Watercolor Strip Tree Card

Today I am showing you a very 'water-colory' technique using 4 Distress ink cubes, an acrylic block, a strip of watercolor paper (2-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches), an Andy Skinner Nature Set stamp, and a Misti.
Here's the finished card:

Step 1:  Lay the watercolor strip under an acrylic block.  You'll be able to see exactly what areas you will horizontally swipe the Distress inks:  Stormy Sky, Fossilized Amber, Rusty Hinge, Peeled Paint.  Take the Distress cube and firmly press in a horizontal pattern across the width of the watercolor paper.  Move to the next color and repeat the process until all 4 colors are used.  Spritz liberally with water.  I used Tim Holtz's Distress sprayer.

Step 2:  Press the acrylic block onto the watercolor strip.  The result will look approximately like the above photo.  Notice there is leftover ink left on the kraft mat.  As you are drying the strip, spritz with the Distress sprayer to add cool droplets.  Feel free to press the strip back into any leftover ink for added layers.  Continue drying and spritzing as desired.

Step 3:  Now that the watercolor panel is dry, layer the card front onto the Misti and position the watercolor strip slightly left of center.  Ink the tree stamp with Memento Rich Cocoa inkpad.

This is where the Misti comes into play!  The first stamping is somewhat weak and the image is not dark enough.  Keep in mind we're just concentrating on stamping the watercolor panel.  Ignore the gap between the watercolor strip and the card front panel.

Step 4:  Here is the second stamping.  The tree looks like the right color intensity now.

Step 5:  Remove the watercolor strip and proceed to finish stamping the tree.  This may only take one more stamping.

Step 6:  Here's how the final stamping of the tree looks.  Keep in mind we don't care how the center of tree looks since it's covered up by the watercolor strip.

​What's cool with this card is that it is gently easing us into fall and can cover any occasion since there's no sentiment on the card front.

I hope you give this technique a try!

xoxo

LYN