Inky Inspiration

So, this blog piece is actually three in one; August has been a mad month in both good and bad ways. Busy times can affect your mojo so I’m here with some inky inspiration. Here, are my three projects all in one go for this month’s blog; this time the focus is on ink techniques.

This is a donation promotion as part of the Chocolate Baroque DT with some of their latest releases. Thoughts listed herein are entirely the authors own opinion based upon using the supplies in practice.

Affiliate links are used across our site and help to keep this blog going. Affiliate links do not cost you any extra and do not inform our opinions on products. This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. For a full list of current links, please see our Affiliate page.

Page Transparency Statement

Inky Inspiration 1: Layered Backgrounds

This project is all about cartridge paper, which often gets overlooked in our stamping. It is a great way of adding layers without bulk, and is much easier to fussy cut.

What you need:

• Cartridge Paper precept to A6 pieces
• Stiff card cut into a tag shape
• Distress Inks in Saltwater Taffy, Weathered Wood and Prize Ribbon
• Archival ink in Prize Ribbon
• Harebell Butterfly and Making More Marks stamp set from Chocolate Baroque
• Pink Eyelets
• Blue Fineliner

The process

Start with an A6 piece of cartridge paper, ink up with Saltwater Taffy Distress Ink and Weathered wood using a large blending brush. The paper is easily saturated so allow it to dry completely naturally. Once dry, tear it into two at roughly a third of the way down. Adhere to a piece of stiff card with a gap between the pieces. Trim this to a tag shape. Again, allow any wetness to dry and then brush around edges with more Saltwater Taffy.

Onto another piece of cartridge paper stamp two butterflies and flower bud, using Prize Ribbon Archival ink; such as these from Harebell Butterfly. Add a touch of watercolour using Saltwater Taffy squeezed onto your glass mat to your butterflies. Set aside to dry. Onto the next piece of cartridge paper, stamp the diamond background pattern using Weathered Wood. Tear a small strip to form the top section of your tag.

Adhere the diamond background piece to your tag. Next, ink up a couple more stems with Prize Ribbon Distress Ink and spritz with a light coating of water for an instant watercolour look. Stamp onto your tag directly and allow to dry. You can also add a smaller stem in Saltwater Taffy.

Going back to your Prize Ribbon Archival ink, stamp the herringbone ribbon from Making more Marks at the centre top of the tag and at the bottom left hand edge. The cotton thread stamp from the same collection looks great stamped in Saltwater Taffy as a finishing touch to your stamping. Add a pink toned eyelet to finish your tag.

Optional: Adhere your tag to your card, doodling a thread for it to hang on either vertically or horizontally. I used a blue fineliner to complement the colours used in the tag. 

Inky Inspiration 2: Using ink as a guide

This project is all about your ability to write an x. If you are looking for a mindful project, this is the one for you. Grab your coloured pencils, turn on the zen music of your choice and focus on those x’s.

You will need:

• Kraft card base
• Coloured Pencils
• Brown dye or archival ink pad
• White card for sentiment

The Process

Start by stamping the grid image from Small Graph Paper using a brown ink of your choice. You want to get this as clear as possible without looking too perfect. Over the top, stamp the O from O is for… in a pale ink that is just dark enough for you to see the edges of the tree detail.

Next, start by “colouring” in the O with a dark brown pencil drawing an x to every square wholly covered in ink, or use a half stitch, quarter stitch or ¾ stitch around the edges. I found it easier to do the colouring this way round. You then want to use different shades of green to make the tree canopies pop along the a different shade of brown for the trunk. Finish with the green of the hills.

Inky Inspiration 3: Wet in Wet Technique

This card uses the images from Thistle Butterfly by stamping wet in wet.

You will need:

• A6 Watercolour paper
• Distress Oxide Mowed Lawn
• Watercolours
• Green Fineliner
• Green card

The process

Start by creating a splodge background by applying your dye based ink to your glass mat or blending mat. Spray watercolour card with water generously and place into the ink multiple times to pick up colour. To add stronger colour, ink up one of the stamps with the same ink and spritz lightly with water to stamp wet into wet. Allow the colour to bleed into the still wet background by holding slightly longer in the stamp.

Heat dry and stamp with the same ink using the dandelion image in green archival ink around the outside. Add watercolour to the buds of the dandelions and a little warm yellow to the tips. Stamp your main image the same way and colour with the same ink as your background to make the image feel like a field of the same plant.

Mount to a white card base and create a border around with a fineliner. Stamp your sentiment onto a spare piece of card. Trim and add a border of green card. Adhere your sentiment and voila!

You can find loads more Chocolate Baroque inspiration elsewhere on this blog.