Friday, February 1, 2008

Watercolored Serenity

I am so excited for you all to see the new set, "Serenity"! Not only are the images beautiful, but the sentiments...for me...are just so timely! It seems that there are so many people in my life needing some encouragement right now. I truly can't think of a more uplifting and heartfelt way to encourage someone, than a card handmade with love!


One of the first things that I wanted to try with this set, is the technique called "Wet Watercolor". I love that this set has a solid image and an "open" image to match...which lend themselves nicely to this techniuqe! :-)




To create this card, I started off with some watercolor paper, markers, & the solid flower image.

First, I used my markers to color directly onto the stamp (Lavender for the flowers and Olive for the stems).


Next, I used a fine mist spritzer and sprayed my watercolor paper. How much you spray your paper will determine how much your ink will run. I like to spray mine until the paper is very damp, but not running off the paper. I then stmaped my already colored image onto the we cardstock, and left it there for a couple of second (this allows the ink to fully transfer and blend).



After my paper was dry (with a little help from my heat tool...LOL!) I then colored the "open" flower image with my markers...this time adding some shading with some coordinating colors (Almost Amethyst and Certainly Celery). Then, instead of spritzing the paper, I sprayed the stamp that I had just colored (you can see the water on the stamp in this photo). I didn't spray as much on the stamp as I did the paper because I don't want the ink to run as much, so it will provide a little bit more definition.



To put the finishing touches on this, I took a wet watercolor brush and "smudged" the image that I had just stamped (this helps to blend the images together a little better), then added some sparkle with my Clear Spica Glitter pen.
After seeing my finished flowers, I felt the patterned paper that I had selected was too "strong"...so I added some vellum cardstock over it to sort of mimic the soft muted blossoms.
Make sure to check back tomorrow...Charmaine will have another "Sneak Peek" for you! ~Laurie
Stamps: Serenity Paper: Watercolor paper, Old Olive, Lavender Lace, Vellum c.s. (Stampin' Up!), Patterned paper (K & Co.)Ink: Old Olive, Old Olive & Lavender Lace markers (Stampin' Up!)Accessories: Ribbon, Olive lace trim, Paper piercer, Clear Spica Glitter Pen, Water Spritzer, Sewing machine, Nestabilities