AECP Easy Ink Blending / Sun & Moon

Sun & Moon, Happiness & Longing, Yin & Yang — opposites do make the world go round. This was the inspiration for my project. The Altenew Academy class Easy Ink Blending by Amy Lee taught me the basics of ink blending and it was this class that the idea of using a mask to ink blend came to me. But I wanted to do something a little different. I took some post-it tape (masking paper would also work) and “tore” it trying to keep it in a “straight” line. The more imperfect the tear, the better.

I then placed my torn mask on white cardstock starting with the lightest color on top. Then after ink blending with the lightest shade, I moved the mask down a little to ink blend the next darkest shade. For my “Day” or “Sun” card, I used the following Altenew inks: Fresh Lemon, Citrus Burst, Sunkissed, Autumn Blaze & Firebrick.

Then after I finished ink blending, I used the Mega Alphabet ‘S’ die to cut out the ‘S’ to represent the Sun and to echo the sentiment I was going to use.

I trimmed the ink blended background to 4″X5.25″. I used liquid adhesive and mounted the ink blended background onto a white 4.25″X5.5″ card base. For the ‘S’, I cut 4 more esses from orange cardstock and glued them together at the back for more dimension. I then pasted it on top of the die cut ‘S’ for an “eclipse” effect.

For the sentiment, I used the “Sending Sunshine & Smiles” from the Altenew Totally Tropical stamp set, white heat embossed it on matching orange card stock and mounted it with foam tape on the card.

For my “Night” or “Moon” card, I used the same technique by tearing some post – it tape but this time I placed it at an angle onto a Hero Hues Nautical cardstock. My inspiration for this was the Aurora Borealis or more commonly known as The Northern Lights. I used Hero Arts Unicorn white pigment ink, Wilted Violet & Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide Inks. The reason I used these inks was for their pigment qualities. These inks sit on top of the paper for an opaque effect.

The blending was fairly easy, I used an upward stroke starting from the post-it mask. I started with a finger dauber but ended up using my fingers, just taking care to use different fingers so as not to contaminate the ink pads. Ask me how I know!

I sprayed the card with the Altenew Pure White Ink Spray for the stars. After the panel dried, I used the Mega Alphabet ‘M’ die to cut out the M for Moon and to echo the sentiment as well.

I proceeded to finish off the card the same way I finished the first card. I used violet fun foam at the back of the ‘M’ which I had in my stash. Then for the sentiment I white heat embossed “Miss You” on the same Nautical cardstock and mounted it on top of the ‘M’. The sentiment is from the Wallpaper Art Stamp set.

I hope this inspires you to give this technique a try. It’s actually quite easy and is limited only by your imagination. You can try various shades of blues (for the sea or sky), greens for mountains or white on dark cardstock for a snowy winter scene..

If you were inspired by this and created a project, please feel free to tag me on Instagram or Facebook @craftyannastudio. I’d love to see what you create!

‘Til next time!

❤️

Anna

Supplies:

Disclaimer: I am affiliated with some online stores including Altenew, Concord & 9th and Hero Arts. If you use any of the links above, I get a small commission from these wonderful shops at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!