Monday, February 29, 2016

Watercolour Background for Technique Nights


This month my Technique Night Classes are focusing on watercolour background techniques. I needed some samples and today's card is one of them. I am so excited with how this project turned out. I knew I wanted to stamp the fern images on moistened watercolour paper and let the images bleed and run a little, but I wasn't sure just how much water to use and whether or not I should also spritz the ink on the stamp . Luckily, watercolour can be forgiving and I learned quickly what would work to give you the best effect.

I love how the corrugated kraft paper behind the images adds to the jungle feeling of the card. It reminds me of a jungle hut built with bamboo or something.

I just realized that the layout is a mirror image of Freshly Made Sketches Challenge this week:

I don't want to explain too much about how this is made, as it will be shown to my classes, but here's a closer look:


  • I had quite the time selecting the background paper for this card. I had many different samples but nothing looked quite right. I even did a Skype consult with my daughter and she had the same reservations about the DSP samples I showed her. Finally she said, "What about Crumb Cake, or kraft?" And then I knew I wanted to use the Kraft Corrugated Paper, which is one of my favourites anyway. I don't know why it didn't occur to me right away.
  • Yay for Wink of Stella! It was a quick, no fuss way of making my dragonfly iridescent!
  • The ferns and foliage are from images in Butterfly Basics and Awesomely Artistic Stamp sets. And I used many shades of green layered over each other, including Mossy Meadow, Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz.
  • The sentiment is from the set, Enjoy the Little Things, which coordinates with the Kit of the same name.
Hope you had a great weekend! I got a lot done, which felt wonderful and my hubby and I had a bit of a Broadchurch binge. What a great show that is! I'm hooked!





Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.

Product List

Friday, February 26, 2016

A Technique I've Never Tried for As You See It Challenges


Well, I have a confession to make! As I prepared my Design Team project for As You See It Challenges, I was almost certain that we were supposed to use a technique that we've never used before. Then, as I posted it on the challenge blog, I saw that I was way off base. We were supposed to use a sentiment that we love. Ahem! I had already spent hours on the no line watercolouring technique and I wasn't about to start over, especially as I had been fighting a migraine all day. Fortunately, the stamp set I had chosen to use with my watercolouring, Birthday Blooms, has some really lovely sentiments, so while they may not be my favourite sentiments, they are ones that I love.



Keep in mind, I thought this was supposed to be a technique I've never tried before, so I have never done 'no line watercolouring' until today. I'm no expert, but I did have expert help with this tutorial from Splitcoaststampers. I have more to learn and lots to practise, but I'm fairly pleased with the results.


  • For no line watercolour, basically, you stamp your image in a really light ink and then use watercolour techniques to fill it in. I stamped the image from Birthday Blooms in Sahara Sand.
  • To do the watercolouring, I used Stampin' Up! inks and a good watercolour paintbrush that I received for Christmas. Watermelon Wonder, Mint Macaron and Delightful Dijon, all 2015-17 In Colours, formed my palette.
  • The key to successful watercolouring seems to be laying down colour in layers and drying or setting them with your Heat Tool in between layers. I think you'll have the best results if you want to try this technique, by watching the Splitcoaststamper's tutorial and following her directions. Give it a try! It's fun!
  • If you know this stamp image, I cut off some of the tiny leaf sprigs when I fussy cut the image because they were so tiny to properly water colour, and hard to snip out. You don't really miss them, I think.




Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.


Product List