Peaceful Sympathy

Hello friends!  Today I am sharing several cards on the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog and thought I would share one of them here. 

Creative Nugget:  A stencil mono printing technique found  on Karen Dunbrook's Blog was used as the inspiration for the background in the left corner.  Oxide inks were applied to the back of a stencil, spritzed with water and pressed onto a heavy piece of card stock.  Several prints, each getting a little lighter, were obtained by continuing to spritz and press onto different pieces of card stock.  More colors were added by turning the stencil slightly as each layer was added.  The same Oxide Ink colors used for the mono printing were applied to my craft mat and spritzed with water.  The craft mat was then used as a stamp pad to apply ink to a peony stamp which was used to randomly stamp another piece of card stock.  A sentiment was very lightly stamped over the flowers to finish the background.  The inks on the craft mat also became a paint palette for watercoloring the focal image.  The sympathy greeting was white embossed on a cut vellum banner and stitched to the card.  The design of the card came from Freshly Made Sketches.

These stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps were used for the card above:

This card will be submitted for the following challenges:

Freshly Made Sketches 312

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #267 - Make Your Mark

Love to Craft Challenge Blog #16 - Anything Goes

Time Out Challenge #96 - CASE with a Twist

Thanks so much for stopping by...have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,

Cathy

Happy Birthday, Korin!

My sweet friend Korin, owner of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, celebrated her birthday yesterday.  This card was created for her!

Creative Nugget:  Diluted Oxide inks were used to add a wash of color to the corner of the card.  This was over stamped with Leafy Flourish and Typewriter Text backgrounds and splattered with some black acrylic paint.  Strips of Washi tape were adhered to the card front off center.  The Majestic Monarch butterfly was embossed over strips of the same Washi tape and cut with the coordinating Monarch Die.  The sentiment from the Keep in Touch, Too set was stamped on a banner and added to the card. Tiny Sparkles, metallic threads and twine were added to finish the card.  All of the stamps used are available at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.

This card will be submitted for the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #236 - Anything Goes

Simon Wednesday Challenge - Happy Birthday

Catch the Bug Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Speckled

Crafty Girls Creations Challenge 35 - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Looks like a crafty day today...rain, rain, rain!

Hugs,

Cathymac

Watercolor Resist Tutorial

Hello sweet friends…it's Monday and that means it's time for a Design Diva Demo over at the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog!  It's my turn to share so I thought I would share here as well.   At the end of this month our church is having a women's retreat.  I'll be rooming with two precious ladies from our church, so I decided to make a set of notecards for each of them.  
  I love trying new techniques and the one I'm going to share with you today is the watercolor resist technique I used to make my set of notecards.

Start by gathering the supplies you need to make the notecards.  Choose colors and papers that coordinate.  I'm using Bo Bunny papers and the rose image from the new Parisian Postcard stamp set by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps.

Supplies: Neenah Solar Crest Card Stock, Watercolor Paper, Designer Paper,
Matching Card Stock, Stamp Sets, VersaMark Ink Pad, Black Stamp Pad,
White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool,Watercolors or Ink Refills, Border Die,
paint brushes, twine
(Optional: Sewing Machine, Embossing Folder, Iron)

To prepare the card bases cut Neenah Solar Crest card stock to 4 1/4" x 11" and score at 5 1/2".

Cut watercolor paper into panels measuring 4" x 5 1/4".  I used Strathmore Cold Press Watercolor Paper for my project which has a smooth side and a textured side, but any watercolor paper or mixed media paper would work for this technique.

Stamp the rose from the Parisian Postcard stamp set on the smooth side of the watercolor paper with VersaMark ink and emboss with white embossing powder.  You could also use clear powder if you don't have white.  I plan where I want the stamping to go on a scrap piece of paper and use a stamp positioner to make sure the image is in the same place on all four cards.  Rub an embossing buddy over the watercolor paper before stamping to make sure the embossing powder sticks only where you want it to stick.  Click on any of the pictures to see a close up of the details.

Since these watercolors are new to me, I wanted to test the colors on scrap pieces of watercolor paper to make sure they would match my papers.

Now comes the fun part.  Use plain water to wet the areas where you want the color to be and drop the color you are using onto the wet area using a paint brush.  The water and the paint do all the work.  Start with the lightest color and keep adding darker layers for shading.  I am using a set of Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors, but you can use any watercolor set, distress inks, or stamp pad refills to do this step.  The embossing will resist the watercolor.  Don't be afraid to go outside the lines for a softer look.

Wait until each area is dry before moving onto the next part.  The flowers were dry before moving onto the leaves, and the background and splatters were added last.  Too much water can be dabbed off with a paper towel.  Remember…watercolors will dry lighter than they look while wet.  Each of my cards will be a different color.

I put my panels between two pieces of copy paper and ironed off some of the embossing to cut down on the shine.  If you decide to do this step, be sure to turn off the steam on your iron.  At this point, you can dry emboss your watercolored panels for extra texture if you want.  I used a Canvas Impression Plate on mine.  Now it's time to assemble the cards...I used one of my favorite layouts.  Cut border strips of DP to 1 1/4" x 5 1/4" and die cut matching pieces of card stock using the 

Doily Border Die.

Attach the Doily Border to the DP strip and mount this to the left side of the watercolored panels.  I decided to stitch mine on since I love to sew on cards.

Now it's time for the finishing touches.  Sponge your edges.  Wrap some twine twice around the watercolor panel before attaching it to your card base.  The sentiments I used came from the fabulous Keep in Touch, Too stamp set which has tons of greetings perfect for any occasion.  The really cool thing about this sentiment set is that all the sentiments fit on one of the new Banner Dies!  Add a little twine bow and the cards are finished!

Wrap the finished cards in ribbon or package them however you want to give as a gift.  I made a little card purse to put mine in, but that is another tutorial for another time!  LOL!

Here are the supplies from the Sweet 'n Sassy Store that were used to 

make these cards:

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial.

Thanks so much for stopping by…have a marvelous Monday!

Hugs,

Cathymac