Shop Your Stash - Ink Blending Clouds

I'll start by saying sometimes I forget what I have in my stash.  Several weeks ago I got a little carried away ink blending clouds and discovered that I have two sets of cloud stencils.  The possibilities are totally endless, whether you have one cloud stencil or several.  Things kind of started to snowball as I began the "what if I..." game.  I started adding rainbows and birds and more clouds.  Oh my!  

This beauty started with layers of ink-blended clouds.  I learned a few things playing with this technique: 

1. It's easier to keep white space in the clouds if you blend from the top down with the top being the "sky".  
2. Vary the way you position your stencil, this will create a more organic look.
3. Using a blender brush will result in a softer more cloud-like feel.  

After blending my clouds using Prize Ribbon Distress ink I started thinking about the tiny birds I'd seen Yanna use when she made these cards.  I knew I didn't have the set she'd pulled them from.  It was time to scour my stash for tiny birds.  Bingo!  Newton's Nook to the rescue.  

Hmmm...what about a rainbow?  Adding a rainbow was an easier find than the birds.  I pulled the MFT Stitched Rainbow from my stash and cut it from white and used Copic markers to color each section.  No fancy blending, just a single color on each stripe.  I also opted for pastel tones, rather than vivid ones so as not to compete with the bold blue of the sky.

Next, I needed something to ground my rainbow and complete the scene.  Back into the stash.  I happened to have the My Heart Soars dies from Simon Says Stamp.  I pulled the cloud dies, cut them from white, and did a very light ink blend on the edges.  When I ink blended the cloud edges I used whatever ink remains on the brush from blending the large panel.

Time to put all my layers together and add the sentiment.  I stamped the birds and sentiment in VersaFine black ink.  Using liquid glue I added my rainbow, letting it hang off the panel halfway, then I die cut the panel with my stitched rectangle dies.  Next, the cloud panel was adhered to a black card base.  To complete the card I added my die-cut clouds using a bit of foam tape for dimension.