Sunday, October 1, 2017

Tranquil Pines for a Peace Filled Holiday Season


Today's card is my October creation for the Mix It Up Challenge Blog where "anything goes", but we also have an optional theme of "Watercolors" this month and I used sketch #340 from Try Stampin' on Tuesday where the optional theme was "Petite Patterns".


This card is made on a top folded vertical white A2 card base and the pattern papers from my stash were chosen for their colors and because of the "Petite Patterns" they showcased -I think they came from SU.  The metallic layer is a pretty platinum and I think it came from Creative Memories at one time. The stamp set is another oldie from Stampin' Up too. As you may be able to tell, I have had a hard time parting with these gorgeous holiday stamp sets over the years, lol. It's hard to make holiday cards when it is still so hot outside, but I know that if I don't start now, I will never get them all done!


Since the technique of the month at MIUCB is watercoloring, I tried out something that I've been wanting to do for quite a while now...I applied the Distress Ink colors directly from the inkpad onto the stamp, stamped it onto the watercolor paper and then blended the ink like watercolor paints using a waterbrush. I was really pleased with how nicely the ink moved on the watercolor paper and love how it turned out!


Then I re-stamped the image using Versamark ink and heat embossed it using Holographic powder to give it a gorgeous sparkle and shine. I then watercolored the sky and the shadows using Distress Inks.


I love how the inks watercolor blended so nicely, yet still maintained a good bit of the images stamped details!


To stamp the sentiment, I used a post-it note to mask off the bottom of the saying before I inked it up so that I could capture just the first line for the card front...trimmed it out and popped it up with mini foam dots. I wish the photo would capture the sparkle better, but you can catch a glimpse at the top of  the largest pine in this picture.


Inside I masked the sentiment again -doing the reverse this time and masking the top part so that I could stamp only the bottom two lines and watercolor washed a little blue behind the dove. The embossing I did on the dove tells the story of why I now have ordered myself a Stamp-a-Majig after 15+ years of having resisted doing so, lol. The re-stamping with the versamark was much harder to line up than the card front because I didn't have the edges of the paper to use as my guide -hence it is waaay off, lol! Oh well, it just adds to the hand-made charm of the card and makes it look like the dove is in motion, right? - at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it, lol!


Until next time~



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