Ink Layering Technique

This is the second blog hop for 2016 and in case you missed our January debut, well click HERE to catch up with it. I decided to give you a little intro each month about the technique we will be using and a tiny little sneak peek of my projects. You will find these intro's Thursday's on my blog, just before we launch the new hop on the following Saturday....so let's get started:

This month we are working with a technique called "Ink Layering". Ink layering simply means to place one ink on top of another ink. Sounds easy, right? Well it is, if you remember a few basic color and ink rules.

There are many inks on the market and I am sure we all have different ones at home. If you like to learn more about the differences in ink product, check out my "Ink Tab" above.

The easiest way to archive a layering effect with your inks is to pick a lighter and a darker shade of one color. Stamp the lighter color first and add the darker color on top or slightly offset. This works great with background stamps or if you have a two/three step stamp. I used my Close to My Heart inks for this technique, which are water-based inks.

Using a white pigment ink (this is a really thick ink that takes a long time to dry) can give you an even more interesting result. Use a stamp or stencil and apply your white ink to your cardstock. Let it dry (best over night)! In case you used a stencil (like I did in the last picture with the circles and the speckled one on the left here), place your stencil back on the paper once the white ink is dry and slight it just a bit to the site and up or down. Fasten and start applying a new color to it. When you go over the white parts, be careful to daub it on then rub lightly. Great are also geometric stamps, e.g. striped stamp. You can create your own checkerboard or paid designs with them.

You can choose pretty much every color you like but the rule is, stamp the lighter color first then start building up the next hue. You can always darken your images, but you can't really lighten them back up again.
Also remember, when you stamp certain color combinations you might end up with a third color, e.g. yellow and blue will create a green image where they overlap; blue and red will give you a violet hue and white will usually turn you colors into a more pastel hue.

Sometimes it is the best to use a couple of scrap pieces and just practice. Use your stencils and stamps and have fun. I used all the sneak peek you see her and added more colors to them before I turned them into cards (see picture on the left). A few sampled did make it to the final since I was practicing and either the colors or the technique didn't turn out....nobody's perfect :-) 

Well, I hope I could explain this technique a little bit to you. Leave a comment beneath and let me know if this was helpful or if you have other question. Otherwise I hope you got inspired...get our inks out and have fun playing around with them! Sent me a picture of your creations....

Stay tuned for Saturday's "BlogHop" - Ink Layering Technique...