TJ Inkspirations: Ink Blended Stenciled Backgrounds

First, I must apologize. You haven't heard from me for a few weeks, and my absence is both professional and personal.  From a professional standpoint, the video editing program I have been using suddenly died on me, without hope of recovery, forcing me to learn a new editing program that is more complicated. The good news is that the videos will (should) be better as I master the program in the next few months!  From a personal standpoint, I have traveled every weekend in August (only once for personal reasons, the rest were trade shows) and the remainder of my time in the office has been overwhelmingly hectic. I promise to make up for it!  I have already filmed tutorials for most of September and I am prepping them all for future publication.  Before I get to the video and artwork, I would like to mention that Sunday is September 1st - meaning that we will have 15 new stamps for you.  Wait until you see these! I have a couple in this next release that are my favorite stamps so far...stay tuned for Sunday. You will receive another email from me reminding you of the release celebration (and the discount) Sunday (9/1) morning. Today's video shows you how to use the Ink Blending Brushes with IZINK Dye Inks, Pixie Spray and a Stencil to create a multicolored, blended background. The finished piece I did for the video is below, plus I have included an additional project that uses the technique with one of the new stamps available September 1st.  Live in Color Peacock Feather Stencil And the Sneak Preview (stamp available September 1):   Ready for the video? Ink Blended Stenciled Backgrounds About today's products: Pixie Spray is a light-tack stencil adhesive that will change the way you create with stencils. You can create beautiful, crisp stencil projects without painter's tape. Pixie Spray The 2" x 2" Aladine IZINK Ink Pads are lovely little inks have a beautiful foam pad, and at $2.99 they are priced right, too.  All of the inks are available individually, of course, but if you are a get-it-all kind of person, you might want all 20 of the inks for just $49.99 - 15% off! Aladine IZINK Dye Inks  I blend these inks with Ink Blending Brushes in the video - also new to the TJ Store. They are, by far, the easiest and best way I have ever blended ink. We have the orignal black handled brushes ($24.95), and now we have pretty Rose Gold Handles ($27.95 - 'cause sometimes we just need pretty things!), too! Black Handle Ink Blending Brushes Rose Gold Ink Blending Brushes

I hope you are inkspired by today's issue. See you next week!   Sincerely,   Pat Huntoon Technique Junkies LLC

Sorry, I've been so Prickly

Hello friends!!

Giovana here today using this super fun stamp! 

For this project I used the new "Prickly" stamp.

I used Cactus Green and St. Valentine Stazon Ink to stamp the image on watercolor paper.

Colored the image with watercolors.

Die-cut image using rectangle dies, add image to a scallop orange piece.

Stencil front card using Bubble Stencil.

Embellish with Nuvo drops.

Hope you like it!

You can get this stamp with a 10% discount using my code TJ10Giovana!

Have a wonderful day!

Vintage Floral Collage Thank Yous

I love this gorgeous Vintage Floral Collage Stamp ... it is so lovely and versatile.  Remember, you get 10% off your entire order at the Technique Junkies Store with my discount code TJ10Stephanie.

For the first stamping I used Seedless Preserves and Abandoned Coral Distress Oxide Ink and my MISTI.

Next, I cut it into a 4" circle for this week's Sketch from The Paper Players.

I paired it with coordinating cardstock, a paper flower and the Grunge Thank You Sentiment.  

I had another circle sketch in my feed from Sunday Sketch Challenge, stamped Vintage Floral Collage a second time using Aged Mahogany Distress Ink with some Seedless Preserves.  This time I cut a 3" circle for the sketch.

This time I added a Thank You from Simple Sentiments Style B and finished with some sequins.

I hope you'll look at your background stamps to see how you can highlight sections for some of this week's fun sketch challenges.

Fur Baby

Hello to all, Kia here with you today to share this card using I'll Be Watching You and Fur Baby.

I'll Be Watching You includes another sentiment, but for today I wanted to use Fur Baby, so I masked off the sentiment when stamping in my mini Misti, which I did on white card stock.   

On the card base I did some smooshing using Twisted Citron and Salty Ocean in opposite corners. I wanted a Clean and Simple look, so I wanted to leave white space. As this was done using Neenah card stock I used only one spritz on each puddle to keep the water to a minimum.

I let the card base dry naturally as I find in doing so the card does not distort like it would in using a heat gun.

Using fun foam I attached the dog panel to my card base, then placed the card back in my mini Misti and stamped the sentiment.

 To finish I added a few gumdrops in the blue and greens. 

A simple and easy card to share with you today. 

Thank you for visiting and I will see you next time.

Love and Laughter Floral

Hello stampers!  Today's cards use one stamp called Love and Laughter Floral from Technique Junkies.  As you may know, I do like to make several cards using one stamp, using a different technique, or different colours.  Because I like bright colours I used Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight.  For the card on my left I heat embossed with dark chocolate and my stencil stamp came from A Colourful Life Designs stencil called Garden Gate.

Our new release will be upon us in less than a week, and I'm so excited about this release, so please remember to come back on September 1st for a peak at the new release and big discount on new releases
.
As always, if you want to save 10% on your stamps, simply use my code TJ10Beth (excludes clearance items).

Cheers!

Loving Yourself

Happy Monday!

Stencils, watercolors and gel pens...oh my!

1. I made a stenciled background (Splash from A Colorful Life Designs) on light blue cardstock.

2. I made a watercolor background. Let dry.

3. Using my MISTI, I stamped the Revolution stamp using a black ink.
4. I colored the lips and eye with Kaisercraft Gel Pens.
5. I added a white mat and assembled my card.

Don't forget to add the code TJ10Jeanne for 10% off at Technique Junkies! 

Hope you enjoyed my project!

