Two-for-One Ink Technique with Erica

 Hi guys! 

Erica here on the Ink On 3 blog today with a couple of cards, using the same basic supplies but with VERY different looks! Like an utter nutter though, I didn’t get a photo of the backgrounds before I cut them up... Ay, mama! 

Oh well, hopefully I can explain it well enough so you get what I’ve done. If not, I can always make a video and show you! 

Right, let’s get to it: Before I did anything else, I took the Leafy Forest stencil and sprayed it with a very generous layer of Pixie Spray and let that cure for a few minutes. While that was doing its thing, I got some card stock out for ink blending and also water colouring. Oh and ALL THE ATELIER INKS! 

Oh yes, I used pretty much all of them: Bee Sting Yellow, Marigold Orange, Sweet Petunia Pink, Marilyn Red, My Jam Purple, Peacock Blue, Trinity Teal and Goddess Green. The only two I didn’t use for the ink blending were Paint It Black and Twiggy Brown. Using a different Life Changing Blender Brush for each colour, I blended the colours on the diagonal, and vividly, for the first panel. 

Then to get a two-for-one and not wasting all that ink, I got a water spritzer out and misted the stencil. It’s important to give the water a bit of time to activate the ink though. Then, in quick and firm moves, place a panel of water colour card stock on top of the stencil, trying not to move it too much. Press down, again, without moving the paper too much and turn it over quickly. Set aside to dry, or use a heat tool to speed this step up. 

This technique gives a lovely soft, water coloured look with very little hassle. I absolutely love doing this, and do it practically every time I ink blend as it makes me feel like I get the most out of my supplies. 

So, back to the first panel. This one I used a scalloped rectangular die on to trim it down, as well as a celebrate word die in the middle, before adding it to a white card base. The celebrate word die I cut out of black card stock three times and layered up with liquid glue. To make the top layer, with the ink blended pattern, pop a little bit more, I heat embossed it with Clear Gloss embossing powder before adding it to the card. That’s it! 

With the second panel, I did a similar thing: I used a rectangular stitched die to trim it down. This one I added to a black panel, before adding that to a card base. The black really made the stencil print pattern stand out. 

I wanted to add more to this, so I grabbed my Mini MISTI and the flower from the BeYOUtiful stamp. This I stamped up with Paint It Black Atelier ink, all over the panel. I really love how this turned out! To finish this card off, I simply cut a ‘hello’ diecut out of black card stock three times and layered these up. This I added to the card and with that, the second card was done too. 

I hope you like these cards and will give this stencil printing technique a go! If you prefer, you can skip the ink blending and just dab your ink pads on the stencil, mist it and then place your paper on top. 

Lots of love and happy crafting from Erica