Watercolor Comfort

Hello!

Today's card is another sympathy card, and this time I wanted to play with my Gelatos a bit for a soft, watercolor effect.

I first heat embossed the phrase "With Sympanty" in a loose pattern on white card stock and then scribbled a few colors of Gelatos on top.  A few spritzes of water, some rubbing with fingertips, and voila, a soft, watercolor effect layer.  (That blue looks a whole lot darker than it really is.)  I rubbed the color off the the words to help them stand out a bit more.  This is otherwise known as the emboss resist method.  I didn't want this phrase to stand out but to act as more of a subtle watermark on the layer.

I then adhered it to a dry embossed layer in the same color as the base.  No stark contrasts needed on this one.

The center oval was sponged around the edges while still in the die then adhered to a doily diecut.  Pearls adorn the die cut for added elegance, and a soft, seam binding triple bow complete the front.

The inside is kept quite clean with a simple sentiment leaving plenty of room for a personal message.

Thank you for joining me today and I wish you a lovely, joyful day full of that which makes you happy.

Happy crafting!

This card is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Rainbow Butterfly

Hello!

My card today uses a new technique for me, that being a watercolor rainbow effect.  

I have a long standing love affair with shimmer paints, and my background is comprised of them.  First, though, I want to give credit to a good blog friend of mine who made a fabulous card which inspired me to do this rainbow effect.  She is Heather North, and her lovely blog is Creative Blessings, with the rainbow card posted here.  Go check it out - this lady does fabulous work, always crisp, clean yet full of color and lovely texture!  Thanks for the inspiration, Heather! 

First I applied broad bands of regular dye ink to dampened watercolor paper, then I went over them with broad bands of shimmer paints in matching colors, applying them just as I did the inks, with a SU Aquapainter.  The shimmer is out of this world gorgeous IRL.

You can click on the picture to enlarge it and see the shimmer up close and personal. After all that painting and shimmering, I applied the stamp using Staz-On.  I did have to touch up a few spots as stamping on watercolor paper sometimes leaves faint areas, but a Copics multi-liner works quite nicely.

I've kept the rest of the card pretty simple so as to let the shimmery colors take center stage.  A fat little seam binding bow, a flower button, and a simple tag complete this card.

Thank you for joining me today and I wish you a lovely Tuesday!

Happy crafting!

Supplies:

Stamps: Large Swirled Butterfly (The Rubber Cafe); Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU)
Ink: So Saffron, Pretty In Pink, Bashful Blue, Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum (all SU), Staz-On, Tuxedo Black,
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Subtles Stack (SU); watercolor paper
Extras: Creative Inspirations paints (Sage, Mellow Yellow, Blush, Sky Blue, Lavender), hand-dyed seam binding, flower button, Oval Punch and Word Window Punch (SU), Aquapainter (SU).

Challenges entered:

ALOTA#103 - Springtime
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Water
The Pink Elephant TPE 191 - Easter
Love to Create #57 - Anything Goes
Tammy's Scrappin' Corner #54 - Easter
The Ribbon Reel #49 - Spring Cottage
Frosted Designs - Up, Up and Away
My Sheri Crafts #106 - Easter
RRR#68 - Flowers and Ribbon (ok, there's only one flower...)