Today’s the day! At 4pm Atlantic Time Stampin’ Up! will reveal the list of products being retired from the 2020/2021 Annual Catalogue. Anything on that list will then only be available while stocks last. Traditionally retiring InColor products will be the first to go. They’re rarely, if ever, reduced in price, but even so some years InColor inks and card has sold out within hours. So if you already have the retiring InColor ink pads make sure you have an ink refill for each one. If you’re planning to buy the pads please order the refill at the same time. Remember, once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.

Of course reinking the ink pad isn’t the only reason I like to have an ink refill in every Stampin’ Up! colour. They’re great for painting or adding to rubbing alcohol and spritzing onto card. Today’s project is another idea, straight from the bottle so to speak.

INK REFILL BACKGROUND

This project actually started when I saw a colour combination I liked but wasn’t sure how to use it. So instead of playing with the colours using card I picked up ink refills instead.

I often experiment on tags and bookmarks as it allows me to try out ideas without wasting a lot of product. For this tag I began with a 2-1/4″ x 3-1/2″ piece of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper and using the Detailed Trio Punch I added an oval hole in the centre at one end. Then using the corner rounder option on the same punch I shaped the top right and bottom left corners.

With the basic tag made I was ready to create the background. First I wet the whole surface of the tag using the widest of the Water Painters filled with clean water. Next, holding the Bermuda Bay ink refill about 3″ above the paper, I gently squeezed so a single drop fell onto the tag. Then I added a couple more drops spaced over the tag and let it dry. This actually took longer than I expected, but I didn’t want the colours to mix and become muddied so I was happy to wait.

When the watercolour paper was just damp I repeated the process adding drops of Magenta Madness ink to some of the white areas. Once again I left the tag until it was almost dry before filling in the remaining gaps with drops of Gorgeous Grape ink. Finally, to help the colours blend just a little I added a light mist of clean water over the top of the tag using a Stampin’ Spritzer. Then I set the tag aside and left it to dry completely for about 24 hours.

MAGICAL SENTIMENT

While I was waiting for the tag base to dry I was able to get on with the sentiment. I decided to go with something that would suit a number of different occasions; “Wishing you a year of magical moments and wonderful memories” from the Many Messages Stamp Set.

This stamp set is actually one large stamp with 19 different sentiments plus 4 small shapes. So a little while ago I inked up the whole stamp with VersaMark ink and stamped it onto some Thick Whisper White Card. Then I sprinkled the sticky ink with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. After removing some stray specks I melted the remaining powder using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Once the embossing had cooled I cut out all 19 sentiments and four shapes in one go using the coordinating Messages Dies. This was easy to do as by lining up the four small shapes on the stamp with the corresponding shapes on the die, all the sentiments are perfectly placed. Then all I did was store the die-cut sentiments in an envelope inside the stamp case to use later.

When the tag was finally dry I realised that the ink had soaked through the watercolour paper. So I cut a 2″ x 3″ piece of Whisper White Card and used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix it to the back of the tag. Then I threaded some Whisper White twine from the Snail Mail Twine Combo Pack through the hole and tied it in a simple knot.

Finally I attached my sentiment to the bottom of the tag with Stampin’ Dimensionals and my colourful project was complete.

I’m really happy with how this turned out. The colours are bright and cheerful and I definitely want to try this again with different colour combinations.

Do you have any favourite techniques for using ink refills?

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Many Messages Stamp Set and coordinating Messages Die using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This meant that I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included both options below so you can explore these further if you wish.

RETIRING LIST – As soon as the retiring list is published later today I’ll post a link to the Last Chance section of my online store here on my blog. Just remember all retiring products will only be available while stocks last.