Today was about the pure enjoyment of simple pleasures.  A walk along the river always enriches me.  Taking photos of whatever caught my eye along the way was amazing.  Not only did I get in a little exercise, I gathered several reference photos for my sketching practice, and I decided to post on my blog about it.

I miss writing and sharing my creative journey that the E-News gave me.  However, I also love my blog and I can share just as well from here! 

Until next time, I have some dried up leaves to sketch!

XOXO

LYN

Yesterday I made this card to give away and I love it so much, I want to make more of this style.  The technique is super easy with The Misti, Distress Oxides, a water spritzer, regular cardstock, and the direct-to-rubber inking technique.

In case you aren't familiar with this inking technique, arrange the leaf stamps onto the lid of The Misti to line up with the cardstock.  Pick up one of the Distress Oxide inks and randomly swipe onto the leaf images (without over thinking!).  Note:  Distress Inks can also be used for this technique.  Next, pick up a second ink color and swipe over the stamps.  It won't matter if you swipe over the first ink.  Finally, pick up the third ink and fill in any remaining areas.  Lightly spritz the stamps with water (I emphasize lightly because regular cardstock reacts poorly to too much water.)  You can always go back and re-ink areas and re-spritz.  If I were to critique this card, I can see the long leaf in the lower right corner got too much water as the detail is washed out, but that didn't bother me.  Let completely dry before the next step.

The magic is to accent the stamped images with a bit of gold paint diluted slightly with water and a round brush.  A splatter of gold paint with the same round brush hit against a dowel fills in the stark white areas nicely!  After making sure the gold paint is dry, a simple sentiment finishes the card.

If I didn't give this one away, I'd place it in a wood frame and add it to my fall décor, which is why I'll create more of these to keep and give away!

Products Used:
Paper:  Hammermill Color, Copy, Cover
Ink:  Ranger Distress Oxides:  Crackling Campfire, Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade
Sentiment:  Concord & 9th - Mushroom
Stamps:  Stampendous:  Summer Leaves, Sentiment:  Amuse Studio
Paint:  Peerless Gold Transparent Watercolor


Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN