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Wednesday 14 October 2015

Happy Little Stampers October Christmas Challenge Reminder

Hi everyone.  I am back again with my second post as Guest Designer for the Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge and this is for the mid month reminder.  I decided that as I won the July challenge with a watercolour type card I would do something along the same lines.
 

For this card I have used a stamp from Chocolate Baroque which I have had for a couple of years but which unfortunately isn't available any more, but I like the shape of the flower and it is also a nice size.


I stamped it using Festive Berries Distress Ink on to a piece of watercolour paper.  I stamped it three times and had to have two masks as the flowers form a tight group.  I then pulled the ink in to the petals from the edge with a brush and some water just to take the whiteness off.  Next I worked on one petal at a time building up the colour with some more of the red and then whilst still wet I introduced some Seedless Preserves DI to add some shading.   I waited for the petals to dry or speeded the process a bit with my heat gun until I had been right round the flowers.  I then added some Mustard Seed DI with a little of the red to take off the harshness of the yellow and to shade the centres a bit.  I did go round and add more colour where I thought it needed it, but it is easy to overwork it so you have to try to judge when enough is enough.

I continued with the background making sure the flowers were dry first.  I used some Bundled Sage DI to start with by wetting the background as I went along, and when this was dry added Pine Needles DI round the flowers.  As even with watercolour paper the water makes it buckle a bit I stuck it under a heavy book overnight which did a good job of  flattening it.  On looking at it the next day I thought the background colour seemed a bit flat so decided to try and lift the colour by adding a little Peacock Feathers DI and this worked better I thought.

To finish it I cut the piece down and mounted it on to some gold mirri card and then mounted this on to my white square card.  I used a spare piece of card coloured to match the background and cut using one of the smaller dies from a Spellbinders set Floral Ovals and stamped the sentiment using Versamark and WOW Gold Embossing Powder.  When I had added this I decided to further enhance the background and sentiment with some stars and dots cut from a Memory Box die Snowflake Corner.

I have had so much fun and I would like to thank everyone over at HLS for making me so welcome.  They are all very talented so do go and take a look at their beautiful work and there is still plenty of time to enter this month's challenge.  You will find the details HERE.

Thank you for taking a look today.

Pat  x

I would like to enter this into the following challenge:

The 30 Day Coloring Challenge

13 comments:

Loll said...

Wow!! Beautiful watercolouring of your poinsettias, Pat. Amazing job with the colours and shading to give your poinsettias lots of depth. Thanks so much for being our Guest Designer this month ... you have been great!!! xx

Bonnie said...

Wow, Pat! What an awesome job of masking and painting! This poinsettia bouquet is gorgeous!

Paper Creations by Shirley said...

Fantastic work with the masking and watercolouring using the Distress Inks. Beautiful design! Take care, Shirleyxx

BożenA said...

Hello Pat, your card is very beautiful! I love the connectivity dark, niejednorodengo background and beautiful, intense red flower. Thank you for joining HLS DT :-) Your card is a great inspiration to all.
Regards,
BozenA

Petra Swart said...

WOW, Pat, what great watercolouring!!!! It must have taken you some time to do it, but it was well worth all the effort!!! Your poinsettias really look great and the beautiful bg have them pop wonderfully!!!! What a lovely card!!!!
Have a great day!!!
Hugz

Kylie said...

These watercoloured poinsettias are stunning! This is a beautiful card! Thanks so much for being our Guest Designer at Happy Little Stampers this month xx

Ingrid said...

Such a beautiful watercolor! You really created great realism and depth. Thanks so much for being a part of the HLS team this month! :)

MaryH said...

I am pretty rubbish with watercolor, so this is most impressive. It's a lovely stamp and your coloring & shading are just beautiful. Brilliant idea to add in the different DI shades to get that shadow on the poinsettia leaves - it's very effective. Also liked the way you've done the background, with the bluer tones up close to the petals. Wonderful job on a stunning card! You've done splendidly as the GD at HLS Christmas. TFS & Big hugs.

Marika said...

Beautiful!

Cathy said...

Beautiful card Pat, Cathy x

Sarn said...

This is such an amazing card Pat. You are very talented indeed.

Hugs, Sarn xxx

scrappymo! said...

Gosh Pat, this is so pretty. I enjoyed your post on creating it!

Darnell said...

Heavenly days, Pat, I thought this card was made with a topper! You did a really stunning job with your masking and inking!! I'm in awe!! Hugs, Darnell