Inky Backgrounds ~ Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Hey everyone!

Hope you all had a great weekend and looking forward to the new week ahead!

Today, is the start of a brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and this week the challenge was chosen by Anna-Karin and is all about, INKY BACKGROUNDS! Will you create a messy effect? Do some distress stamping of just directly apply inks to your background? Whatever you choose to do, take this as a chance to explore and play with ink!

For my project this week, I chose to make a card using Distress Inks to create the background to my wintery looking card featuring one of the adorable sketchy birds from Dina Wakley.

To begin with, I cut a piece of white stamping card to measure 12.5 x 16cm.

I wanted to create a pattern around the outside of the card and chose to use a resist technique using Distress Paint. For this, I applied Brushed Pewter Distress Paint directly onto the flourish stamp from the Shabby French Stamp set by Tim Holtz. I then stamped randomly around the outside of the card stock. Once I was happy with the pattern, I heat dried the paint. Remember at this point to clean the paint of your stamp immediately!

Once the paint is completely dry, it's now time to add the inky background. Using mini Distress Ink Pads, I applied small amounts of Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough and Weathered Wood ink from the pads directly onto a craft sheet and spritzed very lightly with water. I then swiped my card through the inks to pick up the colour. Heat dry the card and then pick up any remaining inks from the craft sheet to build up the background. What's cool about this technique is that the Distress Paint stamping will resist the inks to give this gorgeous look to your background!

Distress and using Walnut Stain Distress Ink, ink around the edges of the card before matting it onto a piece of corrugated card stock.

Stamp the image of the Scribbly Bird onto white card and then colour. I used Festive Berries, Barn Door and Gathered Twigs Mini Distress Ink Pads and built up the colour using a blending tool. Cut around the outline and set aside. Stamp the quote directly onto the inked background using black Archival Ink.

Cut a strip of Crinkle Ribbon, enough to create a shabby bow and also a piece to wrap around the matted layers of card. Apply Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy Distress Stain to your craft sheet and let the ribbon soak up the stain before drying it. Wrap the small strip of ribbon around the bottom section of the yardstick and using the Attached Tool, fix into place.

Tie the remaining ribbon into a bow and then mount the matted layers onto the front of your card blank.

Die cut a selection of Holiday Greens foliage from card which has been coloured and spritzed with Shabby Shutters and Brushed Pewter Distress Spray Stains. 

Add the foliage and then attach the stamped bird image to your card. I used foam pads when I attached the bird, to add dimension.

Ink up the word "tweet" from the stamp set and stamp onto a piece of small piece of card stock inked with the same colours as the background. Cut the message into a banner shape and attach with a Memo Pin.

Place a sparkly gem in the centre of the bow to complete the card.

I really hope you've enjoyed today's project and hope you're inspired to use this fun resist technique using Distress Paints and Inks.

Don't forget that if you're looking for some more great ideas and inspiration for this challenge, then you need to look no further than the blog to see all the wonderful creations from all the very talented Design Team members and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. Good luck....

Thank you so much for all your visits today and hope you all have a great week ahead

See you again soon...love Emma xx

Products used:

Stamps: Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous French Shabby, Dina Wakley Scribbly Birds

Distress Paint: Brushed Pewter

Distress Stain: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy

Distress Spray Stains: Shabby Shutters, Brushed Pewter

Inks: Jet Black Archival Ink, Mini Distress Ink Pads, Walnut Stain

Sizzix Dies: Holiday Greens

Idea-Ology ~ Memo Pin, Crinkle Ribbon

Embellishments: Teresa Collins Daily Stories Gems

Surfaces: Ranger Speciality Stamping Card, White Card

Ranger Craft Sheet

Hot Glue Gun, Foam Pads

Tiny Attacher

Blending Tool

Corrugated card from my own collection