I used my Misti to double stamp the beautiful bloom and leaf with Versamark, (I inked and stamped twice in the same spot to get a well defined lines.) and then embossed it with white Tsukineko embossing powder on 100 lb. Bristol paper. This gave it nice bold white lines, perfect for watercolouring. Although Bristol paper doesn't handle water as well as actual watercolour paper, it is nice and smooth and therefore takes stamping very well. It does allow colour to move the way that watercolour paper does, so as long as you avoid "scrubbing" at the surface with your brush, it works well for the technique I wanted to use for this project.
I used a combination of Distress markers and Distress inks applied to an acrylic block and picked up with my brush to watercolour the petals and leaf. I wanted to achieve a sort of "pink to blue" transition over the flower head, so this worked well. I used Shaded Lilac and Picked Raspberry to colour the petals in varying degrees of intensity and mixing to get the look I wanted. I used Fossilized Amber for the centres of the blooms and Peeled Paint for the stems and leaf. When I finished painting the flower, I used a very watery wash of Faded Jeans to fill the background. When the paper was completely dry, I stamped the sentiment in Jet Black Archival Ink. I mounted the finished watercolour piece on a card base of Stampin' Up Pear Pizazz. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out and I think I could use this particular card for a number of different occasions by simply choosing an appropriate sentiment for the inside greeting, or by writing in something personal to suit the event.
Until next time,
Carol
