We love using colorful inks to create cool backgrounds on cards. Today we are showing you how we made the vibrant gradient background on the card below.
Let’s get started!
First, we picked our colors. We needed a full spectrum to create a rainbow effect, so we used Candy Apple, Raspberry, Nectarine, Lemon, Willow, Bluebird, and Pansy from our Exclusive Inks™ collection. The next thing to do is to prepare your sponges.
We took one of our round sponges and cut it into wedges, one for each color. (Daubers also work, if those are your preference.)
Firmly hold your paper on your work surface. A little bit of rolled up washi tape on the back of your cardstock should do the trick for when you can’t hold it in place with your hands. Now, to the fun part of sponging on the colors!
With an inked sponge wedge, start off by applying your first color with light pressure and in a circular motion. Continue to apply the color until reaching the desired level of saturation. As you switch colors, slightly overlap each for that blended look.
After all of our colors were applied we splattered our background with Spritz Cleaner to achieve a water “damage” look. First, we unscrewed the top and dropped fat drops of Spritz Cleaner onto the ink straight from the tube. Then, we replaced the top and sprayed the card for smaller droplets. We suggest using Spritz Cleaner instead of water because the ink will separate better and create the desired effect without warping the paper like water will.
We finished the card by heat embossing a sentiment and cute balloon in white.
One of the great things about this technique is that you don’t always have to sponge your ink on a solid color piece of paper. Take a look at how we used this same technique on patterned paper to create this other card:
It also looks great with just one color:
What do you like about this sponging technique? And if this isn’t new to you, what are some ways that you do things differently? Please share your creative thoughts with us in the comments below!
Love this technique – thanks CTMH
I love the technique. Clever idea to use the cleaner spritz rather than water. Can’t wait to try it!
Loved the technique on patterned paper….really pretty!!! Thanks for sharing.
I never would have thought to use the spritz cleaner to remove colour but will definitely be trying this technique. Thanks CTMH for the constant inspiration 💕
I’ll be trying this technique tomorrow! Love the idea of using the Spritz Cleaner.
I can’t wait to try this technique. Love the effect.
Gorgeous! I like using the Spritz Cleaner to create the water spots 🙂 💦
These are gorgeous!! I would never have thought to use the spritz cleaner to add spots like this. Now I GOT to go and try it myself!
I am new to your page. Do you do card making videos using CTMH products? I have found a couple really good videos using another company’s products, but have not been able to find a good video maker using CTMH products. Thank you for your time! Terrie
Welcome to our page, Terrie! We show a lot of techniques and inspiration ideas on our blog for cardmaking, scrapbooking, and papercrafting. If you are looking for start to finish cardmaking videos with our products, your best bet would be to find a Consultant’s blog. We’ve done a few on here, but not many. This is the link to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/CTMHcorp/videos . You will find a lot of goodies there, too!
Okay. Thank you for the info! I will certainly check that out!!!!!
Very pretty!
What a great technique! Thank you for continuing to teach and inspire us!
I love how it looks on the first card! I’m definitely going to try this!
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Loved it. I love CTMH ink pads. I just started getting them and can’t wait to get more.
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Tried it and love the technique. I even added the clear shimmer brush over the top on some of the cards