Struggling with Loose Watercolouring

CAS Mix Up wants "loose watercolouring" this month.  It's not something I'm very good at but I've given it a whirl.  Here are a couple of my attempts (and an extra card that is not loose).

I stamped and heat embossed the wildflowers in platinum - that normally keeps the watercolour painting inside the lines but in this case I started by putting down a lot of water - enough that it went outside of the embossed lines.  I added dabs of orange and yellow watercolour paints and let some of it overflow outside of the flowers.

While I had the stamp and supplies out, I did a second one but did my normal "inside the lines" watercolouring - so much easier for me to do.  I think it's a holdover from my childhood when I worked so hard at learning to paint inside the lines in my colouring books!

I made it into a very plain simple card and am feeling so-so about it.  Maybe it's just too much the "old style" of card I used to make and not interesting enough for what I like to do now!!!

My other attempt at loose watercolouring is this one:

 

I put the poppies stamp in my MISTI and inked up the flowers with an orange Tombow marker and the stems in green, spritzed the stamp and stamped on watercolour paper.  With a wet brush I pulled the orange out of the stamped lines and went in with a couple of other shades of orange markers and a wet brush.  By the time I was done, I'd lost all the lines and definition of the flowers so put the paper back in the MISTI and restamped the flowers with a dark brown ink.  Not sure how I feel about this but I finished it off as a birthday card for a friend who loves orange.

Will I do much loose watercolouring in future?  Maybe, but maybe not.  I love watercolouring images for my cards but I think I'm too rigid or particular to really go with the looser style!  But I loved having the CAS Mix Up challenge to make me try a couple of techniques I wouldn't otherwise have tried!

So an interesting day of making three cards, none of which thrill me.  I'll be back to Christmas cards with my next post and hopefully feeling more confident!

CAS Mix-Up

 

 

Supplies for card 1 and 2:
Stamps - Indigo Blue wildflowers, SU sentiment on card 2
Ink - ColorBox Gold
Paper - watercolour paper, cream cs, dull gold shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, platinum embossing powder, fun foam, SU label punch on card 2

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Penny Black poppies, SU sentiment
Ink - Archival Potting Soil
Paper - watercolour paper, cream and dark brown cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Tombow markers, MFT wonky stitched rectangle die, Spellbinders tag die, twine, fun foam, gems

Stencil Monoprint with Berries

A very last minute card for CAS Mix Up - I really wanted to get one done as I like the stencil monoprint technique.

I used a never-before-used stencil.  I swiped three green Distress inks over it, spritzed with water, and flipped it onto watercolour paper.  I pressed down gently with a rag and then lifted the stencil off.

I trimmed out the part I liked best, framed it with a pierced rectangle frame die cut, and with dark red shimmer cs, I punched out tiny circles to add to the berries and die cut "joy".

In hindsight, I wish I'd used a brighter, lighter red, but too late now!

CAS Mix Up

NBUS Challenge

Supplies:
Ink - Distress Rustic Wilderness, Mowed Lawn, Crushed Olive
Paper - watercolour paper, cream cs, dark red shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Simon Says Stamp "berries and leaves" stencil, single hole punch, TH joy die, MFT pierced frame die

Autumn Coloured Sympathy

CAS Mix Up has a watercolour challenge "Autumn Colours".  I made a sympathy card using autumn colours as I don't need any actual autumn cards.

I'm trying to use my older SU sets to be sure I want to keep them (I really am trying to weed out stuff I don't use!).  I've decided this set will be a keeper.

I used Distress inks, stamping the outlines first. When I stamped the filler stamps, I inked them then spritzed lightly with water to get a paler colour and a more watercolour look.

I split my panel in three and mounted on fun foam on a kraft card base to continue with the autumn colours theme.

CAS Mix Up Watercolour Challenge

 

Supplies:
Stamps - SU Simply Soft, Great Impressions sentiment
Ink - various brown Distress inks, Archival Potting Soil
Paper - kraft and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - fun foam

Stamping Through a Stencil

Squeaking in under the wire for the CAS Mix Up challenge "Stamping Through a Stencil".

I made two cards, both using a stencil of bare-branched trees that my dear friend, Loll, made for me on her Cricut.

In both cases, I sponged various Distress inks through the stencil and then stamped the two deer through the stencil for the first card and a text / snowflake background stamp through the stencil of the second one.

I added a white heat embossed sentiment banner to the first, bordered it with brown cs, and popped it up on fun foam.

For the second, I added a die cut Santa and his reindeer (cut twice and glued together for more substance).

I enjoyed the technique and will do it again for sure.

