YOU MAKE ME SMILE

Here is another watercolour inspired card, using a wet watercolour technique.  I simply lay water on my card (I used Shimmery White) from corner to corner, then picked up some Crisp Cantaloupe ink with my aqua brush and loosely painted it on, allowing it to run.  I then added Coastal Cabana and then Perfect Plum ink in the same fashion.

I was careful not to let the inks mingle too much, by mopping up large pools of colour with a paper towel.  I wanted the colours to mix a little, but not get muddy.  I love the washy colours, but wanted a really bold sentiment and then added a few sequins to finish.  This card was heavily influenced by one I saw on Pinterest and thought I had pinned.  Of course, I can't find it now!!  Thank you whoever you are ♥

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WATERCOLOUR DAHLIA

Continuing on with my love affair with watercolours, I have a super cool, easily achievable technique to share with you.
I am having a lot of fun trying all sorts of watercolour techniques at the moment.  This is one of the easier ones and only takes a minute to do, but the effects are no less pleasing.

I used the Regarding Dahlia's flower image for this card, a stamp set I haven't used in a while, what with all the new goodies in the Occasions catalogue to play with.  Don't forget the stamps you already have!  Dust them off and play with them too!  Here's how I did this.............

1.  Ink up the flower image in Crushed Curry ink, then use a Tangerine Tango marker to colour the middle of the stamp.
2.  Spritz your stamp with water and get it fairly wet.  You don't want soaking, but you don't want damp either!
3.  Stamp on Shimmer White cardstock and hold it down for a few seconds, allowing the ink that has pooled on the stamp to soak in.
4.  Let this dry completely before finishing your card.

I then finished my card by adding a die cut sentiment using the new Hello You Thinlit Dies and Candy Dots to match.  I love how the colours blend in some places and stay crisp in others.

You may be wondering why I used Shimmery White card and not watercolour paper.  Well, let me tell you!  As much as I love the SU watercolour paper, it is heavily textured and not a true white.  Whisper White card is too thin and tends to warp when it gets too wet.  I wanted a white card that would withstand a fair amount of water.  Shimmery White card fits the bill perfectly.  The bonus, of course, is the subtle shimmer on the card afterwards.

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If you would like to order one or more of the items I used to create today's project, simply click on the items above to be taken to my Online Store. If you live anywhere in New Zealand, I would love to be your Demonstrator. Please allow "Demonstrator contact" so I can thank you properly when you place your order!

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND A LITTLE BIT OF THAT........

Everything about this post will be little, including, hopefully, the length!  For this project I have used a Note card instead of a full card, a single stamp, instead of a set, and kept my colours to a subtle minimum.

I used the new Blendabilities colours available in the Occasions catalogue to colour the Tulips.  A little piece of scrunched up DSP and a little bit of twine is the only embellishment to finish a simple little project.  Told you this post would be "little", lol!

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If you would like to order one or more of the items I used to create today's project, simply click on the items above to be taken to my Online Store. If you live anywhere in New Zealand, I would love to be your Demonstrator. Please allow "Demonstrator contact" so I can thank you properly when you place your order!

WATERCOLOUR SHIMMER

I have been taking a class, Watercolor for Card Makers, to learn different ways to achieve a watercolour effect.  Watercolour being hugely on trend right now.  While I appreciate those who can paint in any medium, I really like techniques that are effortless and quick, but make it look like you spent hours at it and know what you are actually doing, lol!!  This technique was taught by Laura Bassen, a favourite card maker of mine.

I used Shimmery White cardstock instead of Watercolour paper.  It helped cut down on texture so the subtle shimmer on this cardstock could show through.  I love how I was able to get the SU ink to move on this card and make them act very much like Distress inks.  I was also able to add spots of water that removed some of the ink when I mopped them up again.  Love how this simple card turned out!  To finish it off I just added a simple die cut word from the Hello You Thinlit die.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

If you would like to order one or more of the items I used to create today's project, simply click on the items above to be taken to my Online Store. If you live anywhere in New Zealand, I would love to be your Demonstrator. Please allow "Demonstrator contact" so I can thank you properly when you place your order!

BLOOM ON YOUR BIRTHDAY

I want to share a very feminine birthday card with you today using one of the gorgeous Hostess only sets available in the Stampin' Up! main Idea book and Catalogue, called Bloom with Hope.  Oops, I mean "I like You".  Thanks to one of my likers for pointing that out!

Once again I pulled out my Blendabilities to colour this gorgeous card after first stamping the floral images with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.

You can see a subtle shadow around the outside of the flowers, which I achieved first by tracing the outline with a coloured Blendie and then going over it again with my Colour Lifter.  This really softens the harsh colour outline and creates a beautiful soft shadow.

No card is complete without decoration on the inside too!  I finished it simply with another bloom rather than a sentiment, coloured the same way as the front.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

If you would like to order one or more of the items I used to create today's project, simply click on the items above to be taken to my Online Store. If you live anywhere in New Zealand, I would love to be your Demonstrator. Please allow "Demonstrator contact" so I can thank you properly when you place your order!