Welcome to our 4 o’clock hour on this fantastic iNSD! Have you been enjoying all that our industry friends are sharing today? Are you ready for your next challenge? Erica Thompson is here to inspire you to get out your ink, paint, gels and PLAY! Let’s get right to the fun!

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Hey friends! It’s Erica here with you today and I am so excited to be sharing your next challenge for International Scrapbook Day! 

Supplies | Patterned paper, stickers, die cuts: American Crafts & Vicki Boutin Color Study; Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry & Kitsch Flamingo; Adhesives: Therm O Web Gink K. Designs Dot Runner  

My challenge for you today is to create a project using mixed media. You can use a little or a lot! Get messy or keep it simple, as long as you use some type of mixed media! For this project, I used some Tim Holtz Distress Oxide ink in Picked Raspberry and Kitsch Flamingo to add a little bit of fun and color to my background, which I topped with the Vicki Boutin Color Study collection.

Ink pads are one of those mediums that I think we all have in our stash and any ink pad should work with this technique. I love the packaging technique to create a watercolor background on my scrapbook pages—it is so easy and requires very little clean-up! You will need an acrylic block, an ink pad, a paintbrush, and some clear packaging. Add some ink to the acrylic block, add a little bit of water and mix around with your paintbrush. 

I like to pick up the color with my paintbrush and sprinkle it onto my white cardstock. Then I take the clear packaging and smoosh it down onto the white cardstock to help spread it around the page. Once I get the look I am going for, I take a roll of paper towels and roll it onto my cardstock. Next, I go back in and use my paintbrush to add splatters of the same color. 

Once my ink was dry, I got started on my design. I wanted to create a tic tac toe look so I cut 4 thin strips from one of the papers in the Vicki Boutin Color Study 12×12 paper pad. I adhered the strips down to the page using the  Gina K. Designs Permanent Adhesive Dot Runner and then ran them through my sewing machine to add texture. 

I added three photos to the layout in a diagonal and embellished around all the other squares using die cuts and stickers from the Color Study collection. You can see the pretty watercolor in the background and it adds some interest but does not overpower the layout. 

To finish off my layout I matted my white cardstock to the 12×12 Floral Study patterned paper from Vicki Boutin using my Gina K Dot Runner. I just love how this turned out and I can’t wait to see what you create using some type of mixed media! I hope you all have a fabulous International Scrapbook Day!

Find more of Erica’s work here: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

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What do you think? Are you up for trying out the easy and mess-free “kissing” technique on your next page? Or do you want to try a different medium? Whatever you choose, here is how you can enter this mixed media challenge:

Challenge Guidelines:

  1. Add mixed media of any kind to a project.
  2. Submit an image of your creation to us (must be under 2mb!) at ideas@scrapbookandcards.com.
  3. Put “INSD Mixed Media Challenge” in your reference line;
  4. Submit your entry by Wednesday, May 19th, at midnight ET. Winners will be announced here on the blog on Saturday, May 22nd.

Submitting to this challenge will enter you to win this gorgeous new collection from our friends at Simple Stories;

Get messy and have fun! We can’t wait to see your creations! Join us back here at the 6 o’clock hour as we wrap up this fun day with our last challenge!

9am : iNSD 2021 Kickoff + Sampler Giveaway

10am : A Sketch Warm-Up with Meghann Andrew + a Close to My Heart Giveaway

12pm : Getting Down With Design with Victoria Calvin + a Photoplay Paper Giveaway

2pm : Stamp Your Heart Out with Special Guest Becki Adams + a Surprise Stamp Giveaway