ARTastic 3T's in February ...

Welcome to our February round of ARTastic 3T's - Tips, Tricks and Techniques where each month one of our creative team will show you are few quick tips and/or techniques to use on your layouts.

This month we feature Tone-Lill Angelskar with some wonderful techniques for creating gorgeously inky backgrounds.

Let's get started by gathering your products together.  Here is what I  used.

Products : Spray Ink and Ink pads,

Mini mister, gesso, Glue and Seal,

Black crackle paint, stencils.

My Tip before you start using the ink, is to add glue and seal in a thin layer onto the cardstock to avoid the ink "running" into the paper when using stencils. 

         Here are two of my tricks to create different patterns on the back ground cardstock ...

Dab the ink pad onto a Teflon craft sheet, spray with water using mini mister (or a regular spray bottle) until you see droplets in the ink. Carefully spread the cardstock paper you have previously coated with the glue and seal, on top to get the impression of the ink onto the card. Dry with heat tool before adding a new layer of ink. 

Before starting with a  new colour, wipe the Teflon stain resistant craft sheet clean.

Here I sprayed with black ink straight on to the stain resistant sheet and added water with the mister. I then created a spiral pattern with a craft tool like a ice lolly wood stick. 

Like above,  I spread the cardstock on top to create a new pattern on top of the blue pattern print. 

Remember to let it dry or use a heat tool.

This is what it looks like when dry.

I did the same with red, and created a squiggly pattern.

When I had dried the red pattern on the cardstock I added black crackle paint using the Prima " crackle" stencil and dried it with a heat tool.

I added, the last stencil with the leaf pattern using white gesso and blue ink spray, which gives lovely different shades of blue in the pattern.

....and here is the end result creating a background on the card stock. 

Tip: Use Glue and Seal on cardstock before you start with the ink. Remember to dry completely.

Trick: The trick is to be "light handed" when spreading the card stock onto the different patterns of wet ink on the stain resistance craft sheet. 

Techniques: I have only showed you a few ways to use ink . 

There are no limits of techniques you can use to create different patterns using spray or ink pads. Just be creative and have fun!  :)

Finally, my finished layout after adding the photo and my bits and bobs.... 

..And the last my tip, I used the red Tattered Angels Glimmermist to colour the gauze/cheesecloth, and a few light sprays with "Glacier" colour Glimmermist over the page as a finishing touch :)

We'd love to see what you can do with these techniques.  Remember you have until the end of the month to submit your entry for this challenge.