Watercolor Wreath

~ photo heavy post ~

Howdy!  and welcome to my little piece of blog-land.  A place where I craft, cook, and share.  Ok, I share more crafts than baked goods here, but I do both!  (I post more food photos on Instagram.  Don't really know why, but I do.)

Anyways, I want to share with you a card I made.  It's a Christmas/Holiday card.  I know, you aren't really surprised, are you?  I wanted to try a technique I saw on Michelle Wooderson's blog: Mish Mash.  She calls it 'embossing + watercoloring'.  I think it's beautiful in a eclectic way.  It's basically emboss resist but instead of sponging color (ink) onto your paper, you use water colors.  Now, how gorgeous and fun does that sound?  So, I wanted to give it a try.  But first, I need a challenge to play along with.  So, I set out into the vast 'land' of the blog world and found TWO great challenges to play along with:  Just Us GirlS and Divas by Design .

So, the lovely ladies over @ JUGS, have a wonderful holiday theme challenge:  Wreaths!  Oh boy! right up my alley!  Here is there inspiration board:

For those of you who have not been to the JUGS site, they have changed their challenges.  So, this week, it is a word challenge.  I love the different format they have adopted.  It keeps their site fresh and new!  So, join them this week.  Make something with a wreath.  Have fun.  Craft.  and share!

The wonderful ladies over @ Divas by Design, have a fun and easy challenge: anything goes.  So, craft something that makes your heart happy! and share it with us!

Ok, here is what I made!

Recipe:  I used Aqua Mist cardstock for the card base.  I used the pattern papers from the Library Ledger paper pack, by Paper Trey Ink.  I used the Tasteful Trims die by Stampin' Up! to cut the scallop trim.  I did some machine stitching along the edges of the top panels.  I tied some gold bakers twine from Stampin' Up!, around the middle of the card.  I used a vintage button to add a little something to the bow.  (Aqua Mist button by Paper Trey Ink)

The ticket at the top is a digital download.  Love those little things: tickets and digital downloads. {smile}  The sentiment was hand stamped in Soft Suede classic ink by Stampin' Up!.  It paired very nicely with the rich chocolate browns in the ledger paper.

I stamped the wreath in versa mark ink onto the pattern paper.  I heat embossed antique gold embossing powder, for the wreath.  Love the subtle shine.  I used my aqua painter for the water coloring.  First, I just 'painted' plain water over the embossed areas.  It's like prepping your work surface.  This allows the paint to 'move' over the area.  For the 'paint' I used a few drops of the Pool Party classic re-inker by Stampin' Up!.  I dipped the tip of the brush into the 'color' and simply washed the embossed wreath with paint (aka: re-inker).  To add a little more depth, I splattered some more color onto the painted wreath.  I used crumb cake and pool party for the splattered colors.

I had some much fun making this card, I made some gift card holders with the same technique:

I had a lot of fun making these.  But as you can tell, once I start something it kinda becomes what I do.  And I want a variety of items at my craft fairs, so I stopped at 4 gift cards.  I don't want everything to look the same.  {smile}  Making these gift card holders really allows me to use my scraps in a fun, and festive way!  

Sidetone:  I had so much fun with this technique that I didn't (couldn't) stop to take a photo.  That's why these gift card holders are already packaged for sale.  Sorry for the glare of the clear bag.

Thank you for looking.  I hope I have inspired you to create something new, and challenging!  Why not try emboss resist but with watercolors!