Watercoloring with Dye Ink

05/16/2017 Update: Emerald Award winner at Color Dare Challenge #242.







Mother's Day is almost here... I wanted to make one more card - for my sister-in-law, Kathy - and use it in a challenge. Kathy, the mother of my two grown nephews, Dave and Dan, likes cards with lots of layers and shine so I think she'll enjoy the card.

The flowers were all stamped with Versamark and heat embossed using pearl embossing powder. Using an Aquapen and dye ink pads, the flowers were painted. Metallic gold paint was also watercolored onto the flowers. The smaller plants were fussy cut, backed with foam tape and adhered to the large watercolored flowers. The card was very lightly spattered with metallic gold paint.

The paper is warped, which is not uncommon with watercoloring. An iron can be applied to flatten it, however, the iron will often transfer the embossing powder onto the surface (i.e., ironing board). The embossing powder is part of the design in this case and I would not want to remove it. If time permitted, I would store the card overnight under a book, but I had to mail it right away. Once the card goes through the mail, the warped paper will flatten:

The main element of the card was backed with black cardstock leaving a very thin mat, then adhered to the card base. The sentiment was die cut and a few translucent dots were added around the sentiment. Because my own mother passed away a number of years ago, I have never purchased any stamps to celebrate the day. The inside of the card was lined with white cardstock and a stamped flower.

The pearl embossing powder and the gold paint visibly shine in this photo:

This card is being submitted to:

1. Color My Heart Color Dare #242








2. The Crafter's Café #172

3. Crafting from the Heart #158







4. Aud Sentiments #179

Techniques: Watercoloring, stamping, fussy cutting, die cutting, heat embossing
Size: A2

Materials
Stamp sets: Stampin' Up! Fabulous Flora & Helping Me Grow
Inks:
     CTMH Desert Sand (background)
     CTMH Canary (substitute for CTMH Lemon)
     CTMH Pear (substitute for CTMH Willow)
     SU! Sweet Sugarplum (substitute for CTMH Blossom)
     SU! Peach Parfait {retired} (substitute for CTMH Tangerine)
     Finetec Pearl Watercolor Set (Fine Gold)
     Versamark
Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Basic Black, Sweet Sugarplum
Paper: Stampin' Up! Watercolor
Die: Penny Black "Just for You"
Misc.: Kool-tac clear foam tape, Stampin' Up! Aquapen, Nuvo Jewel Drops (lime green), WOW embossing powder (Pearl)