Prickly Cactus

Ahhhh, it's Sunday!  Time to relax a bit before jumping into the week ahead.  I like to relax with some art and stamping supplies and paper.  

I used PRICKLY, the fun cactus stamp from the August release, for my card today.

For my background, I used a Kaleidacolor multi-color stamp pad, and rolled an acrylic brayer over the pad, then rolled it onto matte-coated paper.  I continued rolling and applying the ink to the paper several times until I reached the desired intensity.  I added some gold ink to the mix for a little pizzazz.

I stamped the image onto the background, and then again onto a piece of scrap white watercolor paper.  I watercolored the cactus using inktense pencils, then fussy-cut it and added it to the card over the stamped image.

If you're inspired to shop at the Technique Junkies store, please be sure to use my code, TJ10Lynda, for a 10% discount on your entire purchase.

I hope you enjoyed my card today.

Blessings,

Dreaming of Wings

Hello Technique Junkies!

It's Ceal here to share a card with you today. 

To create my card I used the Dreaming of Wings, is this not the sweetest stamp! I just love this little girl and she was so fun to color. You can save 10% on this stamp and your entire order from Technique Junkies Stamps by using my code TJ10Ceal at the checkout. 

I stamped the image twice, once on the card panel and then once again on a scrap piece of paper. I colored her using Copic markers and fussy cut her out and placed her on top of the one stamped on the panel. For the background I used the Flowers Gone Wild stencil and the blending brushes.

Better Things

Subtle background, soft colors, and a soulful sentiment equal a great card! This one is a perfect card to send to someone who needs a little boost when things aren't going so great. 

I paired the recently released "Texture Nautilus" background with a great sentiment called "Better Things" to create this inspirational card. Look at how beautiful and subtle the background is. 

 To make that gorgeous background, I stamped the Texture Nautilus using Versamark ink on a white cardstock. I heat embossed the image using a soft green embossing powder. Using the fabulous Ink Blending Brushes, I was able to create the soft blending of colors by brushing ink onto the embossed piece. These brushes make blending ink so incredibly easy. (No more sponge daubers for me! No longer need to have a dauber for every color of ink...just wipe off the brush on a towel in between color changes.)

I trimmed the piece down and matted it with a coordinating blue cardstock, then attached it to a pink A2 card base. The sentiment was stamped in black ink on pink cardstock and mounted with the same blue, then attached using foam tape. I added a few iridescent blue sequins for interest.

I hope you love this card as much as I do and feel inspired to give it a try. Trust me when I say the blending brushes make a world of difference in getting the ink to blend softly together with ease, and at half the price of some of the other brushes on the market, I considered them a steal. There are ten brushes in the set so you can get really detailed with your ink application. No learning curve...just swipe the brush through the ink and brush it onto your project.

Links to the stamps and brushes are provided above. Just click on the name to be taken to the appropriate place on the Technique Junkies site. And if you'd like to save a little on any of those products, simply enter my special code at checkout and you will save a cool 10% on your purchase!

This code never expires, so you can use it whenever you place an order!

Have fun exploring your craftiness!

Til next time,
Keepin' it inky!

Dreams of the Prickly Pear

 Hello to you all, Kia here with you.

I wanted to do something different with this cute Prickly Pear and as I prepared to get my card together I settled on challenging myself by using Copic colouring.

I started with a pale yellow green base and went from there, adding greens, blue greens, a touch of bright yellow and red.  Once I finished the colouring I die cut the piece using a stitched rectangle die.

 I added hints of the sand for the ground cover and stamped the Grain of Sand sentiment in the top right corner and to finish I added drops of Nuvo Crystal drops in various colours.

This was great fun to do and left me smiling when I finished. I hope it does that for you too.
When shopping at Technique Junkies use my code for a 10% discount.

Thank you for visiting, I will see you next time. 

The Rooster and the Hen

The Rooster and The Hen

This is a Z-card. There are lots of directions for this on the internet.  I used The Rooster May Crow and Time to Celebrate as the greeting inside the card. Regular bright background paper added to the card.

The focal image  was painter with watercolors, and the two chickens were were painted over with Nuvo Glitter Gloss Aqua Pens to add a bit of shimmer.

Saving money is always nice.  Save 10% on your total order by using TJ10Judy in the coupon box as you check out!

Sunny and warm days are part of my August days -- and I hope part of your August days as well. Enjoy getting inky!

Sunflower Dreams

Hi Junkies!  It's Holly posting today, and I'm sharing this gorgeous sunflower card with y'all.  I fell in love with this sunflower as soon as I saw it.  I stamped this Framed Sunflower with Pinecone Versafine Clair ink onto some watercolor paper and let it dry.  Then I let loose and had fun watercoloring this with Daniel Smith watercolor paints.  It actually took me a couple of days to finish because I had to stop and let some layers dry before I could add more color.  I added the little sentiment from the Dream, Hope, Wish, Wonder set and popped it up with some dimensional tape.

I know you need this Framed Sunflower stamp, so use this code, TJ10Holly, to save 10% when you shop at Technique Junkies.  Enjoy your week!

Back to School!!

Hello friends!

School is just around the corner, although some kids have already started, many will after Labor Day!

And a good idea is to give your kid a little note, card, tag!

For this project I used "Big Numbers" and  "Back to School Banner".

Stamp Big Number Background on pink cardstock in Versamark Watermark Ink, add clear embossing powder and heat set.

Blend Distress Oxide to make the pink number pop.

Stamp Back to School Number on white cardstock in Black Ink, fussy cut and set aside.

Add Big Numbers panel to white card base with foam tape.

Add a white scallop frame.

Adhere banner.

Add Nuvo drops and clear sequins.

Remember you can get these stamp with a 10% discount using my code:  TJ10Giovana.

Have a wonderful day!