Last week I showed you a fun technique for creating your own backgrounds using the ‘ink swipe’ technique. Today I have another quick and easy idea, the ‘ink pad to paper’ technique. As the name suggests the background is made by pressing the ink pad directly onto the paper or card. However unlike the ink swipe technique, this time you use a tapping type of motion. The result that you get depends on how much of the ink pad you allow to touch the paper, and how firmly you press. The result can be seen in today’s birthday gift tag project.

INK PAD STRIPES

I must be honest and say that I started this project with no preconceived ideas where it would end up. Even the strip of Whisper White Card wasn’t planned, it just happened to be something I’d found in my card scraps tin.

My Whisper White Card piece was 1-3/4″ x 3-1/4″. I started by choosing three of the 2020-2022 In Colors: Bumblebee, Cinnamon Cider and Just Jade. Starting at the top I pressed the Just Jade ink pad onto the card strip tilting it so the ink would create a diagonal line. Then I tilted the ink pad the other way and pressed again, and so on.

After three turns with Just Jade I picked up the Bumblebee ink pad and repeated the process four times. Finally I changed to Cinnamon Cider for three more stripes. Then I set the piece aside to dry.

Meanwhile I cut a 2″ x 4-1/4″ piece of Just Jade card for a tag base. I shaped the top using the Fancy Tag Topper Punch and tied some 3/16″ Braided Linen Trim to the top.

You might find it easier to see the ink pad technique in action so I filmed this quick video for you using different colours.

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Once the inked piece was dry I stamped the “happy happy birthday” sentiment from the From All Of Us Stamp Set using VersaMark ink. Next I sprinkled the sticky ink with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. Then after removing a few stray specks I melted the rest with my Heat Tool on 2 (high).

For the streamers on the tag I turned to the Forever Flourishing Dies. I cut one piece from Champagne Foil Sheet and two more from Whisper White Card. Using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I stacked the three streamers on top of each other with the foil one on the top.

To complete the tag I used liquid glue to fix the inked panel to the tag base and then added the streamers.

I love this technique because every time I do it the results are slightly different. I’ll use the pink and purple strip created in the video for another project in the future. I’ve included links to these four ink pads in my product list though, in case you want them.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Forever Flourishing Dies in a bundle with the Forever Fern Stamp Set (not used today). This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore this option.