INKY BACKGROUNDS

This week I've been enjoying an old technique, so here it is - INKY BACKGROUNDS

Supplies

• Lots of scrap paper

• Two pieces (or more) of glossy cardstock

• Rangers Mini Misters - or water spray of some kind

• Inks - Ecoline, Posh Inks, reinkers or whatever you have to hand - must be water based - at least two different colours

• Pipette if you're using Ecoline inks or any ink without a nozzle on the bottle

Instructions

1. Make sure your work surface is covered with lots of scrap paper - this is a messy one!

2. Take the first piece of glossy card and lay it down in front of you.

3. Mist with water.

4. Drop small amounts of ink onto the water, being sure not to get them too close together and not to use too many colours.  If you do, they may end up a muddy brown colour.  Two colours are nice to begin with, then experiment with more afterwards.

5. Mist again with the water, then place the other piece of glossy card on top of the inked one and smooth over with your hand - very technical.  Peel apart and leave to dry.

If you like to experiment, try these ideas:-

Blot with Kitchen towel, to get a textured effect

Place a piece of Cling Film over the top - quite a bit bigger on all sides - then scrunch it up and leave it in place.  This creates a cool webbing type effect.  You can see the results of this in the illustration on the left.

Drop granules of sea salt on the wet inks, then leave to dry. When dry, wipe off and you'll see that the salt has absorbed some of the ink, leaving a nice pattern behind.

Just keep playing and experimenting until you end up with a whole load of background papers, which you can keep ready for stamping on.  Don't worry if some of them look yukky - once you've stamped over them, they'll be great and you can bring out the colours you prefer by choosing your layers carefully.

Samples of cards made with these backgrounds