Coloring outside the lines

 

Do you have a rebellious side? 

Me, not so much. 

You'll never find me on a bungee jump. 

I don't have a need for speed. 

While I'm sure the view and the experience is fantastic, I won't be booking any trips to Nepal to climb Mt. Everest. 

While others may live for adventure, I let my wild side out while I'm creating. Now, I don't go crazy and shoot color out of a paint gun, roll around with my body covered in paint,  or throw knives at paint filled, suspended balloons. 

 

But sometimes, it's nice to break the rules a little bit.

 

So for these cards, I stamped these images in black (the large botanical image is from Kaisercraft, the sentiments are from Hampton Art), and rather than color them in, I mixed a little water with some colored ink and splattered. Drip, drip, drop!

 

 

Now, a kindergarten teacher might encourage you to color in the lines, but me--I'm a paper art rebel.  I say "Go for it"!

 

Look for more watercolor techniques in the next issue of Scrapstreet that will be posted on October 1st. 

I'd love to see your watercolor rebellious side!

 

a watercolor experiment

Longing for my days doing experiments in the college chemistry lab (NOT), I decided to do a little experiment with distress stains. Using my non-stick craft sheet from Ranger, Tim Holtz Distress Stain (Tumbled Glass), 5 manilla tags, 1 sheet of photo paper, and some water, I set out to find out what is my favorite method for getting a watercolor effect.

Experiment #1:

-wipe distress stain on the mat

-spritz stain and mat with water

-also spritz the paper with water

-slide paper over the mat

Result: very pale coloring, because the paper is manilla, this one has almost a yellow/green tinge to its aqua color

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Experiment #2:

-wipe distress stain on the mat

-spritz just the paper with water

-slide paper over the mat

Result: a mottled, imperfect soft water color effect, pretty





------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Experiment #3:

-wipe distress stain over the paper
-spritz water on the paper
Result: Slightly more intense color than #2, but doesn't have the mottled effect, less variance in shades over the card, but still pretty

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Experiment #4:
-wipe distress stain on the mat
-spritz mat with water
-wipe glossy sheet of photo paper over the mat
Result: splotchy swipes and dots of color, color more true to the stain color since paper base is white (versus manilla) (must have had a little bit of leftover green on the mat--oops)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Experiment #5:

-Wipe the whole tag with stain
-Starting 3/4" inch from the top, wipe this bottom part of the tag again with stain
-Keep repeating the process moving down 3/4" inch after each layer
Result: an ombre effect that is very "in" right now. However, the bottom part of the tag (the part that recieved the most "swipes" was starting to pill and disintegrate)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Experiment #6:

-wipe distress stain on the mat

-spritz mat with water

-wipe manilla tag over the mat

Result: similar mottled effect to #2, but without the visible swipe lines

So, do I have a favorite? No, I like them all! It's helpful to see what effect each method produces though. Using Fiskars circle and cloud squeeze punches, Sizzix embossing plates, ribbon scraps, some twine, and a cute printed sentiment, I turned these experiments into tags--perfect for attaching a gift card to the back. I like experiments. Not enough to go back to college chemistry though.

So, did you see my submission call for watercolor projects in the July issue of Scrapstreet ? You can check it out here.

No matter what method you use to achieve a watercolor effect (paint, stain, mists, watercolors, or something else), I'd love to see it! The deadline is August 19th.

Watercoloring

This simple leafy stamp from Hampton Art was the perfect one to begin my first attempt at watercoloring with ink.

I used StazOn black ink on regular cardstock to stamp the background image. I gave my Distress Inks a squeeze (Peeled Paint and Evergreen Bough) to put a little color on the lid of the inks. With my waterbrush I just sloppily, randomly colored over the stamped image. When it was dry (with the assistance of my handy, dandy heat gun--because I'm an impatient artist), I colored some of the leaves with a Gelly Roll pen (by Sakura) in "clear star". The photos don't show the glimpses of sparkle that this adds to the card--it's really a dazzly delight!

Once I added the sticker sentiment, I was "rejoicing" that I have an original card to send to a friend who needs some happy mail.

As summer begins (last day of school/work is tomorrow), it's time to play in the water...watercolor that is!

~Kellystar