Thanksgiving's Bounty

in watercolour

TUTORIALSTENCILSTRETCH YOUR PENNIES

9/23/20234 min read

Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You'll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencil I used from A Colorful Life Designs . Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

I am not a painter (no matter how much I wish I was!) but I love the look of watercolour. Every now and then I have a go with this method, which is almost mistake-proof .

Let’s Get Started:

Card Base,: 5.25 x 10.5, scored and folded at 5.25

Card Face: watercolour paper, 6 x 6 (cut down to 5.25 x 5.25 for final result)

Banner Across Center: watercolour paper, 6 x 2 (cut down to 1.75 for final result)

Gold Cardstock: 6 x 2

This method of watercolour uses (raised )heat embossed areas as fences to keep the paint within the boundaries . You can use any waterbased medium for this purpose - in this instance I used ink. You need two small containers of water for this: one to clean your brush in and one to keep clean.

Card Face:

I prepared the large piece of watercolour paper by applying anti-static powder generously across the entire surface.
I secured the stencil to the card face with Mint Tape.
Using my embossing pen I traced all the patterns on the stencil.
I removed the stencil, added gold embossing powder and set it with my heat gun.
I selected four inks for this card - yellow, red, orange and green. I pressed each colour onto a separate acrylic block.
Using a clean brush I added a bit of water to the inside of one of the leaves - just enough to wet the surface , but not be fully absorbed too quickly.
Using the same brush I added a drop or two of water to one of the colours on a block, and mixed it into the ink already there. I picked up just a bit on the brush and touched the tip to the leaf that had been "watered". The colour immediately started moving on the surface, due to the water.
I cleaned my brush in one container , picked up a bit of clean water from the other container and added it to a different acrylic block. I mixed it up a bit and touched the tip of my brush into the same leaf, beside the first colour. The water already there allowed the two colours to mix, forming new colours.
I repeated these steps , adding water to the blocks and colour to the leaves until everything was colourful. Some leaves only had two colours, some three or four. Autumn leaves don't follow any rules!
In some instances additional water was needed inside the leaf to make the colours move more, and in others additional colour was added to intensify the look.

Stretch Your Pennies

*** using your inks like this is a great way to save a few dollars: you don't have to buy watercolour paints.

Other:

I took the strip of watercolour paper and wet the entire thing, and then started dropping colour in randomly as described above, allowing the colours to mix, adding additional colour until I was satisfied.
Once both pieces were completely dry , I trimmed the large piece down to 5.25 x 5.25, and the strip down to 6 x 1.75. By starting with larger pieces I was able to trim off the edges that weren't my "favourites", LOL.
(the drying process varies, depending on how much water is added during the process)
I added veining to the leaves with a black microliner.
I put the narrow strip of watercolour paper into my stamp positioner and added the sentiment with black pigment ink.
I added clear embossing powder and heat set it to make the sentiment really pop.

Assembly:

I glued the card face to the card base.
I glued the strip of water colour paper to the gold cardstock, and glued both to the cardface, centering horizontally.
I added a small gold faceted embellishment on each side.

Tips:

Be certain to keep the containers of water apart: you don't want to add dirty water to the surface of your watercolour paper, or use it to mix into your ink (or watercolour paint) as it will create a muddy colour.
Be mindful that certain colours produce "mud" when mixed together. This is ok with autumn leaves, as many of them have brown tones, but not so pretty in other things.
Play! Use different colours of embossing powder, different images (flowers are fun with this technique, and little whimsical figures like gnomes or animals.
watercolour softens quite a bit as it dries
you might want to use a small piece of watercolour paper to get a feel for the process before committing to the larger piece

Final thoughts:

I love playing around with my inks in different ways, and autumn leaves are almost fool-proof for watercolour! I am happy with this attempt.

Supplies: (and links where possible)

I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It's a huge marketplace and in most instances there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencil: Fall Leaves, A Colourful Life Designs

Stamps: My Sentiments Exactly, Amazon

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Memento Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Mint Tape:Scrapbook.com

Stamping Platform::Misti, Spellbinders

The platform I use has retired, but the Misti is very similar.

Embossing Pen: Ranger, Scrapbook.com

Anti static powder: Simon Says Stamp

Gold Embossing Powder: Stampin' Up!

Clear Embossing Powder: Wow, Simon Says Stamp

Microliner: Amazon