Thanks for Being a Friend

I created this card to teach the "Joe's Coat" technique at my Friday Card Club. I like this technique quite a lot because you can create a very personal and unique background with just the stamps and inks you may have lying around at home. It's a very easy way to create an elegant and beautiful card with your products.

First, stamp a piece of Whisper White cardstock with any image you want. Try not to use solid stamps for this stage of the technique (i.e. use a stamp that is just the outline of what you want, or stamps that have a lot of "empty" space). Stamp the image randomly using different ink pads. Make sure to clean the stamp each time when you change colors. It's okay, and actually a little better, if you overlap the images in different colors.

Once you have covered the whole piece of cardstock, stamp any other image on the cardstock using VersaMark. In my case, I used the solid stamps from the Awash With Flowers Stamp Set. Clear emboss these images.

Now the fun part comes. Roll the brayer over a dark color ink pad several times. I used Not Quite Navy, but it could be any dark color, such as Night of Navy, Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Concord Crush, Bravo Burgundy, etc. Now roll the brayer on top of the cardstock several times so you can cover the images you stamped before. At this point, you should be able to see the clear embossed images showing up with different colors underneath. Once you're done, rub a tissue paper on top of the cardstock to clean off any excess ink and if you see that the clear embossed images are not very clean, you can dampen a Q-tip with water and rub it on the images.

Finally, add embellishments, a sentiment and you're done! Hope you like it. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Enjoy!

Cardstock: Pool Party (122924), Whisper White (100730)
Stamp Sets: Awash With Flowers (W 117062, C 120549), Happy Greetings (discontinued)
Ink: Calypso Coral (122939), Not Quite Navy (103008), Wisteria Wonder (122936), Daffodil Delight (119667), Pool Party (122938), VersaMark (102283)
Embossing Powder: Clear (109130)
Ribbon: Calypso Coral 3/8" Ruffled (122976)
Punches: Decorative Label (120907)
Tools: Heat Tool (100005), Brayer (102395), Sponge Daubers (102892)
Cool stuff: Basic Rhinestones (119246)