Simple Ink Swiping Technique For Quick Backgrounds

By Katy Ingram

Hello friends, Katy here and in today’s video tutorial, I’m going to show you how to make a quick background using Memento inks and Sheer Shimmer Spray. Todays project is for Mother’s Day, but it can lend itself to Many different sentiments. Listed below are products I used in todays video including some Affiliate links at no additional cost to you. l thank you for using those links and supporting my work.

Skill: Beginner
Time: 20 minutes

Art Supplies

Imagine

• VersaFine Clair Ink Pad – Nocturne
• Sheer Shimmer Spray – Sparkle

Other

  • Simon Says Stamp – Devine Peony- Die
  • Hammermill – 100 lb cardstock
  • Linen Pearl Cardstock
  • Black 100 lb Cardstock
  • 1/2 inch double sided adhesive
  • 6 inch double sided adhesive
  • The Greetery Stamp Set – To Mom With Love
  • The Greetery Die Set – To Mom With Love

Mother’s Day Card Using Stencils

By Ceil Pritchett

Hello crafty friends!
It’s Ceal, here. Today I will show you how to create a Mother’s Day card with you that uses several layers of stenciling, some stamping and then die cut out.  This card can also be used for other occasions because the “Happy Mother’s Day” greeting is on the inside.

Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Time: 45 mins to an hour

Directions:

Gather your supplies. You will need cardstock, a layering stencil (Pinkfresh Studio used here) Coordinating Dies, several colors of ink (listed below) and a sentiment stamp set (Taylored Expressions used here).

Step 1:
Lay stencil one over a piece of cardstock cut to 5.5 x 8.5 and blend VersaFine Clair Verdant ink over it. Remove and clean stencil.

A little tip for you, I place mine in the corner of the Misti so I will be placing all of them in the same place. This set also has alignment guides which are triangles, be sure to add ink to them.

Step 2:
Lay stencil 2 over the cardstock, lining up the triangle placement guides and blend VersaFine Clair Grass Green over it. Remover stencil and clean it.

Step 3:
Lay stencil 3 over the cardstock, lining up the triangles and blend VersaFine Clair Spruce over it. Remove stencil and clean it.

Step 4:
This step starts the flowers. Lay stencil 4 over the cardstock and blend VersaFine Clair Baby Pink over the open flowers. This photo shows the triangles that are used to align the stencils. Remove stencil and clean it.

Step 5:
Lay stencil 5 over the cardstock, lining up the triangles and blend VersaFine Clair Charming pink over open spaces on the pink flowers and VersaFine Clair Lilac Bloom over the other open spaces. Remove and clean the stencil.

**I forgot to take a photo of the Lilac Bloom, but you can see it below.

Step 6:
Lay Stencil 6 over the cardstock and blend VersaFine Clair Cheerful and VersaFine Clair Summertime inks over the open flowers. Remove and clean the stencil.

Step 7:
Lay stencil 7 over the cardstock and blend VersaFine Clair Charming Pink in the open spaces. Remove and clean the stencil.

This photo is showing the alignment triangles I have been referring to. For the next step you will need to know where they are.

Step 8:
Lay the coordinating die over the flowers lining up the triangles as pictured above. Tape it down so it doesn’t move and run it through the die cutting machine.  This also adds the texture to the flowers.

Step 9:
Cut a piece of kraft cardstock to A2 size 4.25 x 5.5.  Ink up a script stamp with VersaColor White and lay the kraft panel over the ink and rub across with your hand.

Step 10:
Stamp the sentiment and cut it out multiple times for dimension.
Adhere the kraft panel to an A2 white card base. Add the floral panel and then the sentiment. Also stamp a sentiment on the inside.

Supply list:

Imagine Products:

VersaFine Clair:

• VersaFine Clair: Nocturne
• VersaFine Clair: Baby Pink
• VersaFine Clair: Charming Pink
• VersaFine Clair: Summertime
• VersaFine Clair: Cheerful
• VersaFine Clair: Verdant
• VersaFine Clair: Grass Green
• VersaFine Clair: Spruce
• VersaFine Clair: Lilac Bloom
• VersaColor: White
• On Point Glue

Other Supplies:

• White Cardstock: Concord & 9th
• Wheat cardstock: Concord & 9th
• Floral Field Stencils: Pinkfresh Studio
• Floral Field Die: Pinkfresh Studio
• Hello Lovely stamp set: Taylored Expressions
• Hello Lovely Dies: Taylored Expressions
• Script Stamp: Hero Arts
• Penned Pretty stamp set.
• Misti: My Sweet Petunia
• Grip Mat: Waffle Flower

Painting with VersaFine Clair Inks | Mother’s Day Card

By Tracy Fear

Hello Friends! Tracy here and today I am excited to share this beautiful card for Mother’s Day “painted” with VersaFine Clair Inks!

