Villainous Blends

The new Distress Ink shade, Villainous Potion, has arrived at The Ink Pad in all its glorious varieties of Ink Pads, Reinkers, Sprays, Paint and Embossing Glaze, and it may actually be the ULTIMATE Purple! My favorite Distress product is Oxide Ink, and my favorite way to get acquainted with a new color is to test out lots of blends with the existing palette to see which combinations will be my favorites. 

I like to use little ATC-sized pieces of cardstock for this exercise, and I take time after each blend to write the color names on the back in the order I used them; having learned that after ten or twelve combinations, I may not remember which red I used on which combo! When all the swatches are completely dry I punch them with my Crop-A-Dile and secure them with a brad or small book ring so that the next time I want to make a background I have some awesome ideas to start me off.

When selecting colors to try together, I generally begin with those closest to the new color and work outwards. With an intense shade like Villainous Potion, that means starting with the deepest Distress colors; and with a purple, the closest "relatives" will be the other purples, the blues and some reds. The closer the colors are in either hue or intensity, the more smoothly and seamlessly they blend. As you move further out, you increase both contrast and drama. In this case, a few "slam dunk" shades you might like to try include Dusty Concord, Wilted Violet and Seedless Preserves... which let you segue into all of the reds and pinks in the line; while Prize Ribbon, Chipped Sapphire and Blueprint Sketch will serve as a bridge into lighter blue shades, as well as greens.

If you're not confident combining colors, I highly (highly!) recommend using a Color Wheel. In the meantime, remembering the order of the spectrum with the acronym ROY G. BIV: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet will at least give you a starting point, as the colors which are next to each other are always analogous, which means they're going to be blend-friendly. 

Here are the exact colors I used for my twelve favorite blends so far; working from top left to bottom right in the photo above; each blend is listed from top to bottom on its card: 1. Carved Pumpkin, Candied Apple, Villainous Potion; 2. Villainous Potion, Blueprint Sketch, Lucky Clover; 3. Villainous Potion, Seedless Preserves, Barn Door; 4. Salvaged Patina, Salty Ocean, Villainous Potion; 5. Broken China, Blueprint Sketch, Villainous Potion; 6. Villainous Potion, Aged Mahogany, Crackling Campfire; 7. Dusty Concord, Villainous Potion, Chipped Sapphire; 8. Kitsch Flamingo, Candied Apple, Villainous Potion; 9. Seedless Preserves, Villainous Potion, Weathered Wood; 10. Speckled Egg, Weathered Wood, Villainous Potion; 11. Rustic Wilderness, Prize Ribbon, Villainous Potion; 12. Pickled Raspberry, Seedless Preserves, Villainous Potion.

But don't take my word for it; grab your very own Villainous Potion Ink, Oxide, Spray, Paint or Embossing Glaze from The Ink Pad and start trying out your own combinations today!