Watercolor Background Effect Using Ink

Watercolor Background Effect Using Ink

make it monday kristie sloan artful adventuresWelcome to another Make It Monday blog hop project! You can check out the list of participants later in this post.

In today’s project, we’ll learn how to create a watercolor background using water soluble dye based ink pads that you may have on hand for stamping. Creating this effect uses very few items.

All we need are:

  • Ink colors
  • Acrylic stamp block
  • Tiny mister for water
  • Card stock or other paper
watercolor ink background tools
Very few items are needed for this technique.

A quick and easy way to apply the ink to your block is to just rub the corner of your ink pad onto the center of the block.

Rub ink into the center of the acrylic block.
Rub ink into the center of the acrylic block.

Mist the ink with your sprayer and let it mingle for a moment before applying it to your paper. I just used a piece of card stock for this project, but you could certainly use watercolor or a mixed media paper. If using card stock, make sure to not over saturate your paper with water. Wipe the block off between colors, or even between applications. Baby wipes are a great item to have in your craft room! Continue to randomly stamp the colors until you are happy with the results. Don’t worry about leaving white spaces, they can work well into your finished piece.

Stamp the ink from the acrylic block randomly on the paper, changing colors as desired
Stamp the ink from the acrylic block randomly on the paper, changing colors as desired.

Now you have a background piece to use as you wish. I cut a piece to use as a card front, however you can use this technique in selected spots on a scrapbook page background for a nice artsy feel. Since the background has so much going on, I wanted to just create a simple card by only using black to stamp any designs or greetings. Here is the finished card, using a black card base (with white liner), backed  with a piece of CTMH Thistle card stock.

Design and greeting stamped in black
Design and greeting stamped in black.

For a finishing touch, I added a rhinestone for the head of the butterfly on the right.

I’m happy with the way the card turned out, and I have enough paper to use for another card. These are not colors I would normally use, but I’m glad I gave them a try!

Be sure to visit the next stop on the Make It Monday hop, Jen Wright. She’s got some ideas for a scrapbook template and a challenge. Here is the whole list this week:

Connie Hanks: Layers on scrapbook layouts

      You’re Here — Kristie Sloan: Watercolor Effects Using Ink

Jen Wright: Scrapbook template ideas and challenge

Alice Boll: Capture the beauty of fall on a ‘WonderFALL’ scrapbook layout

Gina Zee: Make a school themed tag from a cereal box

 

Until our next Artful Adventure,

KS

 

 

Here are some handy links to some of the products in this project. When you use these links to purchase these items, I receive a commission. Yes, shameless promotion!