I wanted to create something a little different from what I normally make.
I had been inspired by many tutorials using sponges and alcohol based inks and decided to have a go at seeing if I could use the technique successfully with waterbased inks instead.
Now bearing in mind that waterbased inks on card stock do not tend to lend themselves to moving around smoothly to achieve a decent seemless blend, I knew it would probably take me a few "false starts" before I achieved something that I was happy with.
So I grabbed a cheap make-up sponge, an acrylic block and a couple of re-inkers and created the background for this card:-
I put some ink on my acrylic block :-
I picked some up with my sponge:-
Then I swiped steadily from one side of my card stock to the other in one go and was careful to start from off the edge of the card stock. This gives a better result than starting from directly on the card.
Then I picked up more ink and continued to swipe and found it is best not to be too heavy-handed. You can go over areas again in order to obtain a nice non-uniform and less stripey look.
This is what I ended up with. It is important to know that I did waste card-stock whilst practising this technique, before I felt comfortable with the results I was obtaining. Some just looked too "stripey". It really is a case of "practise makes perfect" or "my idea of perfect". We all have differing styles and you may prefer definite stripes as opposed to blended.
Anyway - this is what I ended up with (and it is not the piece I used for my card). I decided to do this mini step by step after I had put the original card together :-
It's fair to say that I got very messy but I thoroughly enjoyed the process.
Tomorrow I will show you a card I made using the same technique but in a different colour combination.
By the way, the stamp sets I used were Pressed Flowers (a Hostess set which can be yours for free with an order of £150 or more (excluding shipping costs)). The sentiment is from my Floral Frames stamp set.
Hope you like my card and maybe feel inspired to get messy yourselves. Like I say, prepare for a bit if wastage before you feel you have perfected the technique, or achieved a look that you are happy with.
AS A FOOTNOTE : I am sure that it would have been much easier on Shimmer Card but I did not have any.
Happy crafting everybody. See you tomorrow.
Linda xx
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