Distress Inks Watercolor Stamp Technique

I told you all about the international card exchange I participated in last month. The big reveal of all the cards was posted today and so I can finally talk about the card I sent all the way to Norway for the lovely Gail of "The Crafty Nomad".

The card I made for today's blog post is very similar to the one that I sent to Gail, but I wanted to soften it a bit and make it into a thank you card to give to my administrative assistant (who makes my life so much more pleasant). In order to soften it, I decided to use a watercolor technique with Distress Inks. I adore Distress Inks and all the unique ways you can use them.

MATERIALS:

• Tan cardstock
• Brown sheer ribbon
• Distress Inks: Tattered Rose, Faded Jeans, Festive Berries, and Vintage Photo
• Inkssentials blending tool (or a sponge)
• Mini Mister
• Personal Stamp Exchange "Rust Tampestry" embossing powder
• Stampin Up' "Inspired by Nature" stamp set
• Stampendous "Dream Text Stamp" background
• Hampton Art Studio G "Ever Thankful" stamp

I started by folding a piece of 5x11 tan cardstock into a trifold, accordion style. I used Stampin Up's "Inspired by Nature" retired stamp set (it's still available as a digital download). To achieve the watercolor effect, I inked the stamp pad generously with Faded Jeans Distress Inks and then used a mini mister to spritz water onto the inked stamp before stamping the image.

I repeated the effect using Festive Berries and Tattered Rose Distress Inks, layering the position where the stamp was placed. Next, I stamped grass from the same stamp set over the watercolored flowers (without spritzing the stamp). I cut around the flowers to create the top layer. I used Stampendous's Dream Text Stamp to stamp the background all over the second layer, again using Tattered Rose. To create a wonderful depth around the edges, I used a blending tool and added vintage photo around the edges, more heavily in the upper right corner. I added ribbon, and my thank you saying to finish out the card.

I love the final result!

Just as an aside, the card challenge asked us to use specific colors (or close to them). A handy way to know what your Distress Inks will look like when you stamp them on the paper is by creating a personal color wheel.

Cut out tags of paper and add an eyelet. Brush with one color of the distress inks, and using clear embossing powder on the bottom half. That way you'll know what the ink color will look like flat, or with embossing powder. It's surprising just how much the color changes! Add a keyring to bind them all together.

Enjoy!