Celebrate Amazing You!

Today I wanted to share four cards with you, all different but sharing a similar technique.

On all of the cards I have used gesso on black card stock in different ways and then applied different coloured inks to each.

For all of my cards I have used the "Amazing You" stamp set and the "Celebrate You" Thinlits die set.

For this card the ink colours are Wisteria Wonder and Night of Navy.

I  applied the gesso through a mask and once dry I sponged on my inks. The gesso picks up the sponged inks readily. I also added some silver embossing powder. Some "bricks" were cut away to show case the die cut and stamped sentiment.

For this card I sponged on the gesso covering most of the card surface. Once dry I sponged on and blended my inks: Berry Burst and Tangerine Tango. Then I lightly screwed up the card to create wrinkles. I swiped Basic Black Archival ink over the wrinkles to accentuate. I stamped some black dots in the background. The sentiment is die cut and stamped and embossed. I wrapped some gold thread around the card background before adhering to the card base.

I used the sentiment from the front die cut to decorate the inside of the card.

For this card I began by applying the gesso lightly with a brush in a cross hatching fashion. I added some heavier gesso lines with an old credit card. Once dry I sponged on and blended the inks: Rich Razzleberry and Crushed Curry. I grabbed my credit card again added some Rich Razzleberry lines. Using my credit card again I added some Versa Mark lines and embossed them with gold embossing powder. 

I die cut the word "amazing" twice in black card stock and gold embossed one of them. I offset the gold over the black. I finished off by adding some gold thread to the "o" and "u".

To achieve the effect on this card I lightly sponged on the gesso so there was some of the black card showing through. Once dry I blended my ink colours: Pacific Point, Mariner Mist and Tempting Turquoise. I sprinkled on some silver embossing powder and finished off with some gesso splatters. I really love this effect, it reminds me of a galaxy.

The sentiment was die cut and silver embossed. I threaded some seed and bugle beads onto silver thread and wrapped it behind the "you".

I decorated the inside of the card with the die cut.

Gesso really is a great companion to your inks. It is so versatile and creates so many possibilities.