Dip Dye Background

Kelly Rasmussen

Today I'm bringing the popular dip dye trend to cardmaking! It's always fun to take trends you see in other areas like fashion, hair and home decor and find ways to adapt them to work on cards using basic crafting supplies.

To create the dip dye background I started with an A2-sized light grey piece of cardstock and used painter's tape to create a 1/4" border all the way around. Then I used a sponge and Unicorn Pigment Ink to ink up the entire rectangle. Next I sponged Emerald Green Ink from the bottom of the panel to create  a gradient of color. Since the white ink is a pigment ink and stays wet for a while, I was able to go back in with the white ink and blend it with the green to create a very smooth transition of color.

After I removed the tape and the ink was dry, I die cut the Very Merry Tree Fancy Die from the panel. I created a card base using Woodgrain Cardstock and adhered my die cut panel to the front of the card. I think the woodgrain pattern showing through the die is such a fun touch!

Finally, I die cut some gold stars using the Star Confetti Fancy Die to add a star to the top of my tree. The confetti dies that Hero Arts offers are great for creating those tiny embellishments to finish off your cards.

Hope you enjoyed this cool dip dye background technique and find fun ways to use it in your crafting!


  • Gale Thompson

    Love it! Fresh and different!

  • Lynn Wallick

    Love the ombre effect and love the die cut more!

  • Teri S.

    Beautiful card Kelly! CAS & that great msg incorporated into the tree is all you need on the front of the card. I thank you for teaching me a new way to try & make a smooth gradient background. I’m going to bookmark this so I can refer back to it.

  • Anne S

    Beautiful card. I love the simplicity and elegance. The dip technique is one I plan to incorporate in lots of future cards.

  • ERIKA RUSCH

    This looks like a fun tree die. And I love the shading on the card

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