Blended Blue Grunge Birthday Card Video Tutorial - Quick Make

Hi there!

I'm back with an easy and quick make for a birthday; this can be made masculine or feminine, has many colour possibilities and is a lot of fun to create! Perfect for those times when you need a card in a hurry, or if you don't have too many supplies.

--- Supplies Used ---
# 300 gsm white card stock
# Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Weathered Wood, Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans and Blueprint Sketch
# Mini ink blending tool and foam
# Tsukineko Memento Ink in Summer Sky, Bahama Blue and Teal Zeal
# Sara Signature Collection Just for Men stamp sets: Urban Graffiti and Rock Star from Crafter's Companion
# Acrylic blocks
# Baby wipes
# 12x12" Trendy Blue Lifestyle paper pad from The Works
# 1-2-3 punch board from We R Memory Keepers
# Scoring board

To begin with, I applied some Weathered Wood ink to the background. This provides a background contrast that isn't as stark as white against the other blue tones I applied and finishes off the card. I then used Faded Jeans to provide a frame around the card front and add some interest to the centre. Blueprint Sketch provided areas of darker colour. I made sure to go off the page in places to achieve a more organic look; it somehow doesn't look write to have perfect splodges of colour in the centre of a grungy card like this! Salty Ocean then finishes off the card with circles from the ink blending tool and a little blending, too.

At this point, you could splash water on the card and remove some ink in splotches, but I liked the look of it without that extra step. Using Memento inks, which stamp a crisper image than Distress inks, I stamped a paint splatter in Bahama Blue and the central sentiment in Teal Zeal; this is a little green and provides a contrast to the rest of the card front.

I stamped the word Birthday on the inside of the card in Teal Zeal, and then repeatedly stamped it in Summer Sky to provide a bit of interest and background to the centre of the card. I then stamped this in Bahama Blue and Summer Sky on the front of the card to tie that in, too. The card front was then finished off with star and circle stamps in Bahama Blue and Summer Sky, using second generation stamping to send some images to the background.

A box enveloped was then made with a piece of 8" 3/8 square patterned card scored and punched at 3" 1/2. A very quick and easy make! I hope you enjoyed it; please don't forget to head over to YouTube and like the video if you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end!

Until next time,

Amy x