Our theme challenge this week over at the Global Design Project challenge blog is "nature". I was really tempted to do a card with flowers on it, but I resisted and went with a little something different instead.
I always love it when I can use a stamp in a different way that it is originally intended. I knew right away that I wanted to see what I could do with the rose leaf from the Rose Wonder stamp set. The trick here is the masking technique. I inked and stamped just the leaf on Shimmery White cardstock. I knew I would be using watercolor, so I used Basic Black Archival Ink.
I gave a light wash to the leaves using various colors of green ink refills (Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Cucumber Crush, and Mossy Meadow) with an Aqua Painter. I continued to add layers color until I achieved the look I was after. For the background, I used Marina Mist ink refill. The greeting is from the Suite Sayings stamp set.
Once the panel was complete, I trimmed it down to 5.5" x 3.75" and mounted it on a side folding Basic Black card base. Finally, I added some twine and a bow. I had to resist the temptation to keep adding things. I love how this card makes me think of a beautiful summer day.
There are some amazing projects this week, so I hope you get the chance to visit us over at Global Design Project and play along. See you soon!