Thinking Stamping: Ink smooshing

Showing posts with label Ink smooshing. Show all posts

Friday, 3 October 2025

Thankful Garden for AYSI 358

It's time for a new challenge at As You See It. Thanks to everyone who entered in our colour challenge last time round. We had some great entries and I enjoyed seeing the different uses for the same set of colours.

As always, after the colour challenge comes the fill in the blank challenge. This time, inspiration comes from however you complete the sentence. There's many things to love about autumn and it is my favourite season. I love the cool nights followed by crisp days of clear blue sky. I love the abundance of vegetables and fruits to be found at the Farmer's Market and a return of hearty casseroles and delicious pies to the kitchen - along with hot drinks in the evening. However, I'm not completing my sentence with any of those things, since there's something I love even more about autumn.

My favourite thing about autumn is watching the leaves turn from greens to golds and reds. That's what I've tried to show in this card.

I started by ink smooshing some scraps of Fluid 100 Watercolor paper using Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Old Olive and a touch of Cherry Cobbler. Once the paper had dried I cut some leaves using one of the dies from Thankful Garden.

I thought they'd look smart against a dark background, so embossed a piece of Basic Black with the Exposed Brick 3D embossing folder and attached that to a Basic Black card base.

I arranged three stems of leaves and attached them to the card front. I thought a touch of gold would work well, so heat embossed a gold 'thank you' from Perfectly Pears and cut it out using one of the banner dies from Stylish Shapes.

To pick out the gold some more, I used something I seldom use - ribbon. I added in a twist of Gold Mesh ribbon. Bling was difficult to choose. I thought of using Flower Accents but felt they were the wrong gold. After trying out a few other things, I settled on using some Flat Pearls in Darling Duckling. I like how they've picked up the yellows and the golds.

What do YOU love about autumn? Visit the As You See It page to link up your entry and to see the rest of the team's inspirations.

If you live in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the Contact Me tab at the top of the page.

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Wednesday, 13 August 2025

Gallery Blooms for Colour Inkspiration 193

Welcome to the 193rd challenge at Colour INKspiration. This challenge runs for nearly two weeks and will finish on Monday August 25, 7pm AEST.

This colour palette was chosen for us by Crew Member, Vicki Boucher. Isn't this just the most gorgeous, delicate set of colours? I hope you enjoy crafting with it as much as I did!

If you haven't played with us before, we are a group of Stampin' Up Demonstrators from the South Pacific. Challenges are shown and entered via our Facebook Group page. If you don't belong, and would like to, click here. Don't forget to answer the three easy questions you'll be asked when you ask to join the group.

Each challenge, Top Picks and a winner are chosen by the crew and the winner offered a chance to Guest Design with us for a future challenge. We welcome Michelle Pepper as our Guest Designer for this challenge.

If you don't have an exact challenge colour, feel free to replace it with whatever you have that's closest, for example Pool Party for Balmy Blue. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige and metallics are free colours, as are flesh-toned Stampin' Blends.

These colours were so delicate that I knew I wanted to use something with lacy die cuts and probably some water colouring. The dies in Gallery Blooms were just perfect so I started by ink smooshing some Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper with some Balmy Blue and Highland Heather. Once it was dry, I cut several of the lacy agapanthus heads from it and also several maidenhair fern leaves from Cloud Cover. From these beginnings a card was born!

I had a wreath in mind, so cut a hoop using circles from Stylish Shapes to use as a base. I cut a square of Basic White, embossed it with the Damask Delsigns embossing folder, added the wreath and then wondered what was next?!

I toyed with the idea of a square card but instead used a Cloud Cover base and a piece of Cloud Cover DSP from the 2025-2027 In Color Stack. I chose this design because it has an ink smooshed look to it. The card needed something else to make it pop, so I added in a piece of Highland Heather, embossed with the Exposed Brick 3D folder behind the square which also helped to visually elongate the wreath panel.

The next dilemma was the sentiment. What colour to stamp it and what colour to stamp it on? Embossed white on Highland Heather? A Balmy Blue banner? Too many choices. While pondering that, my eye fell upon the narrow piece of the DSP that I'd trimmed off for the card front. Perfect - I used that, stamped with Highland Heather and turned into a banner. The sentiment is from Beautiful Motifs, the companion set to Gallery Blooms.

To finish, I added a trio of Purple Fine Shimmer Gems to pick out the Highland Heather.

You can see what the rest of the Design Team have done with these colours in the Crew Inspiration Album on the Colour INKspiration Challenge Facebook page.

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.

