Friday 4 November 2016

Deck the halls .......

Hello ..... me again!

This is the last time today ..... honest!!

I've got another Blog challenge for you though.  Are you feeling festive yet, well maybe this will get you in the mood.  It's time for November's  Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge.
This month the theme is ....... Watercolour which is right on trend at the moment.


There's lots of ways to achieve the watercolour effect ..... paints of course, pencils, watercolour pens. Use your inks mixed with a little water (Distress are particularly good for this) and either paint with them, smoosh with them, use the inks direct onto your stamps, spritz with water and then stamp your image, the list goes on.
Brushos are another great product for watercolouring with and that's what I've used on my inspiration piece for you ......


They're little pots of magic, as I like to call them, and there's so many ways to use them.

I started out by stamping my image (Woodware's Yew & Holly) onto a piece of smooth watercolour card, using Versamark ink, and then embossing with a fine detail, white embossing powder


I then took my Brushos ........ 2 or 3 different shades of green (Sea Green, Emerald Green and a little bit of Leaf Green) and sprinkled a tiny amount of the powders onto the card and then spritzed with water, to activate the colour.  I did this a few times until I was happy with the background, mopping up the excess each tine with kitchen roll.   I only wanted a colour wash effect so quite a lot of water was used .......


I then used the same colours of Brusho, plus a shade of red, to add more colour to the stamped image.
This time I sprinkled the powders onto a craft sheet and mixed then with a little water so that I could use them like a paint.


I added in a festive sentiment (from the HLS Mixed Christmas Sentiments) .... stamped with Versamark and embossed in gold .....


and then to finish off, a sprinkling of Fran-tage Chunky White Embossing Enamel and a few splatters of gold paint.


Now it's your turn ......

Thanks for popping by .... again!  Have a great evening.

Remember I mentioned we were off to collect our latest order from The Wine Cellar ..... well here it is ..... definitely a little bit of the Christmas spirit


Time to open a bottle, or two I think ..... cheers! Happy weekend.

Cheerio until next time .....

9 comments:

Mrs.B said...

Just having a catch up and you have been busy!
Great cards - must say I do love the purple bird in the previous post.
Hugs, Avril xx

Jane said...

Fabulous use of brushos, love the vibrancy of the colours against the softer aqua background.

Zora said...

Hi, this is a fab card love the white embossing, your coloring is great.//Zora

Carol L said...

The background you created looks amazing with the holly leaves and white pines! Yes please to a glass of wine ;)

Stephanie Lanzalotto said...

Linda, this is truly gorgeous. Thanks for the detail in how you created it. I need to expand my Brushos skills. Also the detail of the chunky white embossing powder is fantastic, and the gold embossed sentiment is the perfect finishing touch.

Inkyfingers said...

Such a gorgeous festive card Linda! So Christmas is at your place then!

Redanne said...

Beautiful coloured background Linda, love your card and wonderful blending of those Brushos! All I can about your delivery is 'hic' - enjoy! Anne xx

Susan said...

Fabulous card! Love the way you got the pale brusho background and then used the same brushos to get the more intense colours on the images.

Darnell said...

Thank you so much for sending me this festive and extraordinary Christmas card, Linda! It is utterly smashing in person both in terms of the Brusho coloring and the super fun enamel and gold splatters! Happy Holidays to you and yours!! Hugs, Darnell