz with water for a different look. It's all about experimenting really and although I'm a complete novice at anything like this, I do have to admit I quite enjoyed it AND have clean fingers!
I went shopping for a mustard inkpad, but ended up buying the inks you see here instead... and I am delighted with them.
They are from Adirondack and the colours are Pebble, Lake Mist and Pesto.
I masked the card with Post Its and sponged the colours into the gap with some cut 'n' dry foam. (I have run out of spare Sponge Daubers, so I must order some more from Mandi!)
The stamps I used are from Indigo Blu, with just a few additional leaves from Inkylicious to fill in some gaps at the bottom.
The umbrella (umbellate) plant stamp was added after the upper masks had been removed. I find building up a scene in this way is really satisfying. If you haven't tried it, give it a go... you may enjoy it!
I find this one rather serene.
