Card Factory 2016–Zentangle Cards, and Backgrounds

Having printed out a poem for a friend, I mounted it on a piece of card which I inked with Aged Mahogany distress ink. Not wanting to waste what remained on my craft sheet, I spritzed it with water and smooshed a piece of scrap card in it to create a background. I dried it with my heat gun and then spattered it with water, left it for a minute or two, and then blotted it off, which removed the ink where the spatters had been. After drying it again, I sprayed it with pink Glimmer Mist.

Here’s a detail shot.

You can see how shimmery it is. It also has that lovely silky feeling which you always get with mica powders.

I needed to make a card urgently this evening, so I matted and layered my remaining ten Zentangle print-outs onto A6-sized cards, and apart from the one that needed to be sent straight away, I left the rest without sentiments, so that I can add them as and when required.

I started making a birthday card ready to send in March, using one of my painted Florabunda drawings, and inked an A5-sized card with Scattered Staw distress ink, using an Inkylicious Ink Duster, and then, using a hand-made blending tool, went around the edges with Dusty Concord distress ink. However, I really disliked the result and was about to discard it, when I thought I might apply the same treatment as with the background at the top of this post. I added a bit more ink onto my craft sheet by rubbing the ink pads directly onto it, and spritzed the patches of ink with water. I then dragged the card base through the wet ink, taking care not to blend the colours too much or it would have gone muddy.

After drying it with the heat gun, I spattered it with water and blotted it off as before.

There was a bit of ink left on the craft sheet, so I added a bit more, and made a second background with the same colours, but this time I decided to make it a bit more bold. I began by pulling the card through the wet ink, again being careful not to mix the colours too much, and then I spritzed the card with more water and allowed the ink to move around on the card, blotting off any excess which was making a hard line. This gives a marbled effect. When I was happy with the result, I dried it with the heat gun.

There was still some ink on the craft sheet, which had balled up on the non-stick surface, so I laid the card down flat onto it without moving it, and pressed it down. I lifted it carefully and repeated the process until there was no more ink remaining on the craft sheet. I again dried it with the heat gun, and finally spattered it with water and blotted it off. When it was dry, I went round the edge with the Dusty Concord distress ink, using a home-made ink blender.

Here are the two backgrounds. The one on the right was the first one I did, and the yellow unfortunately doesn’t show up at all well. It is quite subtle. I have left all the backgrounds under a heavy book to flatten them overnight.

More progress on the card factory over the next few days, I hope, because in addition to finishing the birthday card, I am going in to the chemo unit on Friday, and I’d like to have a few more cards to take in for them to sell. I also want to get back to my art journal page. I’ve got a busy week ahead because I want to do some more baking to take in to the chemo unit, and I’ve got a dental appointment on Thursday as well.

I am happy to report that my hubby loved his Valentine card!