Sunday, 9 March 2025

Going Dotty for Stampin' Fancy Friday

This month, the theme at Stampin' Fancy Friday is Going Dotty! We were challenged to showcase dots in some way.

The team at Stampin' Fancy Friday don't blog hop but we do a daily inspiration post on Instagram. The team at Stampin' Fancy Friday are all current or past members of Stampin' Up!'s Artisan Design Team, so it really is a great place to pick up ideas or recharge your creative mojo.

Follow @stampinfancyfriday if you don't already. 😀

I started with wetting a sheet of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper then smooshing Shaded Spruce, Blueberry Bushel and Balmy Blue onto it. Once it dried, I cut a series of circles from it using the Stylish Shapes dies.

The card base is Blueberry Bushel and the Basic White card front is embossed with the hybrid Seaside Wishes folder, available as part of the Seaside Wishes bundle.

I stamped the fish and seaweed from Beauty of the Deep with Jet Black Stazon onto Fluid 100 Water Color paper. I water-coloured them using a Water Painter and ink in Blueberry Bushel, Crushed Curry and Shaded Spruce. then die cut them out with Beauty of the Deep dies

The sentiment is from Country Birdhouse and cut with a banner from Stylish Shapes.

The trio of embellishments are Tinsel Gems.

So, quite a mix of products in this one but I really like the bubbles of sea that climb the card front.

Don't forget to follow @stampinfancyfriday on Instagram, or Stampin' Fancy Friday on Facebook, for more daily ideas.

You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking here.

Thursday, 18 April 2024

Creativity Abounds Techniques

This month the international team at Creativity Abounds has a great theme for our bundle and hop: Techniques. Who doesn't like to try out a new technique?

All thirteen of us have contributed a project to our Exclusive Tutorial Bundle, which you can earn as a free gift from me with a purchase of $90 or more (excluding P&P) or by being a member of my team.

There's a sneak peek of my project and the whole bundle at the end of this post....

BUT

In addition to the exclusive bundle that you can earn, we also put together a monthly hop on the same theme for added inspiration for you. So if you hop around from this post, you'll see a dozen more techniques to get your mojo flowing.

Because each of us has used the same technique for our hop card and our tutorial card, there's no instructions in the hop this time but if you receive the tutorial package with a purchase, you'll find both PDF instructions AND a video tutorial for the technique.

The technique I'm showcasing is Ink Smooshing. There's a number of ways you can go about this but generally it involves some ink, some water and some sort of squashing with some sort of equipment. I'm sharing with you what I do when I intend to die cut the resulting panel.

Here's my alternative project.

I love the way that this technique, done this way, gives such wonderful blends and transitions of colour.

Here's a sneak peek of the card, using the same technique, that's part of the Creativity Abounds Tutorial Package.

And here's the sneak peek of the whole tutorial package.

If you've enjoyed our Stamp Camps, the next one is mid-June featuring the Country Birdhouse bundle. More details coming soon.

Here's our whole team. If you're interested in the tutorial but don't live in New Zealand, contact one of our team members from where ever you live.

You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand here.

Friday, 12 April 2024

Gorgeous Garden for AYSI 321

Two weeks have flown by and it's time for a new challenge at As You See It. As always, after a sketch challenge comes a colour challenge. Aren't these colours lovely? The rules for a colour challenge are that you must use all the given colours in some way but no other colours except a neutral of your choice.

Usually, my neutral is Basic White. But I've gone a bit rogue on this one and have used Basic Black instead!

I ink smooshed the four colours on a piece of Fluid 100 Watercolor paper. I did arrange them in a loosely ombre fashion, moving from Daffodil Delight, to Bubble Bath, to Flirty Flamingo, to Calypso Coral.

From a piece of Basic Black, I die cut the foliage die from the Gorgeous Garden dies and backed it with the ink smooshed panel.

This lovely pair of dies is available, heavily discounted, in the current Last Chance Sale. If you don't already have them, why not treat yourself?

The sentiment, from Inked & Tiled, is white heat embossed on Basic Black and cut using one of the Everyday Details dies. It's backed with one of the circles from Stylish Shapes cut in Calypso Coral.

For embellishments, I coloured some Basic Rhinestone Jewels with a dark Calypso Coral Stampin' Blend.

Make sure you visit the As You See It page to see what the rest of the Design Team have with this sketch - and to link up your own entry.

You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand here.

If you purchase Gorgeous Garden from me, you will receive as a free gift, a tutorial bundle. This will give you step-by-step instructions for four original projects: two by me and two by UK Demonstrator Joanne James, aka The Crafty Owl.