In today’s video tutorial I am sharing how I use VersaFine Clair inks on watercolor paper with stamping and ink painting showing how to take your ink use to next level then we enhance our flowers with a little bit of shaping!

Skill: Intermediate, Advanced
Time: 1 hour

Art Supplies

Imagine:

VersaFine Clair
https://www.imaginecrafts.com/versafine-clair

VersaFine Clair – Baby Pink 
VersaFine Clair – Charming Pink
VersaFine Clair – Chianti
VersaFine Clair – Summertime
VersaFine Clair – Fallen Leaves
VersaFine Clair – Spruce
VersaFine – Green Oasis
VersaFine Clair – Grass Green

Other Products Used:
Stamps – Simon Hurley Heartfelt Blooms
Mini Misti stamping Platform
Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper
Variety of small brushes
Brutus Monroe | Flat Back Crystals – Violet Crystal
Black .01 Micron Pen
White card stock for card base
Eggplant Cardstock embossed with embossing folder from my stash
Sizzix Making Tool – Paper Sculpting Kit
Brutus Monroe – Alabaster Embossing Powder
Nuvo Glitter Gloss Brush

Create an Easter Card using VersaFine Clair Ink Pads

By Jessica Lin

Skill: Medium
Time: 30 minutes

Hi everyone! It’s Jessica here. Today I want to share an Easter card with a soft and romantic color palette. This color scheme turned out so well, and I think it would be perfect for a birthday or Valentine’s card! If you are interested in the colors I used, just keep reading!

Step 1:
Die cut the largest two shapes from Spellbinder’s Nestabilities Floral Oval die set. For the largest oval, I used Stampin’ Up!’s Bubble Bath cardstock. For the second largest oval, I used vellum.

Step 2:
For some added dimension, ink blend VersaFine Clair Baby Pink ink around the edges of the largest die cut. I recently bought the photopolymer sticky mat from Altenew and it’s a great tool for ink blending. It grips the die cut (or stencil) firmly so you don’t have to worry about anything shifting during ink blending.

Step 3:
Stamp the focal image with VersaFine Clair Baby Pink ink. This is an old wooden stamp from K-Kingdom that I got back in the days before I discovered photopolymer stamps. The dainty floral frame with the lacey details is what inspired the theme for this card. The VersaFine Clair ink is also great for showcasing the fine, wood-grain details on the rabbit.

The stamped image looks a bit dark when freshly stamped. It will turn into a softer, pastel pink that you see in the cover photo.

Step 4:
I decided to add some shadows behind the vellum die cut layer with VersaFine Clair Hawthorn Rose. Baby Pink and Hawthorn Rose compliment each other so well. I think they might be my favorite new color combo!

Step 5:
Apply a generous coat of Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray onto the ink blended die cut. I wish the camera could capture the shimmery effects of this spray; it is mesmerizing and the sparkle never dulls!

Step 6:
For the card base, I chose Stampin’ Up!’s Fresh Freesia cardstock and embossed it with Distressed Tile embossing folder. It adds the perfect touch to this shabby-chic look.

Step 7:
Finally, stamp the sentiment with VersaFine Clair Hawthorn Rose ink and fussy cut the sentiment. I fussy cut the rabbit image as well since there were no coordinating dies for wooden stamps.

Step 8:
After some quick assembling with Tear-It Tape and foam tape, the card is completed! I love how this card turned out, and I hope you enjoyed it, too. Thanks for stopping by!

Imagine Supplies:

Other Supplies:

  • Spellbinders – Dies – Nestabilities Floral Oval
  • Stampin’ Up! – Cardstock – Bubble Bath, Fresh Freesia, Whisper White
  • Stampin’ Up! – Embossing Folder – Distressed Tile
  • K-Kingdom – Wooden Stamp – Woodgrain Rabbit
  • Stampin’ Up! – Sentiment Stamp – Fable Friends
  • Foam Tape

Create Ink Swatches for New VersaFine Clair Inks 

By Jessica Lin

Skill: Beginner 
Time: 30 minutes 

Hi everyone, it’s Jessica here. I am loving the new VersaFine Clair inks and I hope you are enjoying the creations from the Imagine team! Today I decided to create new ink swatches so I can have a quick on-hand reference for the colors. 

