Personally I’m a huge fan of watercolor techniques, and luckily there are many different techniques to choose from. Today I’m going to use the “watercolor stamping technique.” This is an easy technique which you can use for big background stamps like the one I’m going to use today, the Diagonal Stripe Stamp Set (item 141917).

I started out with three different colors per card. For the blue one I picked Night of Navy (item 126970), Island Indigo (item 126986), and Pool Party (item 126982). For the pink/red one I used Real Red (item 126949), Watermelon Wonder (item 138323), and Blushing Bride (item 131172). The colors were selected because they range from dark to bright. When coloring the stamp, make sure that you do this with the stamp showing upwards so that you can see what you’re doing. Take the darkest ink pad and start inking the first stripe. Then do the same with the middle color but cover the next stripe first with a piece of paper to avoid contact with this color. Use the brightest color for the last stripe.

Once the whole stamp is inked, use a Stampin’ Spritzer (item 126185) filled with water and spray it over the surface of the entire stamp. Then take a piece of Watercolor Paper (item 122959) cut to size, which you press onto the stamp using a Bone Folder (item 102300) so that it absorbs the ink. This is how you create a watercolor background using a stamp.

Now it’s time to add some text and embellishments to the background. I started off using the embossing tool technique with a stamp from the Swirly Bird Stamp Set (item 141749) and Versamark ink (item 102283). On one card I used White Stampin’ Emboss Powder (item 109132) and on the other Copper Stampin’ Emboss Powder (item 141636). I used the Heat Tool (item 129053) to melt the powder.

The Sunshine Wishes Thinlits (item 141489) and the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits (item 141497) are used here with Whisper White Cardstock (item 100730) to decorate the card. Also, the sentiments from the aforementioned set are used with Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper (item 140550) and Silver Glimmer Paper (item 135314). The Silver Glimmer Paper is colored with Island Indigo marker (item 131262) to match the background.

For the finishing touches I used the Handheld Stapler (item 139083), Basic Jewels Rhinestones (item 119246), and Silver Metallic Thread (item 138402).

Have fun with this technique!
Chantal de Kaste
Artisan Design Team 2015–2016

*Chantal de Kaste, one of our talented Artisan Design team members, is from the Netherlands.