Other Tutorial Gifts with Purchase from Joanne and Jan are:

Cheerful Daisies bundle
Hooray for Surprises bundle
Gorgeously Made bundle

Simply purchase the bundle and we'll give you the inspiration to get going with it!

Wednesday, 13 December 2023

Season of Chic for Around the World on Wednesday

Welcome to a new hop with the crew at Around the World on Wednesday. On the second Wednesday of each month, the team put together a thematic hop to give you some inspiration for your own crafting. We love it when you try out something new or CAS(E) one of our projects. The team is truly international, with members from each time zone of the world that Stampin' Up! operates. You're with me, in New Zealand - the first place in the Stampin' Up! world to change the date. 😀

This month, we have a technique to share with you. We're all playing around with INK SMOOSHING. I was delighted by this choice as it's one of my favourite techniques. If you've never done it before, or would like a refresher, then watch the video tutorial below. It's such a fun technique and it's one of those ones where you're never quite sure what you're going to get. 😀

I started out by ink smooshing a piece of Fluid100 Water Colour paper then die cutting my snowflakes from it. I love the way that this technique creates such a lovely flow and blend of colours.

The background is embossed with the Distressed Tile 3D embossing folder and I've used silver Festive Pearls to embellish my snowflake wreath.

You can see how I put it all together here.

The next stop on the hop is the fabulous Leonie Stuart from Australia.

You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking here.

You can earn free gifts with your orders:

Any order of $90 will receive the Creativity Abounds Tutorial Bundle, with 13 projects. This month the theme is gift packaging or decoration.

And if you purchase the Joy of Noel bundle, you'll also receive a project bundle from 'Join in with Joanne and Jan' which will give you two project tutorials from me and two from my buddy Joanne James, aka The Crafty Owl.

If you get lost around the hop, here's a list of participants to help you find your way.

Jan Clothier - NZ - You are here

Leonie Stuart - AU

Rochelle Laird-Smith - AU

Danielle Kassing - NL

Aurélie Fabre - FR

Mikaela Titheridge - UK

Product List

Festive & Fun Cling Stamp Set (English)

[162078]

$55.00

Chic Dies

[158815]

$78.00

Stylish Shapes Dies

[159183]

$63.00

Fresh Freesia A4 Cardstock

[155614]

$21.00

Basic White A4 Cardstock

[159228]

$22.25

Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper

[149612]

$19.00

Fresh Freesia Classic Stampin' Pad

[155611]

$19.00

Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad

[147103]

$19.00

Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad

[147105]

$19.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$20.00

Metallics Embossing Powders

[155555]

$38.00

Distressed Tile 3 D Embossing Folder

[162189]

$20.00

Festive Pearls

[159963]

$14.75

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$9.00

Sunday, 3 December 2023

Reach for the Stars for Freshly Made Sketches 614

Although it's technically the start of summer this week, the weather is not cooperating. It's wet and cold, so I'm in my craft room preparing for the end-of-year class party for my card makers. Somehow, I got distracted by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.... don't know how that could possibly have happened! 😁

From the moment I saw the sketch, I saw a solar system of planets and stars. No matter how much I tried to make it be flowers, those planets just wouldn't budge. So I gave up and went with the flow - and I'm really glad that I did.

I ink smooshed a piece of Fluid 100 Water Color paper with Bubble Bath, Fresh Freesia and Coastal Cabana. When it was dry I cut some planets using the Reach for the Stars dies.

I stamped the astronaut in Smoky Slate and coloured her in with Fresh Freesia and Bubble Bath Stampin' Blends, along with some touches from the Coastal Cabana Stampin' Write marker. Even an astronaut needs her bling right, so her faceplate, gloves and boots have a coating of Wink of Stella.

Before I adding the planets, I added in a swoosh of ink splatters in Fresh Freesia and embossed the card front with one of the embossing folders from the Basics 3D embossing folders (Online Exclusive product).

The sentiment was cut using one of the dies from Something Fancy and has a shadow cut from some of the Adhesive Backed Silver Glimmer paper (also an Online Exclusive product).

A few Basic Rhinestone jewels and hey presto, our Glitter Girl Astronaut is done and dusted!

Update: Delighted to be chosen as a Perfect Princess at Freshly Made Sketches!

You can shop with me from anywhere in New Zealand by clicking here.

Free Gifts with Orders

Any order of $90 will receive the Creativity Abounds Tutorial Bundle, with 13 projects based around the September - December Mini Catalogue, as a thank you gift.

And if you purchase the Joy of Noel bundle, you'll also receive a project bundle from 'Join in with Joanne and Jan' which will give you two project tutorials from me and two from my buddy Joanne James, aka The Crafty Owl.