See How to Create a Journal Cover with Walnut Crystals

Posted on February 3, 2019 by Imagine

by Iris Rodriguez

“Bloom where you are planted” is a phrase that means to make the best of our situation…a theme for my art journal page this month. For this journal page, I used Imagine’s Walnut Ink Crystals, which I find to be absolutely fabulous. Use them to create mottled, scumbled, drippy, sprinkly, watercolored painterly effects. Use this effect as a background or paint images with these effects. It plays well with other inks.

Skill: Advanced
Time: 1.5 Hours

Directions

Step 1

Begin by stamping and embossing with Imagine’s white embossing powder. I was going for a theme of rulers and flowers, denoting growing and blooming.

Step 2

Spray the paper with a little water in random areas. Sprinkle the Walnut Ink Crystals, they look like coffee grinds. Spray more water in random areas, to allow the crystals to dissolve more than others. To color in sections, use a paintbrush to color.

Step 3

Techniques for varying the look of the Walnut Ink Crystals. Leave crystals as is, spray more water on some areas, for a watercolored look-paint with a brush, hold the paper up and spray water on the top of the paper and allow the ink to drip down. Allow the paper to completely dry.

Step 4

Add a different, but contrasting color. Place a few drops of Tropical Lagoon All-Purpose Ink on your surface, spray a little water into the ink. Brush the ink in random areas. Spray water and allow the ink to drip. Allow the paper to completely dry.

Step 5

Touch up areas with the walnut ink with a brush. Dissolve a few crystals completely in water to make a solid ink solution. I like to scumble ink in areas, making it look, a little like soil. Allow the paper to completely dry.

Step 6

Using white acrylic paint and Imagine’s Jumbo Dauber, stencil in flowers in random sections. Wash the dauber right away. Allow the paint to dry completely.

Step 7

Place the stencils over the same flowers that were just stenciled with the acrylic paint and color in the flowers by inking with pad directly or using InkBlushers.

Step 8

Vary the look by blending several color inks. Color the flower’s outline with a white Posca pen. Add a sentiment and you’re done.

Supplies

Imagine

Craft Mat
Walnut Ink Crystals
VersaMagic DewDrop ink pad – Red Magic, Mango Madness
StazOn ink pad – Jet Black
Brilliance Full-Size ink pad – Pearlescent Coral, Crimson Copper
VersaMark
Embossing Powder – White
Jumbo daubers

Other

Watercolor paper 9 x 12 inches
Carabelle Studio – Steampunk Metre stamp
Flower stencils
White acrylic paint
Posca pen-white (fine)

Use Rose Gold Ink to Color a Beautiful Floral Pattern

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Imagine

by Martha Lucia Gomez

Hello dear friends! Today, I have a very special card that I made just using the new All-Purpose Ink in Rose Gold from Tsukineko. All-Purpose ink comes in a variety of colors including metallics which is perfect for this project. Rose Gold is a trending color and can easily use it in all my creations and thanks to Imagine we have many options to use. Take a look at my card:

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes

Directions

Step 1

To create my card, I used whisper white card stock, embossing powder and VersaMark ink. I stamped the flowers over whisper white card stock too using VersaMark and White Embossing Powder. I melted the powder with the heat tool and then started my painted or coloring process with All-Purpose Ink Rose Gold.

Step 2

To color the flowers I used a paintbrush but you can also use Fantastix to have the same result. I cut my card in regular size but after finish it, I changed my mind and decided to reduce the width of the card and show off some of the flowers that I used. After coloring the flowers and leaves, I cut all of them with my scissors and arranged them on the left side of the card. During this process, I changed my mind on how I used some parts of the flowers on the left side.

Step 3

To have the card on normal size, I just cut the right side border about 3/4″ of an inch. I pasted all the flowers with double-sided foam tape and added white sequins with On Point Glue. To finalize the card, I stamped with Memento Paris Dusk a Spanish sentiment from the stamp set Vive Ama Sueña from Latina Crafter. Simple, easy and beautiful!

Supplies

Imagine

Other

Whisper White Card Stock
Sequins
Double Sided Foam Tape
Even More Spring Flowers Stamp Set from Simon Says
Misti Stamping Tool
Scissors
Paintbrush

Color of the Month for February is Coral

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Imagine

The Color of the Month for February is Coral. We see coral as a beautiful pink-orange that can have a hue range from vibrant colors found in Radiant Neon product line with the full-size Electric Coral inkpad, Amplify Texture in Electric Coral to softer colors like Fabrico markers such as Apricot, Brilliance Pearlescent Coral, and VersaColor Seashell. These colors are a great addition to your crafting ink collection.

Here is a sneak peek of the projects for February

Coral Beads by Kyriakos Pachadiroglou

Matching Coral Cards by Kassy Tousignant

Coral Stenciled Card by Elina Stromberg

See How To Use The Imagine Craft Mat To Print

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Imagine

by Lindsay Adreon

The Craft Mat from Imagine is unlike any other mat I’ve tried! Not only is it a great surface to stamp, ink blend, and work on, it is also a great tool with some really fun techniques! I had such a fun time printing with the Craft Mat and can’t wait to keep trying new color combinations and shapes to make more fun backgrounds!!