CAS Mix Up

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Studio Light reindeer, Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - various Distress inks, ColorBox white
Paper - Gina K white cs, brown cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - homemade tree stencil, white embossing powder, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - unknown text / snowflake background stamp
Ink - various Distress inks
Paper - Gina K white cs, dark grey cs
Size - A2
Accessories - homemade tree stencil, Frantic Stamper Santa's Sleigh die

Blue Birds Chirping in Birch Trees

This card came together after playing around with inks and stencils.

I made a mixed media background with oxide and regular Distress inks, smooshing and spritzing with water, then adding a couple of stencils and a couple of stamps.

I die cut the birds and birch trees twice, watercoloured the birds dark blue, added a bit of watercoloured shading to the trees, and layered the two layers together to add dimension.

Instead of a sentiment, I used a Tim Holtz clippings sticker.

It's for the Color Throwdown Challenge:

And for CAS Mix Up (watercolouring with anything that flies):

 

 

Supplies:
Stamps - various mixed media stamps
Ink - various blue and grey Distress and Distress Oxide inks
Paper - mixed media cs, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - TCW stencils, Tim Holtz sentiment sticker, birch and bird dies

Paper Pieced Poinsettia

I don't do very much paper piecing - but should do as it's a great way to use up scraps of dp!  I did this card using two different dps:

I stamped the poinsettia image three times - once on white cs, once on the burgundy starry dp, and once on the mottled dp.  Then I fussy cut and paper pieced the dp over the white stamped image.  I layered it over a dry embossed background, popped that up on fun foam, and die cut the "joy" sentiment (once out of the mottled dp and once out of white cs and glued them together to give the dp more substance.  For embellishment, I added white pearls to the centre of the poinsettia.

Off it goes to:

CAS Mix Up - "Paper Piecing" - I have paper piecing, stamping, die cutting, and dry embossing.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop "Snippets Challenge" - I used up scraps of dp.

Supplies:
Stamps - Stamp Oasis poinsettia
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - white cs, scraps of two decorative papers
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black "joy" die, Crafts Too embossing folder, fun foam

Die Cut Printed Holly

A card for a bunch of challenges:

I created the background using the technique in this month's CAS Mix Up challenge.  Instructions can be found in this video.

I die cut the long branch of holly, then watercoloured it with different shades of Zig Watercolour markers, spritzed with water, and pressed onto watercolour paper a couple of times.  I then dried my die cut and added it as the focal image.  Stamped the sentiment (it didn't come out that well as my ink was dry), popped the panel up on fun foam on a pale green shimmer card base, and added some gemstones for berries.

Off to these challenges:

CAS Mix Up Watercolour Challenge

 

52 Christmas Card Throwdown 

 

Christmas Kickstart Challenge 

 Jingle Belles "Going Green - Holiday Foliage"

Casology

Supplies:
Stamps - A Muse sentiment
Ink - Memento Cottage Ivy
Paper - watercolour paper, pale green shimmer cs
Size - 6.25x3.5"
Accessories - Memory Box Holly Vine die, fun foam, red gemstones, Zig watercolour markers

Splatters and a Star

I am trying to use some of my older SU stamps in order to decide if I'll keep them or not.  This Christmas star is very versatile so it's definitely going into the "keeper" pile.

I sprayed and splattered the background with gold and copper sprays. For the splattering, I took the top off the container and tapped the tube against a ruler.  I used FlitterGlu and gilding flakes on the star stamp (instead of heat embossing it like I normally do with this stamp) and then fussy cut it, scored it, folded it, and popped it up with foam tape. I put the sentiment on a die cut label.

I'm linking it up at the CAS Mix Up Challenge "Splatters".  I've more than covered off the mixed media requirements - I've got stamping, sprays, splatters, gilding flakes, fussy cutting, scoring, and die cutting!

Supplies:
Stamps - SU Christmas Star, unknown sentiment
Ink - Delicata copper
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - copper and gold sprays, gilding flakes, FlitterGlu, foam tape, Spellbinders label die

Snowflakes, Embossed and Die Cut

I'm playing with snowflakes today.

I dry embossed a piece of vellum with a snowflakes embossing folder.  The embossing seemed to stand out more with a darker background so I put a piece of silver cs behind it.  Then added a silver heat embossed sentiment to a strip of vellum and layered that over it. I die cut a silver cs frame using two rectangle dies and used it to hide the tape that shows through vellum.  I die cut a large snowflake out of glitter cs and a small one out of the silver cs and layered them on top to finish it off.

It's going in last minute card for CAS Mix Up "Embossed Vellum".

 

And it's also for the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Snowflakes" challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps - Old Island Stamp Co. sentiment
Ink - ColorBox silver
Paper - white and silver cs, vellum, glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Embossalicious snowflake embossing folder, Spellbinders snowflake dies and rectangle dies, silver embossing powder, fun foam

Acrylic Paint and a Leaping Horse

CAS Mix Up is asking for "acrylic paint" this month.

