By CraftingStepByStepPublished Updated
Based on a video by Mindy Eggen Design.
Most pre-made Father's Day cards play it safe with neckties and golf clubs. This one goes bold: a Shattered stencil masked over Sugar Cube card stock, ink-blended top-to-bottom in three vibrant Taylored Expressions colors, finished with stacked die-cut DAD letters and a heat-embossed greeting strip.
The card uses some specialty supplies (Taylored Expressions stencil, Dad die, Dad Isms stamp set, Life Changing Blender brushes), but the techniques transfer to whatever you have on hand. Any stencil + any blender brush + any three coordinating ink colors gets you the same look.
Credit to Mindy Eggen Design for the source video.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tip
If you don't have shimmer spray, water plus a few drops of Liquid Pearls in a spray bottle works the same way. Or skip it - the gradient stands on its own.
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.
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.
Tip
Use tweezers to position the small DAD letters - finger placement is messy with three-layer stacks of liquid glue. The Dad Isms stamp set has plenty of other sentiments if 'I love you. That is all.' isn't your style. 'Thanks for killing all those spiders.' is also a contender.
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