Watercolor – Mixed Media

Hi Friends! Hope this post finds you doing well and healthy! I love to set crafty goals for myself and one goal I have this year is to learn more about mixed media! I have a long way to go and today’s card is my first attempt! I made mistakes along the way, but in the end I had fun creating! So let’s get started!

Stamping & Coloring

For today’s card I am using the beautiful Floral Heart stamp set from Simon Says Stamp! This heart is stunning and it is a large stamped image! It fills up an A2 card base very nicely! I inked up the image using my WOW embossing pad and stamped the image on Canson XL watercolor card stock. I used my Misti stamping tool as this paper has texture and I stamped it 3x to ensure I had a clean impression. I then used a gold embossing powder for the heart image. I taped down my image to my board to help with warping. For the image I chose to use liquid watercolors from Brutus Monroe, as well as shimmer spray from Tattered Angels. I added the color to my glass mat and wet the heart image and then applied the ink to my card stock. It was fun to see how the colors mixed together. I chose 2 shades of pink, purple, and a yellow. I let the panel dry in between my color layers and reapplied the ink once dry. I repeated this process 3 times to ensure a bright heart image.

Once my heart was complete I used my Gansai Tambi watercolor set to add the blue around the heart image. I chose 3 different shade of blue for the background of the panel. I followed the same process as shared above and allowed it to dry in between layers. I also added some gold as well to the image for added shine and interest!

Background

Once everything was dry it was time to add some more design elements to the card. This is where my mistakes started to happen…. but this is what I love about card making! I love to try new things and when they don’t go as planned, see how I can “fix” it! I wanted to add some texture to the background panel, so I chose to use a background stamp, as well as a stencil and texture paste! For the background stamp I used the Sketchy Lines background stamp from Simon Says Stamp. I initially stamped them in black and I didn’t like the “feel” of it. So I decided to emboss them in gold. This was mistake one, but in the end I liked the gold! I stamped a few heart images in the background using Picked Raspberry Distress Ink from the Mandy’s Flowers stamp set! I then added some texture using a Tim Holtz Stencil set – Mini Layering Set 43. I chose the splatter stencil and used clear texture paste with the stencil. I decided to add a bit of glitter to the paste for added shine. This was my 2nd mistake… I added too much! But I still went with it! What do you think? I trimmed down my panel using a double stitched rectangle die from Gina Marie Designs.

Putting it Together & Sentiment

For my card I chose to use the Love You die sentiment set from CZ Designs and Simon Says Stamp! I love these dies! The font is AMAZING! I doe cut this using both black and white card stock. I adhered these together and added them to my panel. I then chose a sentiment from the All Things Happy – sentiment set. I love these pre-printed sentiments too! The card stock is super thick and these are so easy to use!

Thank you for stopping by today! I can’t wait to learn more about adding mixied media elements to my cards!

Crafty Hugs!

Natasha