Altenew Himalayan Poppy stamp set
Ink Blending Techniques – How to Blend Ink on a Card
Ink Blending Techniques Card Project
Ink blending techniques are so much fun! If you’re wondering how to blend ink for a card or scrapbook page, this post should help you to understand it a little better from a card-making perspective.
This is my third class for the AECP (Altenew Educators Certification Program), “Ink Blending Techniques”. I had a blast doing this card, because if there is one thing I love, it’s inks of all colors!
I’ll list all the supplies at the end of the post, but just to give you an idea, I used cardstock (naturally), several colors of inks, embossing ink and powder and some ink blending brushes.
I cut both the black and the white cardstocks to A2-size (4.25 inches x 5.5 inches).
Step 1: Picking Stamps And Inks
I placed my (uninked) stamp onto the white card panel and moved it around to decide where I planned to do the stamping. I didn’t have too much of a plan it first, aside from I thought I wanted the image towards the left side of the card.
I picked the Himalayan Poppy stamp from Altenew — for whatever reason, I am drawn to this stamp! I thought about stamping the image in black ink, then I decided to do with some gold embossing on the image.
I used my Mini Misti stamping platform to ink up the stamp with some gold pigment ink. Because it’s a pretty good sized stamp, I used the Misti because I wanted to stamp the image a few times to make sure I had good coverage before doing the actual embossing.
Embossing Results
Here’s the result of the embossing — it turned out pretty well I think.
Step 2: Ink Blending Techniques Time!
I love ink blending, as to me it’s very relaxing. For my inks, I started out with the following Altenew colors — Rubellite, Persian Blue, Citrus Burst and Lagoon. I ended up adding a few more colors, but these are the main ones on the card.
I selected red, blue and yellow as these are the three primary colors from which all other colors can be derived. I added the green (a combination of blue and yellow) because I didn’t want to spend all the time creating that much green.
One thing that is very important when it comes to ink blending techniques is your ink blending tools. The right ones can make it a joy. There are plenty of nice ones out there, and I’ve tried a bunch – with different levels of success.
Originally I started out with a really inexpensive set from Amazon, and I thought they worked fine. I upgraded to a slightly better set and they worked better. I tried foam blenders as well, and they were OK too. Then I saw some of the small blending brushes go on sale at Altenew and grabbed a set. Wow! They make blending go so much faster and smoother.
My Amazon sets were shaped like toothbrushes or hairbrushes — they have handles, and the head had some nice, soft bristles – very plush. But the big issue I had was that because the brush head was slightly convex (rounded up), it was sometimes difficult to ink up the brush evenly. The Altenew ones are flat-topped, very plush and ink up evenly — helping to blend quickly and easily.
Ink Blending – The First Layer
Anyway, back to ink blending techniques!
Step 3: Blending the Colors
The important thing regarding how to blend ink is because I had both red and green inks, I didn’t want to put them right next to each other. Because they are on opposite sides of the color wheel, blending red and green would give me brown or gray — not what I wanted.
So, I put my red/pink (Rubellite) on first, and inked up the flower with its first layer, to establish where I wanted it. Then, I was able to surround it with the blue (Persian Blue) and yellow (Citrus Burst). When I blended the pink and blue, I get purple; yellow and pink get me a peach.
And then I added the green (Lagoon), blending it up into the blue and a little into the yellow.
Hmmm, something wasn’t right. Lagoon is a teal color, but it had just a little too much blue. So, I went over some of the lower portions on the card with Forest Glades. Better!
The picture shows the first layer of the colors. I then added more layers, and included a couple more colors — Magenta and Arctic Blue. I also blended some of the yellow into the pink of the flower to give me a pop of peach. 🙂
Ink Blending Techniques Card
Step 4: Splatter Time!
I used to dislike ink splattering, but I have since fallen in love it it. So, I did a splatter with some Antique Gold ink spray (Altenew) and then immediately also sprayed lightly with water. I followed it by blotting the paper, so I got both gold splatters and water splatters, which gave it a little more of a watercolor vibe.
