The technique is called Spray & Smash and involves dropping various ink colors on Glossy Cardstock spritzing them with water and then laying another piece of Glossy Cardstock on top of the first one. That's the "smash" part of the technique.
Stampin' Up no longer sells Glossy cardstock, but even though I still have some in my stash, I thought I would try Glossy Photo Paper because it is readily available, and for some reason, I have a LOT of it! The background for this card is actually made with glossy photo paper.
Depending on the amount of water you spritz on your cardstock, when you "smash" the 2nd piece of cardstock on the first, you may still have leftover water on the first piece. I had lots of water "leftover" on my photo paper, so, I thought, why not "smash" a 2nd piece on the first. I did, but there was still a lot of water, so I "smashed" another piece over the first. In my experimenting with this technique, I obviously didn't know how much water to spritz, so probably had way too much water on this attempt. I think this result was from my 3rd smash, but don't hold me to that. Where you see "white" I was obviously out of inky water, and at first, I was going to toss this piece in the trash. But I set it aside to dry and when I went back later to check out all my smashed samples (I had a lot in many colors as it was a bit addicting), I couldn't believe how pretty this piece was! And to think, I was going to throw it away!
My lesson, never toss anything immediately. Take a look at it later and you may find a beautiful surprise.
I saw a beautiful ocean wave when I saw my surprise. So, I die cut a couple of the Wave Dies, one from Basic White cardstock and one from the gorgeous Holographic Specialty Paper and added them to the Technique Sheet.
If you aren't familiar with the Holographic Specialty Paper in the Annual Catalog, check it out in my product list below. The photo of my card does not do it justice. As you can imagine, as you move the card around, the color of the Holographic wave changes and it is so pretty!
Since I normally make my technique sheets a little larger than I need for the finished size, I had leftovers to decorate the inside of my card. My Photo Paper was actually 7" x 5" so I had lots of "leftovers."
Tomorrow on my Fairless Stampin' Flair YouTube Channel, I will be demonstrating the Spray and Smash Technique. But I will warn you. It is a bit addicting. It is also a bit messy, but I don't mind messy when I end up with surprises like this one!
What do you think of this card? I'd love it if you would leave me a comment and let me know what you think of my surprise.
