Isn't smoosh a fun word? Smoosh!

Go ahead say it, it's fun!

I've had some questions about how I create the watercolor-looking backgrounds on some of my recent cards, so I thought I'd do a little tutorial here. I've named it the smooshing technique. Because that's what you do - you smoosh the paper into the ink to create the blended watercolor look.

I will say that I did not make this up, I learned this technique from Kristina Werner. She is a master at using distress ink to create unique cards.

To begin, I cut a piece of watercolor paper to 4x5.25 inches, stamped an image with Versamark Ink, covered the ink with white embossing powder, and heat-set it. I also chose 3 colors of distress ink that are from the same color family. Here I'm using Shaded Lilac, Seedless Preserves, and Dusty Concord. You can also do this technique with very different colors, just make sure they will mix well (red and blue mix well to make purple, but red and green make brown).

On my craft mat, I pressed my distress ink pads down right next to each other, then began repeating the patterns till it was a little wider than my paper.

I did the same thing on the next line down, starting with a different color, till I had as many rows as I needed. For the size paper I'm using (4x5.25) I find that 5 ink pads across and 5 or 6 down works the best.

Then I spray the whole thing with water. You can see the ink starting to bead up, but there's not so much water that it's all running together.

When the ink is wet, I take my stamped piece and place it image-side down onto the ink. I move it around a little and make sure to press all the edges into the ink to get full coverage.

When I lift it up, this is what I get! The embossed image resists the ink, so whatever you stamped on the paper will show through the ink colors. I dry the piece with my heat tool so I'm ready for the next step.

After one smoosh into the ink, you can see the pattern of colors on the paper. That may be the look you're going for, but not me - I like it more organic looking, so I take my dried piece and smoosh into the remaining ink again and again. If it gets too wet during the smooshing, I dry it and keep going till I get a mix that I like.

I dry it one last time, then use a rag to wipe the embossed image to get rid of any ink that may have stuck there. At this point, the paper is usually pretty warped from all the water and drying, so I usually put it under some heavy books for a few days. Then I can make it into a card, an embellishment, or whatever I want!

I've been busy with new cards, so keep an eye on my Etsy store for a new line of cards in a variety of colors!

What color would you like to see?

Happy Crafting!

I love photos.
If you haven't figured that out by now, there's something wrong with you.
I love to make things out of photos, not just scrapbooks, so I started making personalized photos magnets!

They are pretty easy to make, all you need is some small photos, some strong, clear glue (I use Aileen's Clear Gel Tacky Glue), some flat marbles, and some small magnets.

Start by selecting or finding the photos you want to make into magnets. You have to be aware of the size of your marbles because if the photo doesn't fit inside it, it will look wrong. I usually make a collage in Picasa and get it printed as a 4x6 so each of my photos are 2x2. My marbles are about 1.25x1.25, so the center of the photos fits nicely. I've written about making collages in Picasa before - it's very easy!

I've also used photos from photo booths, greeting cards, Christmas cards, or even just some fun scrapbooking paper!

You can cut out your photos one of 3 ways;
1) Use a circle punch. This is what I do - I happen to have a circle punch that perfectly matches the marbles I buy, so it works perfectly.
2) Trace around the marble and cut out with scissors.
3) Glue the marble down, then cut around the edges once the glue is dry.

When your photos are ready, glue them onto the marbles! It takes some getting used to how much glue you need, but more is better - you can always wipe away extra, They may need a lot of drying time, depending on the glue you use (ps, hot glue will not work to adhere the marbles to the photos- it dries too fast and warps the photos. but it works great to adhere the magnets to the backs!), so keep an eye on them while they dry. My photos sometimes like to slide off the marbles while they are drying.

When they are dry, glue a magnet on the back.
More drying.
Time to use your new magnet!

I've made these mostly for myself, but I did make a couple sets as Christmas gifts last year. I got photos off Facebook and Flickr and made magnets from those. That's the great thing about these small magnets, you don't need great photos!

The only caution I put out there is that printing on regular paper does not work - the ink dissolves and smears when it comes in contact with the liquid glue. I would always recommend getting these photos printed on photo paper.

Now you know!
Happy Crafting!