Masculine Thank You Card with Hot Air Balloons and Distress Oxide Ink

Hi there!

I'm back with another video tutorial, using Distress Oxide ink and some hot air balloon stamps to make a masculine thank you card. I'll let you watch the video then get into the details.

I'm using a new camera, so hopefully the video quality should be better! I really like the finished effect of this card; vintage, worn and suitable for giving to a man or a woman.

--- Supplies Used ---

# Tonic Maxi Guillotine

# Martha Stewart 12x12" scoring board

# We R Memory Keepers 1-2-3 punch board

# Smooth A3 250 gsm white card stock

# Hampton Art hot air balloon stamps

# Crafter's Companion Sara Signature Collection Autumn Morning stamps (from Crafter's Inspiration)

# Ranger Archival Ink in Sepia

# Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo

# Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink in Broken China

# Mini ink blending tool

# Copper embossing powder from docrafts Papermania

# VersaMark ink pad from Tsukineko

# Acrylic blocks

# Magic Anti Static Pad from Woodware

# Water spray bottle (recycled lens cleaner bottle)

# Paper towels

# Baby wipes

# docrafts Artiste watercolour pens

# Pentel waterbrush pens

# Foam pads

# Red liner tape

# Tape runner

# Scissors

# Heat tool

I cut an 8" 3/8 square from the white card to make an envelope and put this to one side. For the card blank, I cut this to 14.8 cm by 8" (the cm measurement doesn't convert nicely to inches, I'm afraid!). I cut a rectangle of card to be 5/8" smaller than the card front in both directions and covered this with Distress Oxide ink in Broken China using the direct to paper technique. I applied splotches of water using the nozzle from a spray bottle, gave them a little time, then mopped up with a paper towel. This activated the oxide properties and left lovely splotches on my background. I repeated this a second time, giving less time to the droplets, to provide a two-tone effect.

Aren't these stamps from Hampton Art simply gorgeous?! I stamped some of the smaller images directly onto the background using Sepia Archival Ink; this makes them blend into the background and add some interest. The one in the bottom left hand corner is stamped off the page to provide the illusion of lift; it looks like the balloons are rising into the sky!

The focal hot air balloon was stamped onto more of the spare white card stock. The watercolour pens, applied with a water brush, were used to provide a light background wash where the sky would show through, and the image was fussy cut out. I stuck this onto the card front using foam pads. The sentiment was stamped with VersaMark ink, after preparing the area with a anti static pad, then embossed with copper embossing powder. This really popped from the background as the only metallic element, and also complemented the sepia tones in the card very nicely.

For the inside of the card, I stuck another balloon I'd stamped and watercoloured onto white card in the bottom right hand corner, and stamped the sentiment 'Grateful for you' in sepia ink in the centre. Simple but classic and adds interest to the inside of the card.

For the envelope, I punched and scored at 3" 1/2 to make a box envelope then decorated with the large hot air balloon seen above, stamped in Sepia Archival Ink once again.

On the reverse, I stamped the adorably small hot air balloon! The envelope box was stuck together with red liner tape and a glue dot, with some of the sticky removed, for a closure.

I hope you enjoyed this card process video and blog post. Perhaps you got a little bit inspired? I'd love to hear what you have to say in the comments section below. Don't forget, if you liked the video, please head over to YouTube and hit the like button; it really helps me out and is very much appreciated. You can subscribe to my channel for more like this in the future, and follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Google+ for more updates; the links are on the left.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end!

Until next time,

Amy x