I had an Intense Printing kit for Christmas using Inktense ink blocks. The kit comes with thin dense foam, ball embosser, water mister, print roller and 6 Inktense blocks.
I cut a piece of foam to fit my card blanks and using a piece of dress fabric as inspiration I sketched out a design of leaves and flowers using a pencil. Then I went over the lines with the ball embosser. You have to go over the lines quite a few times to get a strong line. I added in some random dots in the background and a border to complete it.
To print, you spray the foam lightly with water and then just rub on the blocks, mixing the colours as required. I added extra colours/details using my Inktense pencils.
Then I placed cartridge paper on top and pressed hard with the roller and got some great images. Re-spraying with water for a second image worked well and then you can wash the foam under the tap and use again with completely different colours.
As you can see from the top left image it also works well on calico so I can see this technique being very useful to create prints on fabric. I love Inktense! I made 2 really nice birthday cards from these prints and I also have the potential to make a lot more from the same block.
Next I made a 'shaker' card for my friend's 40th birthday. This is a type of card where you have sequins and beads moving freely behind an acetate window. Start by cutting out an outline of a champagne bottle with a scalpel.
Then attach a piece of acetate on the back using double sided tape. I always put a piece of green mirror card over the top of the bottle neck to make it look more realistic and provide somewhere for the beads to go when tipped. You can see the back of this in the picture below.
Then build a 'wall' of foam around the outside of the shape, making sure there are no gaps. As you can see this doesn't have to be neat as it will all be covered over at the end. I also added a line of double sided tape down the leading edge of the card to neaten up the back when the final backing card is stuck on.
Next fill your bottle with sequins and beads. I use the minute beads that have no hole - I have seen them for sale recently for use on nails for a 'caviar' effect. I also put in some small irredescent star sequins and some 40 sequins. I like to make sure all the 40 sequins are upside down so they look right from the front.
Finally, remove the backing from the foam and double sided tape and stick on a piece of silver mirror card. Then decorate the front with stars, crystals and 40 sequins.
This was her cake using Smarties and retro sweets - how brilliant is that!
