Holiday Inspiration

After a long work week with no stamping I’ve enjoyed getting my fingers inky today.  There is nothing more fun and relaxing to me than putting all my focus on a creative project.  I started my morning a with few good cups of strong coffee and then set out to play in the SCS Inspiration Challenge.

My first project was an experiment to create a spooky Halloween sky with watercolor.

I punched out a circle mask and placed the hole over the top part of my watercolor paper. I painted the moon in with a bright wash of reinker and then heat dried so the ink wouldn’t run.  I removed the mask and washed on a fine clear water base on the rest of the watercolor paper to prepare it to accept the blue ink and allow it to run down the paper. I then began applying a wash of blue reinker to create the night sky.  I purposefully pulled some of the blue over the moon to create cloudy shadows.  I had the paper sitting on an angle to allow the darker blue ink to run down the paper. I heat dried the whole piece of paper and then applied the images with versa and heat embossed with black embossing powder. I may have gotten a little too much blue on the moon but I really like the outcome.

My second project was a delight to create.  I love the darling little girl delivering her Christmas package.

I stamped the image on cold pressed watercolor paper with black craft ink and heat dried.  I painted the door by outlining all the lines with dark brown reinker and then used a brush with clear water to pull the color out to the panels of the door. This technique leaves darker shading around the seams and frame of the door . I used the same technique to paint the little girl’s clothes.  I applied a finely painted layer of Liquid Appliqué to the pompom of the hat and to the snowy steps and heated.

I love the touch of white in the designer paper and the white mat with all the olive and think this allows the painted image to pop and allows nothing to distract from it.  I thought the touch of red in the gingham multi loop bow brought out the red in the scene.

Project 1: Stamps: Rubbernecker Halloween Set 1, Rubbernecker Stamp Oasis Spooky Tree
Paper: Black, Watercolor, Barely Banana
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Lemonade, Versa
Accessories: Black EP, Deckle Scissors, Crimper, Oval Punch, Brushes, Heat Gun

Project 2: Stamps: Stampavie Sarah Kay Noel Charity
Paper: Cold Pressed Watercolor, White, Olive, Designer Paper
Ink: Fired Brick, Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Mustard (hair)
Accessories: Gingham, Liquid Appliqué, Watercolor Brush, Nestabilities, Baggy of Rice (frame background texture), Nestabilities