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes

Directions

Supplies

Imagine

• Imagine Craft Mat
• VersaFine Clair Ink Pad – Warm Breeze, Blue Belle, Twilight
• Daubers
• IrRESISTible Pico Embellishment – Summer Sky
• VersaMark Ink Pad
• StazOn Stamp Cleaner Dauber Top
• On Point Glue
• White Embossing Powder

Other

• Brayer
• Die Cutting Machine
• Tonic Studios – Mixed Rectangle dies
• Craftin Desert Divas – Flag Banner metal dies, Sending Die, Wishful Thoughts Stamp Set
• Ellen Hutson – Home and Hearth metal die
• Wow! Embossing Powder – Silver Glitter
• Scrapbook.com – 6×6 Adhesive Sheets

With Love Is The Sentiment Today

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Imagine

by Jowilna Nolte

Make your colors pop and become more vibrant by using layers of ink on top of each other and add a magical spray of Ink Potion to it. A quick resist effect and stenciling adds to this fun love inspired Valentine’s Day card in shades of red.

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes

Directions

Step 1

Adhere a stencil (brick design) to a piece of white cardstock. Use Sweet Plum and Love Letter Memento Luxe ink pads and blend color through the stencil.

Step 2

Leave the stencil in place for this step. Use an ink blusher and a small amount of gloss texture paste and swipe it over the stencil. Using a small amount at a time will prevent the paste from seeping underneath the stencil. Carefully remove the stencil and leave to dry. Wash your stencil immediately.

Step 3

Trim your stenciled panel smaller to fit onto the front of a card. Use a heart stencil and modeling paste to add a stenciled design to your background. Leave the paste to dry.

Step 4

Once the paste is dry, spray Lady Bug Fireworks over the right side of the panel to add color. Mist the entire panel with Ink Potion no.9 and see how all the colors pop. The resist from the glossy paste leaves the design clear only letting the ink sit inside the open spaces adding more color in selected areas.

Step 5

Use VersaFine Clair Glamorous and stamp onto white cardstock using a background design. Die-cut small and large hearts out of the stamped piece.

Step 6

Ink the panel around the edges using Memento Rich Cocoa to highlight the color even more. Adhere the hearts using foam tape for dimension. Emboss a sentiment and adhere to the large heart. Add ink splats in red, white, brown and black. Finish off your card with diamante.

Supplies

Imagine

Craft Mat
On Point Glue
VersaFine Clair – Glamorous
Memento Dew Drop – Rich Cocoa
Fireworks! Shimmery Craft Spray – Lady Bug
Ink Potion No. 9
Memento Luxe – Love Letter, Sweet Plum
InkBlushers
Palette Knives

Other

Modeling Paste
Heart Stencil
Brick stencil
Kaisercraft – Sentiment
Heart die-cuts
Carabelle Studio – background stamp
Watercolor paint
Palette knife
Heat gun
Anna Griffin – Glossy Paste
Foam tape

How To Create A Beautiful Embossed And Watercolor Thank You Card

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Imagine

by Elina Stromberg

Our lovely color of the month is ‘Passion Red’. What a perfect choice for a bright blooming flower card! I wanted to create a soft water-color painted look on my card, and all I needed was my water-soluble Memento and VersaMagic stamping inks and my Craft Mat as my palette.

Tsukineko ink pads come in several beautiful red colors, so I chose a few of my favorite reds and used them both for coloring the card background and for painting the beautiful Penny Black flower image. The trick was to stamp the main image twice and to layer the fuzzy-cut image on top of the stamped background; by using this technique the main image on the finished card has a beautiful, crispy edge, and while painting you don’t need to worry about the wet color running over the stamped lines!

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 1.5 hours

Directions

Step 1

Stamp flower image with VersaFine ink on white watercolor or mixed media paper. Apply ‘Red Magic’ VersaMagic ink on the Craft Mat. Using a hint of water pick up the rich, creamy color with a brush and color the background. Apply more red pigment on the bottom, and mix the color with water to create a lighter color for the top of the card. Do not mind painting over the stamped image; it will be covered with a second image layer later. Let air dry or dry with a heat gun.

Step 2

Add texture to the painted background. Stamp random patterns here and there using red ‘Lady Bug’ Memento color. Keep the stamp in your hand (do not attach to an acrylic stamping block) and bend it while stamping.

Step 3

Re-stamp the main flower image on another sheet of white mixed media paper. Color the image using a water brush and a few hues of red ink. I used Memento ‘Lady Bug’, bit darker red ‘Rhubarb Stalk’, dark purple ‘Sweet Plum’, and VersaMagic ‘Red Magic’ for coloring the background. Use the Craft Mat as your palette and apply more ink if needed. Once dry, cut out the image.

Step 4

Glue the fussy cut image on the background. Trim the background to size.

Step 5

Color the letters for the sentiment word. Press each chipboard letter on clear VersaMark ink. Pick up the letter with a tweezer, dab into copper embossing powder, and heat-set the powder by heating the chipboard on the Craft Mat. Glue letters on a strip of vellum. Fold ends of the vellum strips on the card background and secure them with double-sided tape. This will keep the strip in place; there’s no need to glue it on the card front.