Hi friends, I love large, detailed floral stamp sets. But at times (especially when I am getting back to creating after a long gap), I find them intimidating. I had three sets sitting on my desk calling my name, but I was paralyzed about what-to-do. Finally, I decided to give an old technique a try to quickly whip up three beautiful cards. Yes, and the supplies for these are something most of us have + the technique is quite forgiving. So the chances of ruining a card are almost null.
Have I teased you enough? :D Well, here are the three cards:
If you haven't already guessed it, this technique is ink squishing on the background and then heat embossing on top. I used Distress Inks for the squishing because they react gorgeously with water. But you could also use watercolors or watercolor markers in similar way. I will try that some other day and share results here.
For ink squishing all you need is the colors + water + a non-porous surface. I used the plastic wrapper of a stamp set, so that I could bend it to make water move in a certain way if I wanted to. Start by dabbing the ink cubes on the plastic wrapper and spritzing it with water to let water droplets form. Then put the paper panel good side down and let it absorb the colors. The result is unique every time. You can also work in layers if you are not satisfied with the result at first. Let the first layer dry (or heat set it to dry) and then go back to repeat squishing more color on it. Yes, it is quite forgiving as long as you don't pick colors that really contradict each other.
After the inked panel is completely dry, use powder on it to remove any residuals oils from your fingers etc. Since we have handled the paper a lot while adding color to it this step becomes very important for us to get crisp lines from embossing. I used the powder tool from ekSuccess, but any powder tool should do. Then using a clear sticky ink like Versa Mark, stamp the image. I used MISTI for this part, but if you don't have any precision stamping tool, you can stamp as normal. Just make sure your ink pad is nice and juicy so that you get best impression the first time. Add embossing powder on top. (I will share the ones I used for each card below.) Tap away the excess and use a dry paint brush to take away any stray spots. Use a heat gun to melt the powder and be in awe of that magic. I know I am. Every. Single. Time. :)
Mount on card bases, add gems and call your projects done. I hope this helped you overcome the intimidation of large bouquet stamps and you do try out these ideas.
- Stamp set - Pinkfresh Studio Joyful Peonies
- Sentiment - Simon Says Stamp Sketched Flowers
- Distress inks - Bundled Sage, Seedless Preserves, Salty Ocean
- Embossing Powder - Wow embossing Metallic Silver (my latest favorite embossing powder for silver. It's just so crisp even for tiny font sizes! 10/10)
For this card above, I also added some stenciled details on the card front using a stencil I designed with Maker Forte - Staggered Rectangles. To keep my color theme consistent, I used Seedless Preserves ink on a light blue cardstock.
- Stamp set - Altenew Hello Beautiful
- Sentiment - Altenew Hello Beautiful
- Distress inks - Bundled Sage, Seedless Preserves, Salty Ocean
- Embossing Powder - Wow embossing Metallic Silver
- Stamp set - Simon Says Stamp Friendly Flowers
- Sentiment - Simon Says Stamp Friendly Flowers
- Distress inks - Picked Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Spiced Marmalade
- Embossing Powder - Recollections Copper
Supplies List:
For your convenience, I am sharing links to the supplies I’ve used for these cards – click on the picture or link to go directly to the product. Wherever available, I have used affiliate links, which means when you make a purchase, I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) which I use to run this blog. I truly appreciate your support!
Hugs! ~Varada