Watercolor Splash

I love this technique! I found it in several places online, one of my favorites being www.splitcoaststampers.com. (I know you find that amazing!)

The key is to use cardstock with sparkles in it - which would be Shimmery White. I tried it with glossy, and it just looks flat and doesn't dry well (or very quickly).

Here's my version, using Fifth Avenue Floral:



To make this amazing project happen, the secret is water. On your Shimmery White cardstock, stamp an outline image with VersaMark (or white craft ink) and emboss with white embossing powder. Give it a couple seconds to dry, and then squirt 3-4 times with water. If you don't have puddles on the paper, add more water. Don't be shy - this really works!

Now, with your Aqua Painters, pick up a little bit of ink (a drop in the lid of the ink pad works well). Instead of trying to paint with the Aqua Painter, squeeze the ink off as you touch the paper. I know, more water! As the brush touches the paper, the ink spreads through the open image. COOL!!!!!

Different colors of ink dry with different color combinations ..... that you may not be expecting. On this project, I used Lovely Lilac and Almost Amethyst. You can also see Tempting Turquoise, which I did NOT use. Weird, huh?! Also, you may not need to pick up more ink on your brush - it depends upon how much is already there. Have some fun and experiment.

As a spiffy side note, I did two flowers that I was sure I had messed up. Since they were wet, I just put 'em aside to dry and then thought I would throw 'em away later. Didn't need to - they were awesome!!!!! Be patient and wait for the finished product to exist - you will loooove it!

You can use your heat tool to speed drying - sort of. You don't want to burn the embossing powder into the paper - bad things will happen. But it does help to dry the paper a tad.

Have fun, and may you enjoy an inky evening!

~Tricia