Ombre embossing paste tutorial

Since I posted my favourite cards of 2014 at the end of December, I've had a few emails from crafters asking me how I did the ombre effect on these two cards:

So I decided to do a photo tutorial! 
Here's what you need - a craft mat to work on, cardstock, a stencil (I used the Rain Dance Pattern Stencil from Hero Arts), some tape to keep the stencil in place, Faber Castell / Design Memory Craft Gelatos (I used Raspberry, Red Cherry and Watermelon), embossing paste (mine is from Wendy Vecchi) and a palette knife (not essential, but helpful)

 Start by slicing off a little bit of each of your chosen Gelatos:

Then, put a small amount of embossing paste next to each colour, (not a heap, because it dries out quite quickly, and you don't want to waste it!) and mash them together: 

 Once the palest colour is ready, put it straight onto the stencil and spread out.  Even though I have 3 colours, I covered more than half of the stencil area with the palest colour, which will allow me to blend the colours later:

 Always keep a baby wipe or damp cloth handy to clean the palette knife between colours:

 Continue with the middle colour and then the darkest, overlapping them a bit as you go:

Once all three colours are on the stencil, scrape off any excess, which will allow some blending between the colours.  Remove the stencil and wash in under warm water IMMEDIATELY, or the embossing paste will dry and be almost impossible to remove (ask me how I know!). Leave the cardstock to dry completely before using your textured, ombre panel on a card - here's mine:

I cut the panel down to square and matted it onto some patterned paper from my stash.  I then wrapped a strip of vellum around the panel, and adhered the word "thanks", which I'd cut from some cardstock in a colour that matched the darker colour in the ombre, using a die from Simon Says Stamp.  I adhered the panel to a square card base, and added some sequins for a finishing touch.

I will be submitting this card to Simon Says Stamp's "Something New" challenge - as a couple of the Gelato colours I used today are new - today was their first use!

I'll also be sharing this at Runway Inspired Challenge, as it incorporates pink, ombre and bling!

I hope you found this tutorial useful - thanks so much for visiting, and thanks also for all your lovely comments - I really appreciate them!