We’re coming to the home stretch!
Ink Blending Techniques – Tearing it Up?
I knew I wanted to cut down my ink blended card and mount it on the black, so the black would show the contrast. I was getting set to grab my paper trimmer when I thought, why not tear the paper instead of cut it?
I decided to tear the paper down the right-hand side of the cardstock, just to give it a little extra interest. I then mounted it on the black, leaving just a smidge of the black peeking out on the left side.
All that was left was to mount it on the card base, then add a sentiment.
For the sentiment, I grabbed a “Thank You” from the (list stamp name) set, and was all set to stamp it directly on the ink blended cardstock and then I got another idea — why not use the ink blending techniques on the sentiment?
I picked the Rubellite and Citrus Burst and blended them onto a scrap piece of cardstock, getting a peach color where the two mixed. Then I stamped the “Thank You” sentiment in the color Sapphire.
After I stamped and cut the strip of paper into a rectangle, I realized that I should have stamped the sentiment a little more towards the peachy area to get a better color gradient. Oh well, next time!
After I cut the sentiment strip, I then cut a strip of the black cardstock the same size as the ink blended strip. Before I mounted it to the black cardstock, I tore a strip off the right side of it (tearing off almost all the peach, sigh). After gluing to the black cardstock, I then used foam tape to place the sentiment strip on the card.
Final Thoughts and Supplies
You know, it took me waaaay longer to write this post about the ink blending techniques than it took to make the card! The ink blending goes pretty fast once the image is stamped.
If you would like to try your hand at ink blending techniques, I say go for it! Even if you only have two ink colors, you can blend them with some lovely results. Just remember to not blend together two colors on the opposite sides of the color wheel, unless you want the brown/gray color that will result.
I hope you have enjoyed this post and would welcome any comments. What colors would you have chosen for this card?
Supplies:
- Stamps: Himalayan Poppy and Mini Hibiscus Tea (for the sentiment). Both from Altenew.
- Inks: Rubellite, Magenta, Sapphire, Persian Blue, Arctic Blue, Lagoon, Forest Glades and Citrus Burst (all Altenew).
- Embossing: Embossing ink was Journey Gold (Spellbinders) and the powder was Super Fine Gold (Ranger)
- Cardstock: Crest Solar White 110 lb for card base (Altenew), then 80 lb cardstock in black and also white.
- Stamping Platform: Mini Misti (Amazon)
- Brushes: Small blending brush set (Altenew)
Making Clean and Simple Cards – Easy for Some, a Challenge for Me!
Click for a Larger Image
Clean and simple cards have never been easy for me to create — I’m a “bling” kind of person. The more goodies and ephemera on the cards, the more I like it. That’s why for my second AECP project I decided to choose the lesson for “Boutique Cards” (which are mostly clean and simple). Time for me to restrain my inner bling and learn a new skillset!
(AECP is the Altenew Educator Certification Program, and it teaches new stamping and papercrafting skills and how to pass along those skills to others. How cool is that?)
And just as an FYI, I bought all my own supplies for this project.
What is a Clean and Simple Card?
That’s a good question, and I don’t think there is a single definition. But from what I have observed, it’s a card that makes liberal use of white space (or “space” since it could be a color other than white), and has relatively few elements. Sure, there can be some special elements, like mirrored cardstock or even sequins. But overall, it’s a card that can be created quickly and easily.
Making Clean and Simple Cards
All that being said, it took me quite few tries to come up with a card to use as my second AECP submission. You’ve already seen my final submission by now for mking clean and simple cards, but you can see the others I created in my gallery (linked towards the bottom of this post).
AECP Lesson Submission for “Boutique Cards”
For making a clean and simple card I started out with an A2 card base in Crest Solar White 110 lb, as it would be a smaller card for me to keep clean and simple, LOL. I’ll list all the supplies at the end of the steps I took to make the card.
