AECP#10 Irresistible Inking Techniques

Hi friends! I have finished the first group of 10 classes for the Altenew Education Certification Program with this post! I am loving this challenge and really look forward to the next ten.

The class was taught by Sara Naumann. Sara has a wonderful teaching style and I picked up many tips and tricks. One is particular (and I don't know why I never thought of it) is to have your acrylic block just slightly larger than your stamp. It keeps your stamp from rocking and leaving unwanted marks. I generally use my MISTI, but a good tip for those times when you stamp with a block. 

I made 4 cards using the stamp with the acrylic block technique. You ink up an acrylic block (I used various sizes) direct to an ink pad, spritz it with water and then place it on a piece of card stock. I used Simon Hurley's Stark White card stock for all 4 because his paper is uncoated and takes well to water techniques. The background usually ends up with white space which gives the card movement and interest.

Once dry, I stamped various floral images on the cards with Altenew Obsidian Black Ink. Next, I smooshed Altenew ink onto a white palette from the ink pad.  Using that color, I watercolored in the images, using a damp brush.

This pink one was my favorite and I stamped and colored to purposely leave all the white space. This was one large acrylic block and I used several of the Altenew pink colors.

Here are close ups of the other 3 cards:

One other technique I used on the 1st pink card was "direct to paper inking".  You gently run the edge of your card through the ink pad to leave a nice colored line. You can see the pink edge on this picture below:

Lastly, I used Stickles in the center of the flowers to give them a little shine. All items I used to make these cards are listed below. I hope your enjoyed them - I certainly had fun making them!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.