Step 1:
Print the labels onto your go-to white cardstock. For me, that is Neenah Solar White Cover in 80lbs. I used Word to create the labels template and it takes a bit of trial and error to align everything perfectly. I found that checking the “show grid lines” box was helpful during the process. 

Step 2:
Trim the labels to 2 x 2’’ squares. I used a standard 8.5 x 11’’ cardstock to print so each page equals to 20 labels at the end. 

Step 3:
Then stamp each label with the corresponding ink pad. I used a stamp positioning tool but it is completely optional. As for the stamp used for ink swatching, I would recommend an image that is solid so that there is enough area to truly showcase the ink color. I like to pick something that also has some fine lines; some inks have great coverage but are not the best at showing fine details. I recently bought a coffee-themed stamp set called Latte Love from Stampin’ Up!, and this coffee swirl stamp is perfect. 

Below are all the new VersaFine Clair colors. As you can see, they are great inks that offer great ink coverage and retain super-fine details of the stamps. I double stamped most of them as I 

typically double stamp my images when I am creating. I tried to minimize the amount of editing on these images so the colors are kept as true as possible. Hopefully they can provide a visual for you as well if you are interested in these inks. 

I hope today’s tutorial inspires you to create new ink swatches! They are handy tools and the ink swatching process is so cathartic. I can’t wait to create more projects with these inks! 

Imagine Supplies: 

● VersaFine Clair -Baby Pink, Hawthorn Rose, Lilac Bloom, Arctic, Bali Blue, Very Peri, Grass Green, Avocado, Spruce, Sand Dune, Portobello, Strawberry 
● StazOn Cleaner 
● Craft Mat 

Other Supplies: 

● Stampin’ Up! – Stamps – Latte Love 
● Paper Trimmer 
● Neenah Solar White Cardstock 

Let’s Make a Bokeh Birthday Card

By Helen Gullett

Hello crafty friends! Creating backgrounds is always fun, especially when you like something different for your cards. One of my favorite backgrounds is bokeh. There are a couple ways to create bokeh backgrounds but today we are going to do some stamping with any sizes of circle stamps you have in stash.

Let’s get crafting!

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 15-20 minutes

Direction:

Step 1
Cut out a piece of 8.5 inch x 11 inch white cardstock into 4 panels of 4.25 inch x 5.5 inch.

Add each color of VersaColor inks (Cardinal and Canary) to the cardstock with sponge daubers.

Blend in the colors as you add it to the cardstock to create the third shade.

Dry the inks with a craft heat gun.

Step 2
Stamp the circles starting with the largest size and then smaller size with a Memento Luxe Wedding Dress ink pad. Repeat the stamping until you like the look of your bokeh background. Make sure some circles overlap each other to create the shadow effect.

When stamping, you might notice the lines on the edges of circles, use a small blending brush or sponge dauber to blend in the white ink around to smoothen the lines.

Dry again the whole background panel with a craft heat gun.

Step 3
Cut the background panel with one of the rectangle dies.

Add the background panel to the card base (A2 size card) with On Point Glue. Add a couple of acrylic blocks on top of it to hold it down while the glue is drying.

Step 4
Cut out 2-3 white cardstocks with the sentiment panel.

Stack the cutouts together with On Point Glue to create a chipboard sentiment panel (thicker die cut).

Step 5
Dab the VersaMark ink all over the sentiment panel, make sure it covers the whole panel.

Add some of the MBoss Sparkle embossing powder (retired) on it and heat it up with a craft heat gun. You will have a sparkly sentiment chipboard!

Add the sentiment on the card with the On Point Glue. Add some acrylic blocks (or anything heavy) on the sentiment to hold it down while the glue is drying.

Isn’t it a fun card making technique to do? You can create with any color inks, or you can even do colorful bokeh and not only white. Give it a try and have fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by our blog today.

Craft Supplies

Imagine:

Others:

  • Rectangle Framelits Die (Dare 2B Artzy)
  • Slim Mini Birthday Die (Dare 2B Artzy)
  • Neenah Solar White Cardstock 80 lb
  • Mini blending brush
  • Acrylic stamping blocks
  • Paper trimmer
  • Bone Folder
  • Die Cutting Machine