I used a stamp that my dear friend and creator of this challenge gave to me as she knows I love horses.

I created a gelli plate background with pale blue acrylic paint and some streaks of copper Magicals.

I put it in my MISTI as I knew it would take a few reinkings to get the horse well-inked on all the solid parts of the image. Then I heat embossed it, added the sentiment, bordered with black, and popped up on fun foam.

Thanks for the fabulous stamp, Loll!  I'm sure my sister (who also loves horses) will love this birthday card!

Supplies:
Stamps - Visible Image horse, Tim Holtz sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - mixed media cs, black and white cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - blue acrylic paint, copper Magicals, embossing powder, fun foam

The Other Two CAS Challenges

Sneaking in under the wire with cards for the other two CAS challenges run by Loll and Bonnie.

First up, CAS Stencil "Patterned Paper":

The idea is to stencil over patterned paper - a great way to use up some of our stash.  I pulled out a piece of snowy patterned paper that looks like this:

I turned it into this card:

I took the mini Tim Holtz snowflake stencil and went over it with Snowflake Paste.  When dry, I framed it with SU glitter cs, and die cut my sentiment from the glitter cs and from navy blue cs - layered them together to have a bit of navy shadow to help set off the sentiment.  I added glitter dome embellishments to the centre of each snowflake and over the "i" of winter.

Here's a close-up of the centre panel:

There is sparkle in the paste but my camera isn't picking it up.

Then there is CAS Mix Up "Foiling":

I only recently got a foiling machine so I made this card that will go to one of my sisters who, like me, loves blue.

I foiled the flower, using the foiling transfer gel on the stamp, then adding the blue foil to the stamped image, and running it through the laminator.  Unfortunately the camera won't pick up the shine of the foil.

I added some text stamping and some sponged stenciling with a scrap of drywall tape over top, avoiding the foiled flower.

I die cut the panel, stamped the sentiment on vellum, added the panel to the card base with fun foam for dimension.

Phew, got them posted in time to link up!

Supplies for card 1:

Paper - ivory cardstock, SU glitter cs, scrap of patterned paper, scrap of navy cs

Size - 6x4.25"

Accessories - Tim Holtz mini snowflakes stencil, Arlene's Snow Glitter Paste, SSS winter die, glitter dome embellishments

Supplies for card 2:

Stamps - Magenta wildflower stamp, SU sentiment, unknown text stamp

Ink - Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass and Mermaid Lagoon

Paper - white and blue cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Deco Foiling Transfer Gel, blue foil, dry wall tape, Sizzix label die, fun foam

Lifted Snowflakes

A very last minute card for CAS Mix Up "Alcohol Ink Lift".

I bought the Alcohol Lift Ink a while ago but haven't used it much.  So was glad to use it for this card.

I started by dropping various blue alcohol inks onto Yupo.  As it was drying I rubbed a bit of turquoise foil onto the tacky parts of the AI - you can sort of see it in the photo.

When dry, I arranged three snowflake stamps in my MISTI and used the Alcohol Lift Ink to stamp them onto the Yupo.  I didn't get perfect impressions of the snowflakes but I quite like it.  I stamped the ink I'd lifted onto a piece of white cardstock and will create a card with those positive coloured impressions some time soon.

I trimmed the panel, popped it up on fun foam on an icy blue shimmer card base that matches the colour of the lifted snowflakes , and used the same cardstock to die cut the sentiment.

That's it for today!

Supplies:

Stamps - Tim Holtz snowflake stamps

Ink - various blue alcohol inks, Ranger Alcohol Lift ink

Paper - shimmery ice blue cs, Yupo

Size - A2

Accessories - Tattered Lace sentiment die, Ranger turquoise foil, fun foam

Little Cardinals

Combining two challenges with today's card:  the CAS Mix Up "Ombre" challenge and the ABC Christmas "L is for Little" challenge.   I have a blue ombre background and some very little cardinals on my card.

I masked off a rectangle on my watercolour paper and used various blue watercolour paints to make an ombre background.

I am in the midst of reorganizing my craft room and couldn't find my brown cs for die cutting the branches so watercoloured a scrap of w/c paper in brown (and also in red) and die cut the branches and birds. I die cut the birds twice and glued them together to raise them up off the branches more.

I trimmed the panel and popped it up on fun foam on a kraft card base.

The requirements of CAS Mix Up are:

My sentiment is stamped, I have the ombre background, and for my choice, I have die cutting and watercolouring.

Supplies:

Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment

Ink - Recollections Chestnut

Paper - watercolour paper, kraft cs

Size - A2

Accessories - watercolour paints, Memory Box branch and tiny cardinals dies, clear embossing powder, fun foam