From a hot mess to a beautiful galaxy

Hello there, and welcome back.  Today I would like to share a ink-blended galaxy background card with you using Distress inks.  This technique isn’t new, but I had never tried it.  Besides, my husband bought me some distress inks for Christmas (I still don’t know how he knew I wanted those distress inks so badly) and I thought it’s time for me to come out of my comfort zone and try something new.

First let me show you the card:

I used Neenah Solar White card (nice and smooth for ink-blending techniques) and distress inks in these colours (see below), I brought in a purple from Altenew because I don’t have any purple distress ink at the moment.

And I just started piling colours on, I put on the colours quite heavily, and went back and forth a few times so the colours could mix and blend into each other.  When I finished, the piece looked like a hot mess, I almost trashed it.

To cover up the mess, I brushed on some Perfect Pearls in Pewter, well, that made a big change.  The paper looked like metallic paper but with a subtle shine, and the powder eased some of the harsh blending lines off, suddenly it looked very smooth.

I wanted to write a sentiment on the card but my handwriting is poor.  Thanks to Mama Elephant Calli letters set, I was able to fake it.  I stamped my sentiment in embossing ink, so I could trace it later with a white gel pen.

I then splattered some white paint all over the card, they looked like stars.

I cropped the piece to be just a little bit smaller than a A6 card then glued it onto the cardbase.

That’s it.

Hope you like this card and give this technique a try.  I really enjoyed the process and trying new things.

Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely day!

Yiming

x

Hi Ya

Hello and happy new year!  I hope 2017 brings you lots of lovely memories, fabulous friends, and crafting goodies.

So for the first card of 2017, I went a bit crazy, Usually my cards are very clean and simple, minimal supplies and tools and lots of white/empty space.  But for today’s card, man, I pulled out so many different tools, and spent over an hour to finish it – that’s way out my comfort zone.

Anyway, here is the card.

And a closer look:

To start with, I used different distress inks to make a night sky.  I didn’t mind it wasn’t a nice smooth blend, because I wanted to add other elements on top.  However I’m very bad at blending, as you can see in the photo, definitely need to work hard on it.  So if you have any blending tips, do let me know. 🙂

I have this city skyline die from Clearly Besotted (retired now), and I die cut it from a light grey, a dark grey and black cards a few times so that when I layered them up they don’t look the same.  The two grey layers I just glued them onto the card base directly, but with the black one, I put foam adhesives at the back, so it pops up a bit.

For my focal point,  I chose Mama Elephant Tiny Ninjas stamp set, aren’t those ninjas adorable?  I just can’t resist them.  I stamped one ninja using my misti, and stamped a few time to achieve a dark and better result.

To finish off the card, I brushed some Perfect Pearls in the shade Pewter all over the night sky then set it with a mist of water, and that also leaves a nice texture to the sky.

I then trimmed the panel just a little bit smaller than my card base then glued the two parts together.

That’s my card today, hope you like it.  I’m off to do some more blending.  Again, if you have any tips on how to achieve a nice blended background, do share it with me.

Ta.

Yiming x

Challenge:  Seven Hills Craft Monthly Challenge: