Thinking of You Card using the Journey Gel Press

There are so many hurting friends around me lately, (grandparent passing away, losing jobs, their child getting diagnosed with cancer, etc.) that I had to take the time to make up a bundle of "Thinking of You" cards to have on hand to let send out into the word and use my words to help be a healing balm to their hurting hearts. So, I thought I'd share the end result with you here so you too can make some to share....in no time we'll all have lots of happy, encouraged friends, yes?

Wanna know the key to a quick, successful card that has a complicated appearance when you are making them in bulk?  It's the Journey Gel Press!  This tool helps you make super artsy, intensely rich looking backgrounds for your cards with minimal effort and they look amazing every time!

Even if you don't need a "Thinking of You" card, you can apply this background technique to any themed card and layer some yummy die-cuts and a sentiment on top and have a beautifully fussed over card in no time flat! 

To create the background of this card, I placed Bubble Gum True Color Fusion Re-inker on the Journey Gel Press along with a small amount of Fresh Forest True Color Fusion Re-inker. They were blended with a few drops of Fusion Blender mixed in using the Brayer. Just before pulling a print on Whip Cream cardstock, the Journey Gel Press was flicked with Sparkle Silk. The Sparkle Silk is the key to giving you that perfect mottled, peeled paint distressed look that is all the rage right now.

Depending on your crafting style you can work in smaller sections on the Journey Gel Press and cut each panel down to size prior to pulling the print or you can work on the Journey Gel Press as one large surface and pull a full-size sheet as a print and then cut your Whip Cream cardstock down into smaller panels...you'll get 4 panels out of one sheet. Working in larger panels works great especially if you are working on multiple cards at time and trying to build up a supply. Quick, easy crafting.....LOVE IT!

Once the panel was trimmed to size, it was popped up on to a Bubble Gum cardstock top-folding card base.  Some pieces of Cool Parade Journey Tape were affixed across the lower portion of the print and then the die-cut and stamped pieces were layered on top.  I used a piece of Journey Vellum and Limeade Splash cardstock, both die-cut using the Timeless Foliage Steel Rule Die layered with a stamped image from the Fresh Foliage Stamp Set. The foliage image was stamped using Cool Pool ink and then accented with Journey Color Splash Pencils and blended out using a Small Blending Brush to add some depth of color to the leaves.

The card was finished with the embellishing of Fashion Gold, Gold Friendship Sequins, Party Burst Dots, Gold Thread, Cottage Flowers and Fresh Sage Silk. 

If you give it a try, I'd love to see!  Please share your creations with me.

Happy crafting! See you soon.