You're a Great Catch!

Supplies : Tiny Treats Valentines stamp set, Aqua Mist, Ocean Tide, and True Black Ink by Papertrey Ink; Cardstock by CTMH; Copic Markers; Versamark Marker; Clear Embossing Powder; Glazed Brad by Basic Grey; White Gel Pen;

Wondering how to use your inks? That's the challenge at Practical Scrappers this week! The first thing that comes to mind when I think of my inks is stamping images with them, the next is distressing. But what about something a little different? Here I created a gradient for water on my card and used an embossing resist to make the fish stand out. First I stamped and colored my images. Next I took my Versamark marker and outlined a fun splash design then colored it all in, right over the fish. This gives something for your embossing powder to stick to. I sprinkled on a good bit of clear embossing powder and shook off the excess before heat setting it. You can tell your embossing is done when it gets shiny. I had missed a couple spots so I went back in with my Versamark pen and colored the spots in, sprinkled more powder and set. The heat will blend it all together ;) Next is the fun part with your ink. I was using a light blue cardstock so I picked the matching ink color and then another darker shade (if you're using white cardstock you may want to try using 3 shades of ink). I filled up my brayer with the lighter ink first and leaving about half an inch of bare cardstock at the top I brayered my ink over the panel until it was well blended. Then I filled about half of the brayer with the darker ink and started about half way down the card to brayer that color on to create the gradient. I finished off the panel by wiping off the embossed section with a baby wipe. Because embossing can warp the paper I let the panel sit under a heavy book for a while to give it back it's shape. Then I attached the panel to a card base and added the sentiment. To make the resist method faster you could simply stamp a solid stamp in versamark instead of drawing it out like I did. The gradient brayer effect also looks beautiful with stamped silhouttes as well as resists. Flowers in a sunset, bare trees in winter, you could use pretty much any solid stamp to get a silhoutte look! Head on over to the Practical Scrappers Blog for more fun examples on how to use your ink ;) Thanks for popping by and have a terrific Tuesday!