Step 1: Cut the Card Panels
It’s very rare for me to stamp directly on the card base, and this was no exception. I cut an panel sized 5.5 inches x 4.25 inches out of grey 67 lb. cardstock and set it aside.
Then, I cut another panel from white 80 lb cardstock — this time I cut it to 5.25 inches x 4 inches. This will be the card panel I’ll stamp on.
Step 2: Shadow Stamp
I wanted a watercolor-ish look to the card, so I decided to do what I call “shadow stamping”, and it took three ink colors for the card. However, because the pink is so light, for demonstration purposes I used three different purple shades from Altenew — Soft Lilac, Wisteria and Lavender Fields.
The stamp I am using is from the “Wings of Hope” stamp set from Altenew. Using the largest flower image, I stamped it once in Wisteria Fields (the middle shade of the three).
I next inked up the stamp using Soft Lilac, which is the lightest of the three shades. For my “shadow stamp” I offset my stamp a little so that it formed a shadow. Doing this gives it a little more of a watercolor-y look (to me, anyway).
I then inked up just the middle of the stamp with Lavender Fields, the darkest of the three shades. I then took a blending brush and tapped it into the inked portion to feather out the color and make it more diffuse. After that, I lined up the stamp with the original image and pressed it down.
(It doesn’t matter if the stamping is a little off — remember, this is a watercolor look.)
So the photo examples are the purple colors, but for my finished card, I chose the colors Rose Quartz, Pink Diamond and Cotton Candy (all three from Altenew).
Click for a Larger Image
Step 3: Add the Leaves
For the leaf stamp (also from the Wings of Hope set), I did the first two steps of the shadow stamp with the same color — Limestone, which is a pale grey-green. I then used the color Firefly just on the tips and blended it down the stamp with a blending brush. I then tried to match up the final leaf stamp with one of the others. Both Limestone and Firefly are inks from Altenew.
Step 4: Stamping the Sentiment
I used the Altenew Pure Graphite ink to stamp my sentiment, which is from the Himalayan Poppy set. I chose the Pure Graphite color because it’s a dark grey, and I though it would be a better choice than using black.
I stamped it onto the right side of the cardstock. Although you can certainly use an acrylic block to do your stamping, I prefer to use my stamping platform (Tim Holtz stamping platform) for the sentiment. I generally double-stamp to get a really crisp outline and the stamping platform allows me to keep my stamp lined up perfectly.
Finishing it All Up
I mounted my cardstock onto the grey panel, leaving a 1/8 inch border all the way around, with double-sided tape. I then placed my grey panel on the card base (again, using the double-sided tape).
Well, my inner bling started speaking to me, saying the card needed a little something extra. So, I grabbed some iridescent ink and added a few splatters to my card. Hmm, not quite enough, so I added three enamel dots.
Click for a Larger Image
So that’s my submission for making clean and simple cards for my AECP project called “Boutique Cards”. If you’ve made it this far, here’s a link to the other cards I made while trying my skills. And of course, below are my supplies. Hope you have enjoyed this project and see you later!
Supplies
- Stamps: The flower and leaves are from the Wings of Hope set and the sentiment is from the Himalayan Poppy set.
- Inks: Altenew inks in the following colors:
- Inks for the demos images: Soft Lilac, Wisteria and Lavender Fields.
- Inks used on the final card: Rose Quartz, Pink Diamond and Puffy Heart for the flowers. Limestone and Firefly for the leaves.
- Cardstock: Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb (card base), Classic Crest Solar White 80 lb (white panel) and a grey 67 lb cardstock
- Embellishment (a.k.a. “bling”): Sparkle Silk (Spellbinders) and Enamel Dots (Altenew)
- Acrylic blocks (Amazon) for stamping the flowers and the leaves.
- Stamping Platform: Tim Holtz Stamp Platform for stamping the sentiment (Amazon).