SIP = Stamps Ink Paper A Touch of Ink on Clear Block Watercoloured background

 Hello, and welcome to some simple stamping inspiration.  For this card I only used "A Touch of Ink" free stamp from Sale-a-bration on a clear block, ink, & notecards (for the paper).  SIP Stamp Ink Paper

I chose Note Cards because they are thick heavy weight cardstock and can hold the watered down ink very well.  Stampin' Up!® offers Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper and Shimmery White Card Stock which are both fabulous, and I will do a watercolouring video shortly as I love watercolouring!, but for today I wanted to keep it simple :)    

The awesome stamp set is the free "A Touch of Ink" photopolymer stamp set available until Feb 28, 2021.  It is a 2 step stamp, the images are intended to be just a tad offset, to give an "artistic" feel, and they are so forgiving, forget needing to line everything up perfectly, they are easy to use and spectacular.

I chose Balmy Blue Ink for the background, Granny Apple Green for the leaves and Melon Mambo for the flower.  The Hummingbird is Bermuda Bay with a touch of Gorgeous Grape, and Granny Apple Green. 

  

So, onto the how to's:

1.  I chose to use Clear Block E, because I wanted to make notecards,  'E' was the closest to the size of the notecard.  You could use size D and make a smaller square background, perfect size for the butterfly in this set.  (You can always use watercolour paper and shimmery card stock, then add to a traditional size card with layers)

2.  Lightly press your stamp pad to the block and spritz with water, to pool and water down the ink. I used our Stampin' Spritzers because I love the fine mist they provide, but you could literally drop water from your finger tips to get the desired pooling.  Ensure you don't add too much water as this will cause the paper fibers to bend and curl too much. 

3.  Apply the block to the paper and let the ink seep in and move.  Let your paper dry for a bit before the next step.  This doesn't take long, it gives you time to make a few more backgrounds, 'cause once you start you may not want to stop ;)

4.  When the card is dry, ink up the other stamps and create your desired design.  Because this is a two step stamp, I chose to play with the colour a bit and sometimes I stamped off to create a lighter outline and then filled in with the second stamp at full strength, whatever you like, play & practice on scrap paper, and see what you like.  I chose to spritz the hummingbird from an arms length away, because I wanted the colours to run together a bit, so they looked more natural on the hummingbird.  Be careful, a little water goes a long way here ;)  

I hope I've inspired you to create this simple watercoloured design using SIP (stamps ink & paper).    As you can see, each card is unique, relative to the amount of ink and water on the paper. The Stampin' Up!® home office has created a video using the same technique, but with markers on the block instead of ink pads.  But as I said, today it was just SIP for me.  Enjoy, and have a super day! 

Please find me on Facebook Lesley's StampinTrix  &  Instagram lesleystampintrix   Visit my Stampin' Up!® store Lesley Seabrook  or Email lesley@stampintrix.ca  

Stampin' Up!® technique video: https://youtu.be/rWTGzM9YcIQ