Floral Square - Thank You

 

Hello, welcome to my blog!! 

I want to start out by thanking everyone for the support and nice comments you all leave for me. I truly appreciate the support of this blog!! I enjoy card making and bringing my creations to you, this wouldn't be possible without your support, so again, thank you!!!

I hope everyone's week is off to a great start! Today, I have a simple card that would be great for any occasion. I will be creating a small inked panel for my backdrop using an acrylic block. I remembered this technique from a video many years ago that Jennifer McGuire did. This is a very simple way to create a water activated inked area. I will be using a small square acrylic block though any size would work. A circle block would also look and work great! I will be using Distress Oxide Inks for today's technique and also use one of the colors to create a soft blended background that pulls everything together. Let's get started!!

I will be doing all of today's work on my Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat.

To start, I cut a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" panel out of Neenah White Cardstock using my Tim Holtz Guillotine Paper Trimmer. Next, I take the biggest die from my Stitched Rectangles Die Set and a die from the Floral Squares Die Set, center them over my panel and hold into place using Purple Tape. I then run them through my Big Shot Die Cut Machine. I use my Craft Pick to remove the frame from the floral die and set it aside.

Next, I take my Flourish Stencil and place it over my panel. Using my Blender Brush, I blend Weathered Wood Distress Oxide Ink onto the stencil. I blend lightly to create a soft look and go just a little heavier in some areas to add a little faded look. I then picked up the stencil and move it to the other side of the panel to finish my blending. *Because this stencil does not cover my entire panel, I'm careful not to blend at the very edge of the designs on the stencil, as I do not want to create an edge where the design stops... I want my design to flow.

Using my Guillotine Paper Trimmer, I cut a 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" piece of watercolor cardstock for this next step. Taking one of my small 2" x 2" square acrylic blocks, I press Weathered Wood Distress Oxide Ink onto half of the block and add Speckled Egg Distress Oxide Ink to the other half, overlapping them just a bit. I then take my Distress Sprayer filled with clean water and lightly mist the inked block about three times. 

Next, I press my inked block onto the piece of watercolor cardstock. I press down and let it sit for about 20 seconds letting it soak into the cardstock. I then lift the block from the cardstock. I actually took my Air Blower and moved the wet ink around a bit before drying it with my Craft Tool. You could leave the ink as is and let it air dry also. *The less ink you add to the block the lighter the blend will be. You want to mist enough water onto the block to get the colors moving when pressed onto the cardstock. If you want the colors to blend more, just mist with a little more water. You can see on the right side, the ink didn't blend as much as there was not enough water. I just went with it as I kind of liked the little bit of white showing through after it was dried.

Next, I add Double Sided Tape to the back of my panel, around the window. I then adhere it over my inked square so that the area I want is showing through the window. 

Taking the flower die cut, I add small amounts of Liquid Glue to the back then place it back into the window it was originally cut out of. I decided to add a little more dimension and cut out two more flower frames, added glue then layered them onto the first die cut.

I now place my panel into my MISTI Stamp Positioner and stamp a greeting from the Million Thanks Stamp Set using Versafine Clair Nocturn Ink. I then line up a sentiment from the same set and stamp it just above the greeting.

Using my Scor Buddy, I place a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Soft Stone Cardstock into it and score at 4 1/2" creating a side folding card base. I add Double Sided Adhesive Foam to the back of my panel and adhere to my card base. I use my Jewel Picker to add Water Droplets with Liquid Glue and this completes my card.

I hope you enjoyed today's card and learned how easy it is to create color blends using acrylic blocks you may already have in your stash! I just love the way the two colors blended together and the way Oxide Inks give a soft creamy look. I think this would be a fun card to create a set with by using the different dies from the set along with different sentiments and colors then give to someone as a gift. Nothing is better than a handmade gift, especially to those who do not craft! 

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Happy Stamping and God bless!!

Jeannie