FLOWERY THANKS

Do you recall the makeshift ink palettes I made? I used clear blocks in my Faux Watercolor Leaves for my ink palettes. Go back and read that post to discover how I actually did that.

After I had finished the Faux Watercolor Leaves cards, I left the inks to dry up on their blocks. Later I decided to re-wet the inks and try to use them again on another card.

You can see in the following closeup photo that 

I wasn't overly careful about applying the inks. 

I wanted to give the flower a true watercolor look. 

As I did in the Faux Watercolor Leaves, I embossed the stamped image in white before starting my faux watercoloring with an Aqua Painter (page 180). The slightly raised embossed lines help keep the watered down inks somewhat in control. Since the colors are all in the warm family, they play really well together with no chance of them becoming too muddy if and when they do mix. The only problem you can run into using this technique is if you allow the inks to set in one place for too long. The color becomes over saturated and could prove to be too dark. So it's better to move fairly quickly when spreading your inks around.

When doing this technique, always do it on watercolor paper, a paper that is meant to take wet media better than ordinary cardstock does. 

After I finished my faux watercoloring and the image had dried naturally, I fussy cut the flower, cutting right up to the white embossed edge.

As long as I was fussy cutting, I stamped my little sentiment onto Whisper White cardstock, then carefully cut around the letters. I like how it sort of echoes the edges of the flower.

For the backdrop, I ran a piece of Calypso Coral cardstock through the Big Shot inside the elegant Subtle 3D embossing folder (page199) , just to give the background a little bit of interest.

Before adhering the textured piece to the card base, I folded two pieces of the 5/8"  Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon in white (page 175) around it. The polka dots offer a good contrast between the flower and the solid background.

The only dimension in this card comes from the flower 

being popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals.

This diminutive card measures 4" x 4". 

I am almost embarrassed to admit that these three clear blocks are still sitting on the vanity in the bathroom near my Creation Station with the ink dried on them. I discovered through my experimenting with this card that the inks can be reconstituted again and again. So I am so reluctant to throw away these potential art supplies. Luckily I have a lot of clear blocks.

Give this technique a try yourself! It's so satisfying and fun to do. And I love the results!

Reconstituted

Smiles.