Centered Inky Background Hack

Hi friends! My tutorial today is all about making a background in the center of your project. I’ve seen many makers create an inky background in the center of their card panel and it turns out beautiful. I’ve tried and tried and I’m never able to accomplish it. I’ve tried all the different techniques like smooshing and whatnot but they never seem to work for me. The ink either pools to one side or runs down to the base of the card panel. It was so frustrating for me that I gave up on the look but then I had an idea and you know what you do when you have an idea. You try it! Lo and behold, it worked. So if you struggle with creating an inky center background, this hack may just be the trick that helps. Enjoy!

I begin by adding remnant rubs to the background by laying a full sheet over the front card panel and only transferring the center portion. The best tool for doing this, by far, is the Tim Holtz Remnant Rub Stylus tool.

This is what you should have after transferring the remnant rub.

Now on to the hack. Tear the center area out of a piece of cardstock. It is important to tear the cardstock as opposed to cutting it. You don’t want a clean edge, you want it to be jagged so the result is organic.

Place the torn cardstock over the center of your remnant rubbed panel and spritz with a bit of water. Spray over the area with Distress Ink sprays and allow the colors to move around. Spray on more water and inks until you are happy with the result. Remove the torn cardstock and the inks should only be over the center portion of the panel.

Now spritz a bit of water along the outside edges of the inks so they spread just a bit and that’s it! I added some stenciling over the top with the Tim Holtz Plus stencil and grit paste.

I hope this hack helps if you struggle with those center inky backgrounds. Thanks so much for sticking with me to the end and I so appreciate the time you spend here with me.

Have a wonderful week!