Ink blending does not need to be perfect to make a great card!

 Hello!  Welcome to my blog!

Today I am going to show you that you don't have to be a perfect (or even good) ink blender to make a great card.

I used the absolutely adorable Altenew Elephantastic and Gentle Giraffes Die Sets.  These are so much fun!!

(I have to admit these are my favorite animals, so to me they are perfect!  I grew up... and have spent time since... in East Africa.  I have taken each of my kids separately, and even my husband came with me one time, so it holds a special place in my heart!)

I started by inking the background.  I used Altenew Rocky Shore Crisp Dye Ink for the ground, 

and followed up with Altenew Dusk and Desert Night Fresh Dye Inks for the sky.  (You can see that the blue is uneven, but I prefer it that way!)

After I die cut the pieces from light grey card stock (for the elephant) I used Gina K grey inks to blend along the edges of the elephant, using darker inks in places where I thought there would be shadows. You can see the ink blending is not perfect, but once the elephants are assembled, they look great!

I die cut the giraffes from light yellow and darker brown card stocks.  The dark brown is for the bottom layer (or layer 1 as indicated on the die cut). I ink blended Sunray and Yellow Ochre inks on to the top layers, again making it darker in some places and leaving it lighter for highlights.

After assembly it looks pretty good!

Man, they are so adorable!!

I ran a tropical green paper in the embossing folder through my die cutting machine. I then added a shade of Parrot and then some Moss inks around the edges.  I attached the background card stock to the green panel, then attached the animals to look like a safari adventure on top.  Everything today was attached using Bearly Arts liquid glue because there was already enough dimension with the embossed panel and the layered animals.

I used what ink remained on my ink blending brush to blend onto a scrap paper, then grabbed a Stampin' Up sentiment to add.  (I lied! This was attached with foam tape... not glue)

Here is a close up of the final card.

The inks really do blend into each other when dry.  I find that especially with the layering dies it is not as important to be sure that the blending is perfect.  Many mistakes or unevenness are hidden between the layers.

I hope you give it a try!

Have a great day!