A Beautiful Day

Last week I showed you the gorgeous new Garden Impressions paper and the coordinating Abstract Impressions stamp set.  But I recently paired the paper with the Beautiful Day stamp set and was happy with the results!

It's a simple set really, but it makes a striking impact with those big, bold images.  Plus, the two sentiments feature a pretty font and useful words.  

I watercolored the images with an Aqua Painter brush and ink pads. 

You simply take a closed ink pad and give it a good squeeze, and you end up with a little pool of ink on the inside of the lid.  Then, take an Aqua Painter and squeeze a bit of water into the ink and you are ready to color your image.  

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #39 - Use an Aqua Painter brush and an ink pad to color stamped images.

I waited a couple of minutes to make sure they were dry and then cut them out and adhered them to my cards.  

Here is another look at the Garden Impressions paper . . . 

I just can't get enough of this paper!  You'll be seeing more of it in upcoming blogposts!

If you have any questions about these products or techniques, send me an email.  Thanks for stopping here today!

Cards For March

For my cards to use during the month of March, I made an assortment of cards, all featuring the same supplies, and using an easy water-coloring technique.  

What you see in the photo above is what happens when you squeeze a closed Stampin' Up ink pad.  You end up with a nice spot of ink on the inside of the top.  Then, if you use an Aqua Painter to add a bit of water, you get a little puddle of watercolor. 

For my March cards, I simply brushed the color over the sentiments that I had stamped in black ink.  I think this technique works especially well with fonts that are big and bold.                                                                                  
               

Lots of Love stamp set, Annual Catalog page 87

The "hello" stamp is retired from Stampin' Up.  The scripture stamp is from Our Daily Bread.

SIMPLE STAMPING TIP #30 - Paint a wash of color over words that are stamped in black ink.

You may recognize the black & white background paper . . . it is the same paper I've used for several cards & scrapbook pages over the past several weeks.  I liked pairing it up with the green color in these cards . . . it gives just a little hint of the promise of spring!

Petal Passion designer series paper, Occasions Catalog page 23

The Aqua Painters are available from Stampin' Up in a set of two brushes (one medium brush tip and one large brush tip) for $17.  I've been using the same brushes for over fifteen years, so it seems that money was well-spent!

Let me know if I can answer any questions about this technique, supplies, ordering, or anything stamping-related!