Hey, hi! I actually AM on vacation! A tropical vacation if you can count Florida as the tropics. I think you can in May, if humidity is a qualifier! Anyway, I made these cards before I left for vacation, but my head was clearly already in the hibiscus/flamingo/pineapple clouds. These cards are up on the Jane’s Doodles blog today as well.
I used 3 different Jane’s Doodles stamp sets: the Tropical Fun stamp set for all of the images, and the Rain or Shine stamp set for the “you are my sunshine” sentiment and the Kind stamp set for the “grateful” sentiment.
I stamped onto watercolor paper with Versamark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder then colored all the images and background with Arteza Real Brush Markers before die cutting the bottom edge with a Simon Says Stamp Stitched Scallop Border Die.
I used a very wet brush and loose painting style to color this paper. The Arteza marker pens are typically a very intense pigment color, so I touch the tip down on one portion of the image and color a little area; for example the center of the hibiscus bloom or the bottom left side of the pineapple. Then I use the wet paint brush to touch down onto the color and activate the pigment, then draw it away from the center or the edge letting the color blend and fade as it goes. If too much water causes too much color to follow the brush, then I dab off the brush onto paper towel and go back to the paper and push the pigment back into the shaded area where I want there to be stronger color. On each of the images, I drew the colors out past the lines to allow the white embossed lines to show up, and to lightly blend into the color in the background nearby.
I stamped the sentiment from the Kind stamp set with Versamark ink and heat embossed with silver embossing powder then added some coordinating enamel dots to complete the card.
I had originally stamped two watercolor paper panels, and colored each one similarly, but after the images were colored (as above), and dry, I hand cut a few of the images and glued down a small grouping of 4 of my favorite images, onto some coordinating patterned paper from my stash.
I stamped and heat embossed in the same manner as the card above, this time using a sentiment from the Rain or Shine stamp set. The patterned paper is trimmed down using the same Simon Says Stamp stitched scallop die.
These two cards are as sweet and delicious to me as my days on the beach! I hope they evoke that feeling for you as well! Thanks for visiting today!
