Ice Cream Splatter

I joined the Bloobel Stamps Progressive Challenge and for August we got to pick one of 7 images available.  I chose one called "Ice Cream Cool".   I made this card for a girlfriend as her birthday is coming up early September.  I have a little bit of time to come up with something cute for the inside before I have to mail it off.  The Happy Birthday die came from Amazon and is one of the "no-name brands" from China.  The image was colored with Copics and fussy cut out so I could glue it down on the background.  For the background I sponged 2 Distress Ink colors Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry around the top.   

I learned how to oil paint many years ago and there was a technique I use to use to make the ground look like it had tiny rocks or sand.  You used a toothbrush and some oil paint that was thinned down with linseed oil.  Now I see that same technique is now used on cards all the time.  I used that technique on the card above with black splatters.  I love the pink with the black look.   I took a few photos on a white copy paper to show you how I got the black splatter on the card.  

Drop a few drops of re-inker onto the cover of the ink pad along with a couple of drops of water to make the ink a little thinner and mix it together.

Drag a toothbrush in the ink to cover the bristles... making sure to grab enough ink.

You might want to protect your area as this next part may splatter ink where you do not want it to.  You also will want to wear disposable gloves unless you do mind getting your fingers full of ink.  It was hard to get a good photo, but I used my finger to run along the bristles of the toothbrush. This causes the ink to splatter against the paper.  In the next two photos, I used the bristles to face down toward the paper and up towards the ceiling.  They both give you a different kind of splatter on the paper.

The splatters on the left came from pointing the bristles up to the ceiling. They are more spread out.  The splatters on the right are from the bristles pointing down toward the paper.  These are more contained into an area.  

Try the ink splatter technique using sponges or different size brushes.  It will give you different types of splatters.  Also experiment with holding the tool higher or lower from the paper.  

I hope you give this easy but messy technique a try and let me know what you think!

Happy crafting!

Manetta