Experimenting with digital mixed media techniques has been so fun for me lately. So fun, in fact, that I’ve had a hard time finding ways to use all of the graphic journal cards I’ve purchased along the way. That was until I started blending them to create different cards! Now I can take the graphic cards I love and give them a mixed media look in just a few easy steps. Check it out!
Step 1: Open a card you want to start with. I usually start with a simple card that’s white based with some black writing or art. On this card by Emily, the watercolor will add to the final effect.
Step 2: Choose a paper you want to use. For this tutorial I am using the Pink Reptile Drawn To You Papers. I also often use painted papers when I am doing this technique.
Step 3: Drag the paper on top of the journal card, creating a layer above the card with the paper.
Step 4: Duplicate the journal card layer, and move it so that it is on top of the paper in the layers palette. You shouldn’t be able to see the paper at all at this point.
Step 5: Now, with the duplicate journal card layer selected, change the blend mode for the layer to multiply. Like magic, you should see the details of the journal card and the paper below it.
Step 6: Once I had done this, I saw that I needed to preposition the paper a bit. I also resized the paper so that “the sweet life” would be inside one of the circles.
Step 7: I wanted to add a bit more color, so I chose another card from Emily’s The Sweet Life set, and layered it on top of my work and changed the blend mode to multiply once again.
Step 8: I still thought it was missing something, so I opened Amy’s Mended Circles and resized and added one of the stitches to my card.
And here it is in my Week 21 layout!
A couple other Pollys have tried this technique too. In this first one, Dalis blended the journal card with a paper to create the funky brushed background.
In this layout, Trista blended a wood pattern paper onto the pinwheel journal card. How sweet is that heart in the wood grain!
On this layout, Trista blended the Hello summer card with the lemon card to make one card. I also blended the sun card with the awesome card.
In this hybrid layout, Sarah blended some great cards from Krista and some papers from Kaye
Blending cards can be a great way to extend the use of the cards and papers you already have.
Have you tried blending your journal cards and papers before?
Pam says
Wow! This is fantastic. I will definitely be trying this. Thanks for the step by step directions.
mirjam says
Wow Aaron what a fantastic turorial and I absolutely love the look of the paper you created. It totally ROCKS!!!