I thought I would pull out a tried and true technique that people always enjoy. Probably the most famous demo that we did in our store was monoprinting using the reinker bottles for dye-based inks. Now there are so many great alternatives, such as Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Glimmer Mists from Tattered Angels and many others. Once you try the technique, you will be able to put your own spin on what you have on the shelf. Here is what you will need for this project:
Reinkers or other 'water-based' inks as mentioned above
8 x 10 Acetate Sheets
8 x 10 White Glossy Cardstock, cut into quarters
plastic gloves(optional, but prepared for very inky fingers)
Take 1 sheet of acetate (known to those of us who have 'experienced life' as overhead projector sheets...a cheap box office supply store is the economical way to go) and 2-3 complimentary ink colors (or not, it's your experiment) and drop between 5-6 drops per color on one sheet of acetate.
Lay a second sheet of acetate directly on top of those colors and allow them to spread until you have at least half of the sheets covered. Sandwich two of your quartered cardstocks back to back, glossy side facing out and set aside. Now, lift top sheet of acetate very slowly and place the two pieces of cardstock onto bottom acetate sheet, then put top sheet back on.
Once cardstocks are fully covered, which they should do on their own, gently lift top sheet of acetate once more, set aside and remove your cardstock. You should have two pieces of what are now 'backgrounds' that are nearly identical.
The one in this photo was done quite some time ago and was done on a piece of shiny foamcore. It does have a twin somewhere in the universe. After dry, it was stamped using a fabulous stamp from Toybox.
This is a really easy way to create backgrounds en masse. I hope the instructions were equally as easy to follow. Any questions, you know where to find me...and while I have your attention, please leave a comment below and let me know what you think.
