Easy Ink Smooshing Backgrounds with Cloud 9 Inks & the Stencil Deck

 Hello lovely crafters!

Today I’m sharing one of my favourite ways to create quick, vibrant backgrounds using the brand‑new (for me!) Cloud 9 Inks and the Stencil Deck from Lisa Horton Crafts. These two products work beautifully together and make the whole process fun, relaxed, and wonderfully creative.

I started by taking a closer look at the Stencil Deck. It comes in a compact little box filled with 52 different stencil designs, and I love how easy it is to flip through them and find exactly the pattern I need. There’s everything from delicate florals to bold geometrics, so no matter what mood your background has, there’s always something that fits.

Next, I moved on to the Cloud 9 Inks - both the matte colours and the gorgeous Interference range. The matte inks blend smoothly and stay beautifully vibrant, while the Interference shades add a soft, magical shimmer that changes depending on the paper you use. On white cardstock they look fresh and bright, and on black they transform into glowing metallic tones. It’s such a lovely effect.

With the colours ready, it was time for one of my favourite techniques: ink smooshing. It’s simple, playful, and always full of surprises. I pressed the ink pads onto my glass mat, added a generous spritz of water, and gently tapped my cardstock into the colour. Every tap creates new shapes and textures, and no two backgrounds ever look the same. I created several different versions - warm, cool, soft, bold - and each one had its own personality.

Once the backgrounds were dry, I brought the Stencil Deck back in to add a little extra detail. For the softer, dreamy colours, I chose delicate patterns that wouldn’t overpower the texture. For the bolder pieces, I reached for more geometric designs to make everything pop. A light layer of ink through a stencil is often all you need to bring the whole background to life.

If you’d like to see the full process step by step, you can watch my video tutorial here:
Easy Ink Smooshing Backgrounds You’ll Love!

I hope this inspires you to play with colour, experiment with new combinations, and enjoy the creative process. Let me know which background or stencil design was your favourite — I always love hearing from you.

Happy crafting!
Natalia xxx