Hey y’all, whenever I started this card, my goal was to celebrate the awesome Altenew warehouse sale going on and do a giveaway. However, I wanted to edit my video before posting this post but, my littles are both sick right now and their asthma is flared up. Mommying takes priority over crafting. Plus, this card turned into a sympathy card and those are very draining to me. I just pour my heart and soul into them. Hence, I try not to make them too often because it’s hard to. I’m an empath. So today, here’s a little bit of the creative process and how I just let myself loose and let the card take me wherever it wanted to. If you want to check out that sale great and I’ll be doing that giveaway shortly and uploading that video at a later date, promise.
I decided to ink up my Wood pallet stamp with distress ink because I felt like it might hold onto some embossing powder, which would give the wood more texture. I quickly learned it only holds on to a little bit. It probably would’ve held onto more if I had moved faster or used oxide instead. I think it still gave it a unique look though because wood isn’t perfectly smooth and it’s definitely not all one color. It gave it a white look in some places, darker spots in other, raised in some. It made it look more realistic. Then, I used 3 different shades of brown to bring the wood to life with some ink blending brushes.
I felt like one of the most freeing processes is watercolor. Mind you nothing I did was “correct technique.” However, my goal was something earthy and masculine. So, it needed to freeing not perfect. I used several different ink refills to create a green background. I wanted is background to end up being leaves and leaves are not just green in nature. So, I mixed blues, green, gray, and orange throughout the process. Daring but, it worked out. It took me longer than I hoped but, it worked out! I did use my heat gun in between coats of paint to let the color really show through. If you don’t let the paint dry before adding your next coat, they will just bleed together and/or become muted. A good tip is to check with the back of your hand to see if your painting is cold. If it is, it’s actually still cold. I don’t know that I would use the heat gun on a detailed watercolor painting. However, this was just a background. So, it didn’t matter if the heat gun moved the colors a bit.
Now we have this green background and I love it. Then, I stamped green leaves in different shades of green on this background. I diecut them out and put them aside. Now, I told you this card was draining. I took my wood background I created a stamped a sentiment on it. Well, I accidentally put it right where the wood texture covered it. So, I tried embossing it to cover it up. I was okay with how it turned out and finished the card. I got out my sticky mat, taped my card to the back and arranged my leaves on top of the sticky mat. After I was happy with placement, I used tape that is supposed to be lower tack but, it’s not that low. In order to use it, I apply it to my shirt a few times to take away the stickiness. I then, put it on top of the pieces. Flip it over and apply glue. Then, I transfer the leaves to the wood paper. I personally am that most perfect gluer. I use my adhesive remover frequently. So, if you are like me, I recommend taking the tape off ASAP. Just be careful and push down on the pieces as you are doing it. The reason why I do it this way is because when I’ve left it on in the past, my glue has seeped out slightly and attached to the tape. Whenever, I take the tape off, the paper comes with. Ugh. However, if you are a precise gluer and have low tack tape leaving the tape on until it’s dry might be easier for you!
Now, I thought I had finished my card but, as I was taking photos of it. I was NOT happy with it. And after the amount of time I put into this card, I needed to be happy with it. I decided to grab a strip of paper, direct ink it with a blue, and stamp my sentiment on with the same gray I used for the wood texture. I used the heat gun in between both of those steps and after because pigment ink and distress ink stay wet longer than dye ink (especially pigment ink) and the last thing you want after hours of work is for your ink to be smeared. Been there and hope to not do it again. I then cut the piece down to fit, lifted the leaf up, glued the sentiment strip down, and reglued the leaf on top of it.
So that’s my sympathy card! I love the way it’s kind of like take me away Mother Nature. It’s soothing to me. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it and if you need some new Altenew goodies, check out their sale and be sure to go through my link, it’s until 11:59 PM tonight! Have a blessed week y’all!
Supplies:
Altenew Build a flower: Columbine
Altenew Craft Your Life Project Kit: Garden Rose
Wood Pallet Background Stamp Set
Coffee Break Altenew Crisp Dye Ink Set – used Espresso, Mocha, and Rocky Dunes
Sweet Leaf Crisp Dye Ink – used for leaf outlines
Forest Glades Crisp Dye Ink – used for leaf outlines
Frayed Leaf Crisp Dye Ink – used for leaf outlines
Bamboo Dye Ink Re-Inker – used for watercolor background
Distress Ink Pad – Hickory Smoke
Bearly Art Glue
Scoring Board
My Sweet Petunia – Misti
Challenges:
Through The Craft Room Door (ttcrd.blogspot.com)
Addicted to Stamps and More! (addictedtostamps-challenge.blogspot.com)
The Paper Funday Challenges
