Where Creativity Meets C9: Watercolor!

Good morning! Today is the start of a new challenge over at the Where Creativity Meets C9 blog… and this one is right up my alley:

Watercolor. And Concord and 9th. Eek! I’m all twitterpated.

I have ruminated this idea for awhile, and I’m really happy with how it turned out. I started by stamping the Blooms Fill In Background with Smokey Gray Versafine ink onto some Arches Hot Press watercolor paper, then heat embossed it with Hero Arts Silver Pearl embossing powder. (I worked with the Hot Press paper because of it’s smooth texture. The Cold Press is my preferred paper, but has lots of gorgeous texture that would, unfortunately, mottle the heat embossing.) The combination created a lovely pearlescent charcoal finish. I then used my Daniel Smith watercolors in a soft palette of mauves and purples (I’ve always loved silvery gray with mauve…. so soft and romantic.) The heat embossing helps to “contain” the watercolor and makes it pretty easy to add shading, even with no lined guide like we would normally have for our coloring!

After I had finished watercoloring the panel, I used some of the newer stamps and dies from the Valentine’s Day release to create my greeting. To start, I die cut the stitched square from some heavyweight vellum, then added a purple die cut “LOVE” from the same die collection. I stamped the “I love that I know you” from the coordinating Love You So stamp set using the same Smokey Gray Versafine and pearl embossing powder combination, then flagged the ends.

Now, adhering vellum can be tricky. I try to hide my adhesive behind die cuts, so I first adhered my die cut letters and sentiment flag to the vellum square with liquid adhesive, then hid my dimensional foam adhesive behind the adhered die cuts. I wrapped some twine around the bottom third of the watercolored panel and tied a bow, then added my greeting over the top of it.

Now, it’s your turn! Use your Concord and 9th stamps and watercolors to create your own watercolored project and link it up to our blog post! One randomly selected winner will be awarded a $25 shopping spree to the Concord and 9th store, and another participant will be chosen to be a guest designer for a future challenge!  Have fun with this one, and please be sure to read the rules for the challenge. If you don’t follow the rules, you won’t be eligible to win! Have fun and good luck!