Scribble Your Own Sentiment Watercolored Card

Hello. I am participating in Avery Elle's challenge. I only work around a stamp and a die set when I join their challenges. I always wish I have more stamps to choose from but I got to work with what I have.

For the background, using a watercolor paper, I stamped the paint strip to create a striped background. This was die cut using the curvy metal die. I stamped the cardbase with the same paint strip. I was planning on a tone on tone effect but despite cleaning the stamp, the blue ink stayed on creating gray instead of yellow. I had to clean up the ink pad right away by dabbing a rag on the contaminated spot. 

For this card, I want to extend the use of the die by creating a flower. After die cutting several pieces of watercolor paper which will serve as the petals, I watered each piece, then applied watercolor, allowing the water to move the color. I dabbed off the excess color since I want to create shading with the darkest part at the tip of petal. I heat dry the petal. If I am not happy with the blending, I just water it down, dab and/or add more paint. 

I stamped the sentiment on a watercolor paper. I masked the word birthday because I want to create a mother's day card which is next month. Got to be ready! Plus, I have so many birthday cards stashed in my Creative Cuts box. I stamped this with Tim Holtz Distress Ink Antique Linen so I can watercolor this, too. I used a Wink of Luna Copper to highlight the sentiment. I brushed it on areas I want dark on the sentiment then used a water brush to blend it in. I used a circle die to cut this out. 

I wrote the 'Mother's Day' using the same brush pen since I don't have an Avery Elle sentiment with this message. I practiced on scratch paper before I wrote on the actual piece. I watercolored the edges using the same technique I used with the petals. I spritz this with a Prima Color Bloom in white. I can't really see much effect except on the 'Happy' sentiment. It lightened it but kept the rest of the sentiment crisp. I die cut a slightly larger circle using vellum. I adhered the circled sentiment on the vellum.

The petals are tricky to arrange. It took a couple of rearranging before I got happy with how it looks. After the petals were adhered to the back of the circle, I used a transparent 3D tape to one end of the petal to slightly raise it. The flower was adhered to the panel using foam adhesive. The panel is adhered to the cardbase. 

I added dots of Glossy Accents to create a water droplet effect.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Maria Giselle B.

Supplies used:

Stamp: Avery Elle Brushed Clear

Die: Avery Elle Custom Panel

Ink: Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Antique Linen, Broken China, Wink of Luna Copper, Hero Arts Shadow Ink Soft Yellow

I am submitting this creation to the following challenge:

http://aeiheartuchallenge.blogspot.com/2015/04/aeiu-challenge-23watercolor.html

http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-clean-and-simple/

Watercolored Pastel Card

I got my inspiration for this cards from several video tutorials I have watched lately. The flowers are die cuts that are watercolored, inspired by a video by Shari Caroll (http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/blog/10-ways-to-watercolor/). I used Kuretake Gansai to paint these flowers. This watercolor set has vibrant colors. To create pastels, I had to mix the each color with plenty of white until I achieve the pastel color I want. I used a white Signo Broad pen to draw lines on the flower, and dots on the center for added detail.

For the background, I prepped a watercolor paper with an anti-static tool I stamped the Paper Smooches Hip To Be Square using Versamark ink. I applied white embossing powder, then heat set it.  I got the idea of the color from another Shari Caroll video (http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/blog/multi-medium-art-journal-page/). I love the Tim Holtz colors she used. I wished I have the mini distress ink pads so I can try Shari's 'Walk and Wiggle' technique from her video mentioned above. Well, I got to work with what I have so I used my regular Distress Ink pads. I inked each color on my craft sheet, spritz it with water, then rub the embossed background watercolor paper onto it. I did this a couple of times until I got the blended look I am trying to achieve.

I ironed off the embossing which I got the idea from a Sandy Allnock video (http://ellenhutson.typepad.com/the_classroom_new/2015/03/bokeh-flowers.html). I used the Mama Elephant Borderline Trios to cut the curve on the watercolor paper where the flowers will be adhered. The watercolored background was adhered on a light pink cardstock. The flowers were popped-up using dimensional tape. I stamped a simple 'For You' sentiment from Paper Smooches Denim and Daisies using a Tim Holtz Vintage Photo. I thought that I can stamp over the ironed-off background impression but I guess not even if you emboss this with clear powder. Since there were gaps on the impression of the sentiment, I used a brown marker to fill in these gaps. 

Thanks for viewing my blog.

Maria Giselle B.

I am submitting this creation to the following:

• http://papersmoochessparks.blogspot.com/2015/04/theres-still-time.html

• http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/?p=2568