Mix It Up Monday: Summer Silhouettes with watercolour technique

It’s Mix It Up Monday and time for the final colour combination from this set of In Color charts.  But don’t despair, next Monday I’ll have a whole new set of charts for you to print off and use as inspiration for a year’s worth of projects using a brand new set of In Colors!

I can’t believe I actually managed it… I actually post 45 projects Mix It Up Monday projects over the year, probably 46 actually as I think I accidentally used the same combo twice! Some of them were really easy, but some gave me such trouble - you can tell those easily as they are largely white cards with just a splash of colour. 

But before then, here’s my final project using the 2015-17 charts – hope you like it! I began by stamping the stems in Black Stazon as it’s waterproof, then created the watercolour wash effect by inking up with Elegant Eggplant and then spritzing with water before stamping. I did the same again with a small flower stamp and Delightful Dijon - the water has spread out the image so much that it just looks like splashes of colour. 

Finishing touches were added with the Wink of Stella brush pen (which you can’t see in the photo) and some dots with the fine end of the Delightful Dijon marker (which I forgot to add to the recipe).

tams# 7024

Product List

Summer Silhouettes Clear Stamp Set [126447] £18.00	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack [133787] £15.50	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock [140490] £6.50	Elegant Eggplant A4 Card Stock [108614] £6.50	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate [131291] £6.50
Watercolor Paper [122959] £4.50	Whisper White A4 Card Stock [106549] £7.25	Color Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper [138439] £11.75	White 1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Jute Ribbon [137904] £8.25	Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad [101406] £7.25
Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad [126969] £6.00	Delightful Dijon Classic Stampin' Pad [138327] £6.00	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897] £7.25	White Perfect Accents [138416] £4.50

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Crafty Friday project: watercolouring with salt

This morning’s Crafty Friday class was lovely and relaxing, and we played around with the watercolour salt technique. This is very easy to do but can produce the most stunning results that will make you look like a real artist! This is what we did:

1. Take a piece of watercolour paper
2. Paint all over it with clear water
3. Using ink refills, paint across it roughly with two or more colours
4. While it’s still wet, sprinkle with salt crystals (the sort you put in a salt grinder)
5. Allow to dry thoroughly (you can speed it up with the heat tool)
6. Use as backgrounds for stamping

The effects are interesting and unpredictable; mine has resulted in flower-like images with dark centres; I don’t know where the dark centres came from! 

I stamped on top of mine, then white embossed the flower heads so they stand out. I wanted a very small greeting, so dug out Sprinkles of Life , which was perfect for the job!

And while I’m at it, I’ve already predicted that Sprinkles of Life will retire, but I’d like to add to that prediction and  divine that Summer Silhouettes will also end up on the retiring list. I have no inside info, I promise you, this is a psychic hunch!  We’ll know for sure on 18th April, then you can judge for yourself just how psychic I actually am! 

Summer Silhouettes Clear Stamp Set [126447] £18.00	Sprinkles Of Life Photopolymer Stamp Set [139971] £19.00	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock [140490] £6.50	Basic Black A4 Card Stock [121688] £6.50
Watercolor Paper [122959] £4.50	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [100531] £3.00	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [119672] £3.00	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708] £5.50
Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad [101731] £7.25	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132] £4.50	Heat Tool - Uk Plug [129054] £27.00

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Mix It Up Monday: Summer Silhouettes

It’s Mix It Up Monday and time for another colour combination from my In Color charts.  

Today I’ve stuck entirely within the 2015-17 In Color range, with Watermelon Wonder, Mint Macaron and Tip Top Taupe, all held together with some Very Vanilla. 

This stamp set, Summer Silhouettes, is a timeless classic, which I hardly dare hope will survive the new catalogue overhaul that’s coming our way in a few months. I began by stamping Hardwood in Tip Top Taupe onto Very Vanilla - I deliberately kept this “rough and ready”, allowing the stamp to miss the cardstock in places. The flowers and leaves are then stamped on top, and it’s all finished off with some strands of Burlap Ribbon and a tiny greeting. Hope you like it!

Summer Silhouettes Clear Stamp Set [126447] £18.00	Hardwood Clear-Mount Stamp Set [133035] £13.00	One Big Meaning Clear-Mount Stamp Set [139420] £17.00	Window Word Punch [119857] £14.50
Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad [138323] £6.00	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad [138326] £6.00	Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad [138325] £6.00	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock [106550] £7.25
Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock [138341] £6.50	Tip Top Taupe A4 Cardstock [138343] £6.50	Tip Top Taupe 1" Dotted Lace Trim [138422] £5.50	1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon [132140] £7.25

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Mix It Up Monday with a retro vibe

It’s Mix It Up Monday and, once again, I’m pushing the deadline right into the day. One day, when the house is straight again, I’ll get back to more efficient service, honest!

Today’s colour combo has quite a retro vibe so out came my “You’re So Vintage” stamp set as a starting point. As you can see, it didn’t make the final cut!

I tried to create the look of a vintage print using the Summer Silhouettes stamp set. I needed something tiny to put in the gaps and ended up doodling some little dots with my marker pens; very simple, but quite effective I think. 

I scrunched up a strip of cotton paper was very tightly, then opened it out for a nice creased effect, then created rough pleats along the back of the stamped strip, using Tear and Tape to hold it in place. 

You’re So Vintage was just too big for this card in the end, so I resorted to Tin of Cards; a really useful stamp set to have, even if you don’t have the tin kit. So there you have it… there would have been some white dots on the scallop circle, too, if I’d been able to find my chalk marker!

Summer Silhouettes Clear Stamp Set [126447]	Tin Of Cards Photopolymer Stamp Set [138946]	Pearl Basic Jewels Embellishments [119247]	Punch Corner Project Life [135346]	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack [133787]
2-3/8" Circle Scallop Punch [118874]	1-3/4" Circle Punch [119850]	Pool Party 1/4" Cotton Ribbon [134568]	2015-2017 In Color Stampin' Write Markers [138333]	Pool Party Stampin' Write Marker [131904]
Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad [126959]	Watermelon Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad [138323]	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [126982]	Cherry On Top Cotton Paper Assortment [138308]	Watermelon Wonder A4 Cardstock [138341]
Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock [106550]	Wild Wasabi A4 Card Stock [111850]	Pool Party A4 Card Stock [124391]

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com