Monday, April 6, 2015

Happy Birthday To You

Hello Friends! I plan to keep coloring a little something every day. I may not post it, but I will share it eventually when it gets on a card. Today, I have a card share. I did a little watercoloring. I am still learning the ins and outs of my Gansai Tambi watercolors, so bear with me, while I practice. I have seen some lovely samples on the Internet using these watercolors and my goal is to master them and produce something that I can be proud of. Sooo it's practice, practice, practice.



For my card today, I die cut a piece of Strathmore watercolor paper with a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle die. Then I inked up the Stampin' Up! Pleasant Poppies stamp with Versamark ink, stamped it onto my watercolor paper, sprinkled on WOW White Pearl Super Fine embossing powder and heat set it. I let that cool for a bit. Then using Painters Tape, I taped it to my watercolor board and began painting. I used very diluted paints for this piece. I was going for light and airy.



Try as I might, I could not get a good photograph of this card! It really does look better in real life.
The colors are very soft and delicate. Not nearly as harsh as they appear on my laptop screen. After I let the piece dry, I mounted it onto a piece of Fun Foam. I have seen Jennifer McGuire do this and thought I would give it a go. I will probably not do that again. I like how sturdy it makes the card and there are no sagging spots,so that's a plus. What I don't like, is how high the focal piece sits. I don't know if Fun Foam comes in different thicknesses, I just used what I had on hand. I can see this working out just great for a shaker card, though.

Next,I stamped my greeting onto a strip of Neenah Desert Storm card stock, using Versamark ink, covered that with Hero Arts White embossing powder and heat set it. I clipped a banner end on one side and then adhered that straight down on my focal piece. Then, I went nuts with sequins again. I just love the Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh. They are like little light seekers to me. And their sparkle is so pretty.
 
And that is it for today. Thank you so much for stopping by! I appreciate the visit.

Blessings~


supplies~ 
stamps: Pleasant Poppies(Stampin' Up!)  Greeting: Handwritten Notes(Avery Elle)
card stock: Neenah Desert Storm(Simon Says Stamp)
specialty paper: 140lb Cold Press Watercolor Paper(Strathmore)
ink: Versamark(Tsukineko)
dies: Stitched Rectangle(Simon Says Stamp)
bling: 4mm Sparkling Clear sequins(Pretty Pink Posh)
coloring medium: Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolors(Kuretake)
other: White Pearl Super Fine embossing powder (WOW)  White embossing powder(Hero Arts)

2 comments:

Jeanne said...

Ooooh, this looks so pretty, Barb! I think you were quite successful in achieving a light and airy look to the card. Good for you for continuing the color challenge. I'm glad to see even you mention you need to practice, practice, practice. You make it look so easy I don't think of you as needing to do that. :) This is beautiful! As for fun foam, I do believe it does come in different thicknesses. I wanted to try the same thing on one of my cards, but...I'd have to actually make one first! LOL Hope you have a great week!

Sheila H said...

This is so beautiful, Barb. Your skills as an artist are top notch.