A Fall Scene

Oops, quick before I loose my fall season all together I thought I'd share this handmade watercolor scene with you.  I just want to first say that I wouldn't have dreamed 3 years ago that I'd be attempting let alone making this kind of card.  I didn't consider myself that talented.  Granted, the tools have improved a bit and I've purchased a few of them, but the other thing I'd say is that my own vision of me shut down a possibility that was always there.  I'm going to encourage you to put off those crafty limitations you've set for yourself and give a new and challenging technique a try.  I did and look how it turned out.

This card front was made with a combination of watercolor media.  I started the image by stamping with my Darkroom Door Trees stamp using Tea Dye Distress Ink.  The burst of color in the tree leaves was made by sprinkling Brusho Scarlet, Yellow and Orange watercolor crystals on the watercolor paper.  I covered the tree limbs a bit with a paper towel and spritzed the Brushos with a spray bottle to burst their color.  It was at this point I believed this image could become a card front.  I used my Inktense Pencils to create the extension from the tree base and shape the hills.  A little water on the waterbrush blended this shape and made that ink permanent.  Then I sprinkled Leaf Green and Dark Brown Brusho watercolor crystals, covering the rest of the image with a paper towel and spritzed the Brushos to burst the brown and green color at the bottom.  I used a bit of Prima Oil Pastels to fill in the color on the grass and the blue of the sky, dropping small water droplets full of color int he spaces between the Brushos which were now dry.

For the inside of the card I used the technique used in this video to stamp Happy Birthday in green, red, orange and yellow Prima Oil Pastels.  I then flicked color off the end of the crayon with a water brush to create these tiny burst of color on the inside of the card.  I'm super pleased with how this card turned out.  I might give it a try again.

I am linking to Jennifer McGuire's Sharing Handmade Kindness challenge.

Creative Chemistry 101- Blending with Distress Markers

In an effort to continue trying to color, I attempted Tim's technique with the Distress Markers and a waterbrush.  This technique differs only slightly from the previous technique in that instead of using the markers to fill in and blend directly on the paper, a waterbrush is used to draw the color across the watercolor paper.  This image is my feable attempt to replicate the technique.  I think part of my difficulty is the type of watercolor paper that I've selected.  I think that the paper is too "cheap" (rural Minnesota raised tendancies... they seep into everything).  I intend to get some quality watercolor paper and attempt this again (with Brandy's gracious lending of markers again!). 

Argghh!

Andie