More Distress Ink landscape

Having got to grips with Michelle's technique with my previous card, I decided I should now try coming up with my own designs, so here's the first. The small fir trees on the left and the stag are from Stampscapes. Their stamps are perfect for this style, as are those from Beeswax, whose stamp is the tree on the right.

The outer frame is also made with Distress inks, and it's a piece I had left over from making the card I described earlier here. The vertical "Happy Birthday" filling in the space at the side is an Aspects of Design stamp by The Stamp Man.

At the moment I'm finding it a bit difficult to gain precise control over the inkpads when using them direct to paper, but I daresay that will come with practice. It's quite fun seeing how the landscapes turn out and then deciding what to use as a focal point to enhance them. I have a feeling I'm going to get hooked on this technique!

Distress Ink landscape

This is my first attempt at following one of Michelle Zindorf's tutorials. Michelle is an amazing artist who generously shares her ideas on her blog. For this one she used Distress Inks direct to paper. I hadn't tried that before, but they work beautifully. Michelle's tutorials are very easy to follow, and her instructions for this card can be found here.

Instead of the Stampin' Up tree which Michelle used, I chose to use one from Crafty Individuals, because it fitted my frame better. Also, I had to change some of the colours because I didn't have all the ones Michelle used. Otherwise, I followed her instructions pretty closely. I think the result is a testament to just how clear and well-explained her tutorials are. Thanks, Michelle! I really enjoyed making this card.