I made this card today for an advert and I just love the freshness of the blue and white together.  I must have been inspired by the blue skies.

I thought you might like a step by step on this one as I haven’t done that on the blog for ages.

So you will need:

• Loving Sentiments stamp set
• Shimmerz in shades of blue (Precious Metal Paint would work nice too)
• ScrapFX chipboard scroll
• Flowers (sorry, I’ve had them so long I can’t remember where I got them, but they’re probably Prima)
• White glossy card
• Any dye inks in shades of aqua and blue
• Adirondack Stream pigment ink
• Black archival ink
• Turquoise cardstock
• Watercolour paper
• White A5 card blank
• Blue dewdrops

1. The sentiment is stamped onto white glossy card that has been coloured with dye inkpads.  I see it being referred to as the wrinkle free distress technique around the web, but I always used to think of it as the ‘mop up the ink that’s left over on the non-stick craft sheet’ technique myself.  Basically, dab a dye inkpad or two in your chosen colour onto the craft sheet, mist with lots of water, then pat your cardstock on it to mop up the liquid.  You get a nice soft background – the more water you use, the paler it is.

   I make up a batch and put it with my white card and often use it for greetings and sentiments where I want just a hint of a colour to tie in with the rest of the card.  I also like the way the water tones down the high gloss and turns the glossy card into more of a satin sheen instead.

2. So stamp your chosen sentiment with black ink, trim and rub the inkpad around the edges.  Mat onto turquoise card.
3. Make the shimmery background by painting stripes of shimmers paint onto watercolour paper, starting with a bright blue at the bottom and fading through to turquoise and palest aqua at the top.  Leave to dry then trim and mat onto turquoise card.
4. Lightly pat the Stream pigment ink all over the chipboard scroll then emboss with Aqua Tinsel embossing powder.  When cooled, pat all over with Versamark and emboss with clear embossing powder.  Use ordinary, not UTEE as the piece is too fine for UTEE.  Repeat two or three times til you have a nice glaze over the sparkly embossing.
5. Stick the shimmerz background onto a white A5 card and mount the sentiment on top with foam pads.  Stick the chipboard scroll down the side – I used my Herma tape roller which has actually worked better than I thought it would.  As it transfers little tiny glue dots, it’s put adhesive just where it needs it on the fine pieces of the chipboard.  In the past I’ve also used tiny dabs of Glossy Accents and PVA glue – anything clear drying basically.
6. Stick the flower between the sentiment and the scroll and finish off with a coloured dew drop in the flower centre and you’re done!

I could see this card working well in other colourways too, so you could choose a flower as a starting point and coordinate the rest to match.

I found a couple of those mop up backgrounds and have scanned them so you can see the subtle pattern you get.

This one had less water, so the colours are a little stronger.

Even though the high shine has been lost, they still behave as glossy card does, so you get a lovely crisp stamped image with dye inks and you can add more colour with a brayer, stylus tool, ink blending tool, sponge, etc.  Click on any of the images for a closer look.

Well I hope you enjoyed the project and if you have a go at something similar, please leave a comment and let me know.