A blog devoted to the cards I make in my tiny upstairs space. When my sister stays there, she calls it an "artist's garret". I'm not an artist, but am an enthusiastic cardmaker - hence the title "Cardmaker's Garret".
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Sunday 2 April 2017

Pink and Green Tulips

The CAS Watercolour challenge for April is a colour challenge:


Very appropriate colours for this time of year, I think, as I immediately thought of lovely bunches of pink tulips.  So that inspired my card.


It is so much fun being on the Design Team for CAS Watercolour.  It's really making me explore all the different ways of doing watercolouring.  For this card, I turned to Heather Telford's tutorial here of colouring the image with Distress stains and then pulling the colour inside the lines with a brush and water.

Doing it in the MISTI makes it so much easier.  I inked up my outline stamp of tulips with three shades of pink and and two of green Distress stains, and then stamped onto hot press watercolour paper.  I took my paint brush and water and pulled the stains into the image to fill them in, add shading, etc.  I lost a bit too much of the outline so, when dry, I reinked the stamp with the same stains (luckily I'd left it in the MISTI - if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to do this step) and restamped.

I watered down a bit of one of the green stains and did a tiny bit of splattering.  I trimmed the image down with a stitched rectangle die.  Then I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment on vellum and cut it out with a banner die.  The panel is popped up on fun foam.

Since this was a new technique to me, I wasn't totally happy with my first attempt.  It wasn't bad enough to toss so I turned it into a card too.  Here it is:


I used a bit too much water on it which makes the flowers look a bit too faded out, and I restamped the image while the flowers were still wet so even my restamping bled out a bit.  I also added more splatter and a different sentiment treatment.  I like this version, but prefer the one above.  How about you?

You have until April 24th to join in at CAS Watercolour.  Please be sure to follow the parameters of the challenge - your card must include watercolour of some sort, have a colour scheme of pink and green, and be CAS (clean and simple).

For more inspiration, check out the other cards by the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Marcia of Marcia K Designs.






Supplies:
Stamps - Technique Tuesday Tulips, Stampendous sentiment
Ink - Versafine Olympic Green (sentiment on first card), Distress Peeled Paint (sentiment on second card)
Paper - white cs, hot press watercolour paper, vellum
Size - A2
Accessories - Distress Stains (Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Spun Sugar, Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick), Lil Inker stitched rectangle die, banner die, clear embossing powder, fun foam



8 comments:

  1. Hi Susan, I like your 1st version the best..very sharp image and so very pretty, but your 2nd one was definitely fine to finish into a card...a more loose watercolour look. TFS both your beauties Susan and your step by step technique. Hugs...

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  2. Isn't it fun learning new techniques along the way? Heather is such a great inspirational and talented crafter x Great colour combination and thank goodness for the Misti as it's such a good idea to re-stamp the image. Both cards are gorgeous x

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  3. Great job with this technique, Susan!! Both version of beautiful, but I do like the second version best. The colours are brighter and happier. :) And I like the vellum banner as well. It didn't take you very long to master this technique. xx

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  4. You were going to throw this away? It's magnificent, Susan, particularly the gorgeous highlights on those tulips! I have not tried the distress stains yet as I always seem to leave them too juicy. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  5. Great take on Heather's technique. I love them both and especially like the darker shades of the second one and all the extra splatters.

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  6. Your tulips are beautiful, Susan! The second attempt really is more polished. I love the tiny splatters and the vellum sentiment! Your first attempt was definitely a keeper!

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  7. gorgeous Spring card mf...fun trying new techniques. I too struggle at times with the amount of water to add, it can make or break a card.
    I think both of your look great.
    xx Karen

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  8. Wonderful spring cards, so lovely.

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