Ink Blending a Starry Winter Sky

Hello, CutCardStock fans! Leslie here, and thanks so much for joining me on the blog today! Do you find ink blending relaxing or stressful? It’s totally relaxing for me. There’s really no way to mess up ink blending, and the fact that it looks different every time I do it is a big plus! For this Christmas card I used more of our Royal Sundance cardstock that’s on sale this month, so if you haven’t already, be sure to grab some! The variety of colors, textures and weights in this cardstock line is amazing!

CUT CARD BASE AND LAYERING PANELS

1. Cut a standard A2 size landscape top-folding card base from Royal Sundance Felt Natural cardstock.
2. Cut front and inside layering panels and an inside embellishing strip from Royal Sundance Linen Eclipse Black cardstock.
3. Cut an inside layering panel and an embellishing strip from Neenah Classic Crest Baronial Ivory cardstock.
4. Grab a piece of watercolor paper.

INK BLEND THE BACKGROUND

1. Do some ink blending on the watercolor paper with distress inks, starting with stormy sky on the bottom, blending chipped sapphire in the center and the top, and then blending a little bit of dusty concord at the top.
2. Using a fan brush, splatter water on the inked background and roll a roll of paper towels across it to blot the water splatters.
3. Trim the background piece (reserving one strip to use as an inside embellishing strip) and adhere it to the front black cardstock layering panel.

ADD STAMPING AND ADHERE LAYERS

1. Stamp the winter village and Santa with reindeer in black ink on the inked background piece.
2. Stamp the front and inside sentiments in blue ink on ivory cardstock and die cut them.
3. Adhere the inked, ivory and black embellishing strips to the inside ivory cardstock panel and then adhere the panel to the inside black cardstock panel.

ADHERE PANELS TO CARD BASE AND ADD SENTIMENTS

1. Adhere front and inside panels to card base.
2. Add stamped and die cut sentiments to front and inside.

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COMPLETE CARD

1. Add tiny randomly-placed iridescent gemstones in the sky to complete the card.

CutCardStock products used:
Royal Sundance Felt Natural cardstock
Royal Sundance Linen Eclipse Black cardstock
Neenah Classic Crest Baronial Ivory cardstock

Other products used:
Cardstock/Paper: Ranger Distress Watercolor cardstock
Stamps: Taylored Expressions Simple Strips – Christmas stamp set, Taylored Expressions Winter Village background stamp, Taylored Expressions Santa with Reindeer
Ink: Ranger distress inks- stormy sky, chipped sapphire, dusty concord; Catherine Pooler Midnight ink, Memento Paris Dusk ink
Dies/Punches: Taylored Expressions Simple Strips – Asymmetrical die set
Accessories: Tonic Studios 12″ Guillotine Paper Trimmer, fan brush, Bearly Art precision craft glue, ScraPerfect iridescent gemstones

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Christmas card! Be sure to visit the CutCardStock Facebook Page for more DT inspiration!

Scrappy hugs,
Leslie