Welcome, card-loving friends! I haven’t posted in a little while and decided to look through my photo files to see what I have that may be of interest! I came across these cards which I made recently using a retired Stampin Up set called Remarkable You. I’ve admired cards made with this set for a long time but resisted buying it from ebay because it was more money than I wanted to spend. But at last I gave in and I’m glad I did! The large images allow for lots of color and texture and I love the bold lines! Unfortunately, I took the photos at night so the lighting isn’t great. On a piece of watercolor paper I heat-embossed the lotus blossom twice in black and then the leaves around them. Using a large paintbrush, I spread water generously all around the images then dropped in yellow paint from my Gansai Tambi watercolor set to create a bright and cheerful background. I painted the blossoms several times with shades of red, drying in between layers and then did a quick wash of green on the leaves. A spattering of black and white craft paint add a little more visual interest and the bold letters of the sentiment seemed to perfectly complement the overall design. I die-cut the panel with Stitched Rectangle dies then mounted it to a base card of vanilla card stock. I’m really happy with how this turned out!This is my second card made with Remarkable You and it’s a very different vibe with it’s cool, velvety tones of blue and warm shades of brown. The blossoms were stamped and embossed with Brutus Monroe’s Coffee Grounds embossing powder onto a panel of watercolor paper, then with a dark brown Zig marker, I scribbled on some color. I used a waterbrush to soften and blend the ink for a loose watercolor look. To create the background I painted a generous wash of water all over the paper and around the flower images. I tapped out Broken China, Evergreen Bough and Cracked Pistachio distress oxide inks onto my craft mat and spritzed with water, then picked up the color with a damp paintbrush and filled in the color in layers, drying between applications. I spattered more of the inks onto the background as well. When the panel was dry, I used the same Dark Brown Zig marker to write out the words then spritzed it with more water to soften and break down the ink. I wish now that I’d used a softer, more subtle shade of brown or even an aqua marker but all in all, I like how the style of the writing mimics the lines of the flowers. I cut this panel down with Stitched Rectangle dies, sponged Walnut Distress ink around the edges then mounted it to a card base of vanilla. I can’t decide which card I like the best; can you?! Thank you, as always, for visiting!
