I started by die cutting two panels using the largest scalloped die in the Fancy Frames Die Set out of Strathmore Mixed Media paper. This paper has become one of my favourites for all ink blending and watercolour techniques. It isn't quite as heavy weight as your typical watercolour paper but it is bright white, stands up to water well and inks blend beautifully on it.
I chose the new Star Galaxy stencil and three Distress Oxide Inks in the colours Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers and Wilted Violet. For my first technique, I decided to colour my white Texture Paste with the inks.
Basically, just smoosh some ink onto a slick surface, drop a blob of texture/embossing paste into and mix with a spatula. A plastic knife or old credit card would work as well! I laid the stencil over the die cut panel and added the paste. I mixed up all three colours and overlapped them on the stencil.
Looks pretty awful, doesn't it?? When the stencil is pulled off, the result is fantastic!
I did have a couple of areas that I pressed too hard with the spatula which resulted in a couple of "smoothy" areas but I was okay with this :)
For my next background, I decided to add colour to the panel first. I used the same colours and wasn't too worried about getting a smooth blend. I added a lot of water splatters to give a bit more interest.
I placed the stencil over top and applied the white texture/embossing paste.
As you can see, these are two completely different looks!
I noticed that because the inks were still wet when I applied the embossing paste to the ink blended background, the white areas started to wick some of the colour. If you think this might bother you, I would recommend waiting for the inks to dry!
I chose the Magical Unicorn set for my images because I thought they work work perfectly with these backgrounds. I stamped a few images, coloured them with my alcohol markers and fussy cut them out.
I ended up only using the two unicorns but I love that rainbow image!! I used the unicorn on a cloud image for the coloured embossing paste background. I embossed the "Make a Wish" sentiment from the same stamp set onto black cardstock using white embossing powder.
I used foam adhesive to adhere both the sentiment and the focal image.
To finish the card off, I used some Clear Wink of Stella on the mane, Glossy Accents on the horn and picked a few of the tiny hearts out of the Lady Bug Sequins pack.
The other background was finished in a similar manner.
I used a combination of liquid glue and foam adhesive to adhere the images and sentiment.
I also used the small cloud die (which was a free with purchase die) to create a puffy place for the unicorn to sit. A bit of glitter pen, Glossy Accents and a few silver sequins complete this card!
Thanks for hanging around to the end of this long and "photo heavy" post! I appreciate you stopping by today and hope you got inspired to try these easy techniques!!
Here's a list of CDD supplies used:
