Natasha's Colorful Creations

A quick way to add color…

August 28, 2020

Hi everyone! I hope you had a great week! I can’t believe August is winding down! I have been busy getting my daughter ready for college, and as a family our school year starts in just a couple of weeks! Today I am guest designing over at Crafty Meraki.

Do you love to color? I know I do! Today I wanted to share with you a different way to add color to a floral image that is quick and simple. I also think it gives beautiful results when you are pressed for time. I was inspired by this design by 2 of my talented crafty friends Alex Syberia and Colleen Balija. I have linked their Instagram accounts as well (just click their names). Colleen also has a quick video on her feed if you want to see this technique in action! Thank you to my sweet friends for sharing your ideas! I am using the beautiful Hero Arts & Altenew collaboration set, Bloom and Grow.

To begin I stamped the image on Neenah 80 pound solar white card stock. I used Versafine ink in black and heat embossed the image using clear embossing powder. I then used three ink cubes from Altenew. I used Baby Pink, Fuchsia, and Magenta. To add the color I simply started with the lightest color by placing the ink pad directly on the paper. I started on the left side of the floral image and gently swiped the ink pad across my card stock panel. I then moved to the medium color Fuchsia and did the same thing. Last I added the deepest of the pinks, Magenta following the same pattern. I then added a bit of gold pigment ink by gently swiping the ink pad across the panel as well.

I then chose the sentiment from the stamp set and placed it in the top right corner using Versafine black ink. I die cut the panel and adhered it to my black card base. I added a few gold sequins to pull out the gold ink in the background. I truly love to color floral stamps! I was excited to try something different today! I hope you enjoyed it!

Crafty Hugs,

Natasha

Give Thanks – August KOM

August 25, 2020

Hi everyone I hope your week is off to a great start. Today I wanted to stop in and share a fall card using the August 2020 kit of the month from Unity Stamp Company. The kit is full of so many beautiful red rubber stamps as well as beautiful sentiments. Today I chose to work with a fall wreath from the kit as well as a sentiment.

To begin I started with a piece of Canson water color card stock. I first started by creating a watercolor background using Gansai Tambi Watercolors. I used the following colors to create the background: 42 Aureolin, 46 Burnt Sienna, 32 Red, and 33 Cadium orange. For this background I used a wet on wet technique. I placed water on the background, then brought in each color to the paper. I have found when creating a background the wet on wet technique works very well for allowing the watercolors to move and blend together. It is important to let each layer dry before adding more color. I have found best results when they dry on their own. I did two layers of color and on the second layer I did add some blush gold 91.

Once my background panel was dry, I embossed the wreath using Brutus Monroe embossing ink and then used Brutus Monroe Gilded Gold embossing powder. I then used Karin brush markers to color the fall leaves and acorns in. I used the following colors: Red 209, Amber 195, Gold 283, Sepia 074, and Henna 105. Since I did a watercolor background I did very simple coloring. I did one layer of color and then added a second layer in different parts of the leaves and acorns for added interest. I then used a Hero Arts nested rectangle die to die cut my panel. I added some metallic splatter to the watercolor background in a red metallic and orange metallic. I used a piece of dark orange card stock from my stash and glued that to my card panel. I then placed the wreath panel on top. I chose a sentiment from the set called Give Thanks. I stamped this in black and then die cut it using a Gina Marie designs stitched Circle die. I adhered this with foam tape. I added a few sequins for added sparkle.

Today is the last day of the sale at Unity stamp company. Many sets are on sale for 55% off, over 600 stamps in the sale category (Fall, Halloween, Love & Friendship, Kids, Pets, School). Add the items to your cart and at checkout you will use the code FALL 55 to see an amazing discount. I encourage you to check out the sale and the different categories. I have them linked here for you as well. Thank you for stopping by today and be sure to check back in the next week as the new kit of the month, as well as all the new memberships will be revealed!

I have shared several cards on Instagram over the last few days using the AMAZING new releases at Unity Stamp Company! I have had so much fun working with these new sets! Check them out too – they are all on SALE!!!!!

Thank you for stopping by! I have listed all the products I used within my post. You can click on any of the links I have shared if you are interested in purchasing the products. The products listed are a compensated affiliate link, which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I really appreciate your support.

Crafty Hugs,

Natasha

Watercoloring and Ink Smooshing

August 21, 2020

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you had a great week! Today I am Guest Designing over at the Crafty Meraki blog! Today I am using the beautiful Sweet Nothings set from Altenew. It is a beautiful stamp set! Let’s get started!

For today’s card I chose to work with my Gansai Tambi watercolors. Any water coloring medium you own will be great to use! I started by stamping the 2 large floral images and several of each leaf on Canson Watercolor paper. I stamped the images in Versamark ink and then heat embossed the images using clear embossing powder. Today I am using the wet on wet technique for my watercoloring. I made sure to tape down my paper to a board to help prevent warping. When watercoloring I work in layers and let each layer dry. I find with watercoloring, letting it dry on it’s own gives me the best results. The colors I used are:

Leaves: Turquoise Blue 62, Viridian 55, Forest Green 56, Yellow Ochre 44, Blush Gold 91
Flower: Cadium Orange 33, Carmine 35

Once my watercoloring was complete I set these aside to dry. I then wanted to create a watercolor background. Which is truly one of my favorite ways to make a background! I placed several colors on my glass mat and sprayed with water and then “smooshed” my paper onto the glass mat. I completed these several times and then set it aside to dry. The colors I used are:

Lemon Yellow 40, Imperial Violet 38, Indigo 67, Gold 90

I then fussy cut my images using my Scan and Cut. I trimmed down my watercolor panel using a slimline die. I love the sentiments in this set. I stamped the sentiment using Versafine Ink directly on my card panel. I adhered my card together. To complete my card I added some gold perfect pearls splatters and Nuvo drops.

Supplies Used: