AAA Cards Challenge - Ink Blending

Recently I made a card during Papertrey Ink's Stamp-A-Faire 2016 that was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night".  I've made a couple of night sky cards before but I've mailed both of them which means I don't have any more to send out until I make some.  Night skies are a fantastic way to practice and play with ink blending techniques to find out what you like and what works best for you. It is also a really good way to find out how the inks you are using behave when they come in contact with water. Distress Inks are formulated specifically to react whenever they come in contact with water.  Most inks are designed not to react once you've let them dry or you heat set them.

While I have done a bit of playing previously, I really wanted to sit and play with different types of watercolor paper, different types of ink and lots of water vs. very little water and everything in between.  The challenge this week over at AAA Cards was just the thing I needed to entice me to take extra time out to do this today.  I actually made four of these cards but the two I feature first are my favorites although I'm happy with all of them.

For the background panels I made, I used a combination of Distress Inks, Simon Says Stamp Inks, and Papertrey Inks and for the silhouette of the trees and hills I used Hero Arts Black Ink.  I was realizing today how intense their black ink is but when I went to get a refill, I couldn't find one.  The Hero Hues Black Ink provided superior coverage on my watercolor paper.  I was using the Direct to Paper (DTP) method with a corner of the ink pad for the hills, and I stamped the trees in the same ink with the Altenew Pine Trees Stamp.  I got it specifically to use on this type of card.  I also have the small Winter Cottage Stamp Set which I think was a gift with purchase last year around Christmas & New Year's and I plan to try that on this same type of card in the future.

This first card used Simon Says Stamp Island Blue Ink which is the closest color I've found to SU!'s Pacific Point. I combined it with Ocean Tides, Hibiscus Burst, Seedless Preserves, and Chipped Sapphire around the perimeter. The card base is made from Bazzill Whirlypop Cardstock.

The second card uses Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves, Ocean Tides, Hibiscus Burst, and Royal Velvet.  I have a friend who is a photographer in North Pole, Alaska and she has hundreds of images of the Northern Lights.  This is so like what she captures that I am going to send this card to her.  All of these cards feature the Inspired: Faith Stamps and Dies from Papertrey Ink.  The card bases are made from Papertrey Ink's Royal Velvet Cardstock.

The last two cards used the same color combinations as the first two with one difference; I used Pine Feather instead of Ocean Tides.

I used Canson Bristol, Fabriano, Arches Hot Pressed and Arches Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper, applying ink with a Mini Round Ink Blending Tool.  I used both circular motions and back and forth "scrubbing" type of motions.  The paper is not as heavy or as thick as the other 3 but also doesn't hold as much water. The Canson Bristol paper would pill much easier than the others but since I knew this going in, I didn't over work it.  And really, since you are going to spray water on the whole thing to let the colors move and blend, it doesn't really matter how smoothly the ink is blended initially.  Especially in the case of Distress Inks, the inks blend effortlessly.  The hard part is waiting for that to dry once you've misted it.

That said, I really liked how much easier it was to get this depth of color on the Canson Bristol which is a 96# paper. In other words, it took less ink to get the same results as the 140# papers. I could spray the 140# papers with more water, but it also took more time to dry. I liked the Hot Pressed and Bristol papers the most but this was not a surprise to me. I most often use the Canson Bristol in the other things I make and if I need a paper to hold more water, my preference is for the Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper.  It is incredibly smooth for watercolor paper. This is totally personal preference.  Don't let any one opinion decide what is the right thing for you.  You really just need to experiment to find what works for you and what you like.

Once I had all of my background panels made, I spritzed the paper with Tsukineko Sheer Sparkle Shimmer Spritz and set it aside to dry one last time before assembling my cards.  I attached the background using my ATG Adhesive.  The "Faith" words were die cut from Stamper's Select White Cardstock and the sentiments were all heat embossed using Versamark Ink and WOW! Opaque Bright White Super Fine Embossing Powder.  I adhered a few Darice Tiny Silver Star Sequins with Multi Medium Matte to finish off my cards.

I'll also be entering the second card at Stampin' Royalty for their "Anything Goes" challenge.

Thank you so much for stopping by to check out my blog.  I really appreciate it when you take the time to leave such nice and encouraging comments.  I hope you'll be inspired to sit and experiment with your own inks and some watercolor paper.

The Legend of the Dogwood

"At the time of the crucifixion, the dogwood had reached the size of the mighty oak tree. So strong and firm was the wood that it was chosen as the timber for Jesus' cross.

To be used for such a cruel purpose greatly distressed the dogwood. While nailed upon it, Jesus sensed this, and in his compassion said, "Because of your pity for my suffering, never again shall the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used for a cross. Henceforth, it shall be slender, bent, and twisted, and its blossoms shall be in the form of a cross–two long and two short petals.

"In the center of the outer edge of each petal will be the print of nails. In the center of the flower, stained with blood, will be a crown of thorns so that all who see it will remember."

There is nothing in this world that says "Easter" to me more than seeing a Dogwood Tree and Pink Dogwoods are (of course) my favorites!  We saw lots of them on our 2015 vacation as we drove through Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. My husband had not seen pink ones before and it was a definitely a treat for me as well.

As I worked on another card for the The Card Concept Challenge #51 and was admiring the inspiration image, it occurred to me that I should be using some "Kraft" Cardstock with a Pink Dogwood Bloom to create an Easter card. I have had this Dogwood Bloom stamp by Impression Obsession for a number of years but I hadn't ever used it before.  These days you can buy the cling mount version of this stamp which is fantastic. Now that I have fallen in love with water coloring, I had to try it with this stamp. It's not an outline image, but I figured I could work with it.

I stamped the image in Versamark on Canson Bristol 96# Watercolor Paper and heat set it using Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder.  I love the soft white of this paper over some of the others out there on the market. Since the petals are mostly white, I painted the entire flower using a solution of Perfect Pearls & water, then let that dry.  Once it was dry, I took my lightest pink Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pen in Sugared Almond Pink and went around the outer edge of each petal and blended that with more Perfect Pearls Solution. One of the nice things about the pigment powder is that you can make your solution as shimmery as you like.  I just touch the very tip of my damp brush into the powder and mix it with a bit more water on an acrylic block.

I went back in with the same color to add depth to that area for my second and third layers. The final touch on the blooms was using Pale Rose for the indication of each nail in the petals.  The leaves were mostly covered with gold embossing powder but for what was showing, I used Mowed Lawn Distress Marker. When it was dry, I die cut it using the largest of the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles.  The mat was a scrap of Pink Pirouette Cardstock that was laying next to my die cutting machine that I cut down to be 4 1/8th x 5 3/8ths.  I adhered it to a top folding A2 Kraft Card Base.

I die cut the Simon Says Stamp Exclusive "Easter" sentiment from some gold foiled cardstock and adhered it using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  This card is Perfect for the Classy and Elegant Category on The Card Concept #51 Challenge, AAA Cards, the CAS Mix Up March 2016 Challenge and the Double D Challenge to make an Easter Card.  I made quite a few Easter cards this year, but this one is a favorite. It was the simplest to do but really makes an impact.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Please feel free to leave me a comment.  I really enjoy reading them.