Hey Girlfriend, Mixing Inks Is Fun

While Stampin’ Up! is retiring the Stampin’ Sponges and Sponge Brayers, there are still options for using and mixing ink types. One of my favourites is using the Classic Stampin’ inks to create a soft background, while using Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers for some bright contrast. So for today’s quick bookmark project featuring the Hey Girlfriend Stamp Set I did just that.

HEY GIRLFRIEND

I began by cutting a 2″ x 5-1/2″ strip of Thick Whisper White Card for my bookmark base. Then I shaped the top and added the ribbon slot in one go using the Fancy Tag Topper Punch.

Next, from the Hey Girlfriend Stamp Set I chose the girl with the pony tail. Using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped the image towards the bottom of the bookmark. Then towards the top I stamped the sentiment “You’re a tough act to follow”.

With the stamping complete I set to work colouring in the image with Stampin’ Blends. First I coloured her eyes and all her hair with the light Cinnamon Cider marker. Then I turned to the Poppy Parade markers and coloured her dress and shoes.

Next I used the dark Cinnamon Cider marker to add additional colour to her hair but leaving some lighter areas showing through. I also used the same marker to colour the bag and the centre of the flower on her dress.

The leggings came next in light Basic Black, followed by the bow and flower in retiring Mango Melody.

Finally I coloured all her skin in Ivory. To add shadows I went back over some areas, especially around the hairline, using the same Ivory marker.

FINAL TOUCHES

Now the main image was complete I turned to my Blending Brushes to add a light touch of ink to the background. Sometimes I will stamp and cut a mask from a Full-Adhesive Post-It® Note but today I was feeling lazy. So instead I decided to simply hold some scrap paper against parts of the edge of the stamped image as I worked close to it.

So using the Blending Brushes I first added Balmy Blue ink over the bulk of the background. Then for the ground I used Crumb Cake ink.

Finally I decided that I wanted red twine for the top of the bookmark, but I don’t have any. So instead I cut four 6″ pieces of Whisper White twine from the Snail Mail Twine Combo Pack. Then using the brush tip of the dark Poppy Parade Stampin’ Blends I coloured over each piece of twine. After leaving the twine to dry for a few minutes I folded the pieces in half. Then I threaded the loops through the hole in the bookmark, and passed the ends of the twine through the loops to secure it all in place. And with that my Hey Girlfriend bookmark was finished.

I love how this project turned out. I find colouring really relaxing, and on smaller projects like this I can experiment with colour combinations too. What’s your favourite way to add colour to a project?

For more projects using the Hey Girlfriend Stamp Set see these earlier blog posts:

PRODUCT LIST

BLENDING BRUSHES AVAILABILITY – These are currently ‘not orderable’ as Stampin’ Up! have been waiting for a delivery of new stock. The schedule shows this is expected sometime during the week beginning April 19 (next week). Once supplies have been received customers will once again be able to place orders for this very popular product.

RETIRING PRODUCT – The Mango Melody Stampin’ Blends are being retired and now on sale at 10% off. Also retiring are the Stampin’ Sponges and Sponge Brayers I mentioned at the beginning and these are now 20% off. All retiring products are only available while stocks last.