I love experimenting with colors. Sometimes I mix too many, but one style I often get back to is totally the opposite of many colors: the monochrome. Monochrome means using one color only, but all shades of it. I especially use it with distress inks, stamps and stencil.
- Type of project: card
- Occasion: birthday
- Style: artsy
- Techniques used: stamping, stenciling
- Decoration: die-cuts, washi tape, sequins
- Main colour: blue
- Media used: distress oxide, metallic cardstock, white ink
- Equipment used: dies, stamps, stencils
READ ALSO: DOUBLE SIDED SWING AND EASEL CARD
It’s really a quite simple card. I started off with blending in the background in a light blue shade. Then I used six different stamps and one stencil. The face, the group of women, the music sheet, the dress, the text border and the scalloped border – all of these motives are different stamps. Then I used the stencil to make a fishtail pattern to fill out the rest of the space. All of this in a darker blue shade. As always when using distress inks I sprinkled some drops of water and sprayed gently with a mister over it to make the color react. Look how beautifully distressed it gets! This is how far I got during this monochromatic experiment a couple of years ago.
Then the project rested in a drawer unfinished, until I recently got a request to do a card for a 18-year old birthday girl who was very fond of the color blue. My unfinished project seemed perfect for it and finally I new how to finish it; with some metallic cardstock, die cutting the number 18 and letters for the girls name. I also tore a piece of washi tape with coloured dots to as an accent to the monochrome background and used a few sequins for extra shine. I framed it with a white hand drawn frame, a two layers of coloured cardstock before attaching it to the card base. As a final touch I added some stains in white ink.
I find monochromatic cards soothing to look at even when, as I have done here, using many different stamps and motives. The one color binds it all together. If you haven’t tried this technique yet I hope you found some inspiration!
Karin Åslund is from Sweden. Karin has been writing for TPC since 2020. Karin started paper crafting in 2005 and she makes cards, mini albums and do some Art Journaling. Her paper projects are often made in traditional Vintage or in a Whimsical style.