Botanical Tree

I see a trend in the type of cards I've been making lately :)   Definitely nature ... and definitely more masculine cards (which I ALWAYS need).  I usually find it easier to make feminine cards, so I'm happy that my stash of masculine cards is growing!!

I used the Watcolor Spritz technique for this card (there's a link on my Techniques page to the StampTV video tutorial).  You can watch the video, but basically, you ink your image and then use a fine mister (like the Mini Mister by Ranger) to mist water on top of the ink before stamping it on your cardstock or watercolor paper.  I find the watercolor paper works better and it has it's own texture which really adds to the card.  This technique turns you into an artist without all that pesky work of learning to watercolor :) ... ink image, mist with water, stamp - voila - you're an ar-tist!  Hope you like.

"Botanical Tree"

Stamps:  Botanical Blooms (leaves), Vintage Labels (sentiment) (SU!); Leafless Limb (Stampscapes)
Paper:  Soft Suede, Kiwi Kiss (SU!); Arches 140lb. cold press "Natural White" watercolor paper
Ink:  Sahara Sand, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Soft Suede
Accessories & Tools:  Mini Mister, sponges, Sizzix Square Lattice embossing folder, Big Shot (or similar machine), sticky strips and dimensionals

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I inked the Leafless Limb stamp with Sahara Sand, misted with water and then stamped onto the large piece of watercolor paper.  I inked the Leaf stamp from the Botanical Blooms set with Kiwi Kiss and Old Olive, misted with water and stamped on top of the tree.  I kept re-inking the stamp, misting with water and stamping until the tree was filled with leaves.  Tip:  if you find that you missed misting water on areas of the leaf stamp and you've already stamped it onto the watercolor paper, you can go back with your Aqua Painter and add water to soften the image.

I inked the sentiment and lightly misted with water before stamping it.  I sponged the edges of all the watercolor papers with Kiwi Kiss and then mounted them onto frames of the same color cardstock.

I ran the 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of Soft Suede cardstock through my Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder.  I sponged lightly on top of the embossing with Soft Suede ink to add depth.

I assembled the card as per the picture above using sticky strips (it's important to use sticky strips when gluing anything with dimension such as embossing; as well, watercolor paper is thick and needs the added strength of sticky strips to be held in place).  I popped up the sentiment with dimensionals.

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With this card, I used the same layout as yesterday, but changed up everything else to make a masculine version.  I used Chocolate Chip as my main color.  Hope you like.

"Plant Hope"

 

Stamps:  Plant Hope, Upsy-Daisy (sentiment) (SU!)
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, So Saffron, Cajun Craze
Accessories & Tools:  Sponges, Cuttlebug "Forest Branches" embossing folder, Big Shot, Jute, sticky strips, adhesives and dimensionals



Follow the instructions from the card below, substituting supplies above.  The only difference is that I popped up the embossed background paper in order to make room for the thickness of the jute that was glued to the back of it.