{"title":"How to Make a Father's Day Card with Bold Stencil Ink Blending","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/card-making/how-to-make-a-fathers-day-card","category":{"slug":"card-making","name":"Card Making"},"creator":{"name":"Mindy Eggen Design","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7VmlcdCM0nEQMBQfrsBhow","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8T0toSh2CM"},"tldr":"Make a bright Father's Day card with stencil ink blending, stacked die-cut DAD letters, and a heat-embossed sentiment strip. Step-by-step photos.","totalDurationSeconds":387,"difficulty":"medium","tools":["blender brushes","glass media mat","die cutting machine","heat tool","tweezers","paper trimmer","low-tack tape"],"materials":["Sugar Cube card stock","Sea Salt card stock","black card stock","Shattered stencil","Lime Zest ink","Cookie Monster ink","Blue Corn ink","white embossing powder","embossing ink","Dad die","Dad Isms stamp set","Sparkle Shimmer Spray","foam tape","Gina K Connect liquid glue"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Step 1: Tape the Stencil Over Your Card Panel","text":"Trim Sugar Cube card stock to 4-1/4 by 5-1/2 inches. Lay the Shattered stencil over the card stock and tape the back with low-tack purple tape so the stencil can't shift while you blend.Working on a glass media mat is worth doing if you have one. The smooth surface lets the blender brush glide between the cut openings of the stencil instead of catching on a textured craft mat."},{"number":2,"title":"Step 2: Ink Blend Lime Zest at the Top","text":"Load a Life Changing Blender brush with Lime Zest ink and work in small circles starting from the top edge of the stencil. Blend down about a third of the panel.Use a fresh, clean brush for each color. Mixing brushes muddies the ink and you lose the saturation that makes vibrant blends work."},{"number":3,"title":"Step 3: Blend the Middle Band with Cookie Monster","text":"Switch to a fresh brush and load it with Cookie Monster blue. Start where the Lime Zest fades out and blend down through the middle third of the panel.Where the two colors meet, work the brush back and forth across the seam so the colors melt into each other. The transition zone is what sells the gradient - if there's a hard line, the look falls flat."},{"number":4,"title":"Step 4: Blend Blue Corn at the Bottom","text":"Take a third brush and load it with Blue Corn. Work from the bottom edge of the panel up into the Cookie Monster blue. Same circular blending motion, same overlap zone for the transition.Three vibrant colors top to bottom with two soft transitions creates the bold gradient the card is built around. Hold the panel up and check from a distance - the colors should read as one cohesive sweep, not three stripes."},{"number":5,"title":"Step 5: Spray Shimmer and Lift the Stencil","text":"Mist a fine layer of sparkle shimmer spray across the panel from about a foot away. A few light passes is enough - heavy spray pools and warps the card stock.Once the panel is dry, peel the tape and lift the stencil straight up to reveal the white shattered pattern across the gradient. The contrast between the bold colors and the clean white stencil pattern is the visual hook of the card."},{"number":6,"title":"Step 6: Die Cut and Stack the DAD Letters","text":"Run the Dad die through your machine three times on Sugar Cube card stock. You'll have three identical sets of D-A-D letters.Stack the three sets together with Gina K Connect liquid glue between the layers, lining the edges up carefully. The triple-thick stack gives the letters real dimension on the front of the card so they cast a shadow under photography."},{"number":7,"title":"Step 7: Heat Emboss the Sentiment and Assemble","text":"Stamp 'I love you. That is all.' on black card stock using embossing ink. Dust generously with white embossing powder, tap off the excess, and heat-set with a heat tool until the powder melts into a glossy raised line.Trim the gradient panel to 4 by 5-1/4 inches and mount it on a Sea Salt card base (cut 4-1/4 by 5-1/2 inches and folded) using foam tape on the back. Trim the embossed sentiment into a thin strip and adhere it across the bottom of the panel with another piece of foam tape. Glue the stacked DAD letters just above the sentiment with the connect glue, lining them up centered above the strip."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-05-20T13:34:54.426Z","published":"2026-05-05T21:48:54.350Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}