In celebration of Independence Day, I’ve created a couple patriotic cards. I’ve had an itch for some watercoloring and wanted to use the new Simon Says Stamp Round and Round background stamp, so I indulged both those cravings with todays cards.
After cutting a couple panels cut from Canson XL Watercolor paper, I stamped with Versamark Watermark ink and heat embossed with Ranger White embossing powder. I then taped down each panel and pulled out my Jane Davenport Mermaid Markers. These are watercolor brushes which are filled with vivid dye-based inks. For today’s cards, I only used Lobster and Bluebottle, and they were the perfect red and blue I was wanting. After first adding water to a selected section, I dropped some ink from the marker and moved the color around with a wet brush. I moved back and forth between the sections and colors, drying sections with my heat tool when needed. After completing the panels, I moved each into a spare box and splattered them with both colors and an additional white I pulled from my Jane Davenport Petite Palette of Neutral watercolors.
While the panels fully dried, I move onto die cutting. Using Altenew’s Bold Alphabet dies, I pulled out U S and A, then placed a piece of painters tape across the back to hold the letters in position. I wanted to use the die cut letters for one card, and the negative space for the other. To ensure I placed the die cut in the same spot for each panel, I held the negative space from the first cut panel and an uncut panel together (uncut panel on top) and positioned myself so a bright light shone through the cards, illuminating where to place the dies. It was a bright, sunny day today where I live, so this job was accomplished by merely facing the window.
After die cutting, I began layering the negative space panels using Gina K’s Connect Glue between each layer. I started by glueing the two bottom layers together. I then took my Lobster Mermaid Marker and painted an outline around the letters. I then added 1 layer of Grafix Dura-Lar .003 Clear Film. I paint splattered the top negative space panel then adhered it above the clear film layer. I could have turned the card into a shaker, but I rather liked the look of a window box instead, so I merely added Scotch foam tape to the back of the glued panels and adhered to the watercolor background. The red layer in the letter edging creates some interest. I added one more layer under the watercolor background, a spare panel of darker blue cardstock (from my stash) which I cut just smaller than my card base. This created a nice framing effect for the card, and helped the watercolor panel peeking through the windows to pop.
For the second card, I adhered the watercolor panel directly to my card base, Simon Says Stamp 120lb Base White cardstock, cut to A2. I glued the 3 layers of die cut letters together, again using Gina K Connect Glue. The white layers seemed to disappear against the background, so I die cut one more layer of letters from watercolor paper. I watercolored them with a strong layer of the Bluebottle ink, then painted the edges of the die cut stack letters to match. After everything dried, I glued the watercolor layer on top of the stack and glued each letter directly to the watercolor background. I used my Uni-ball Signo pen in white to add some bubble effects to the letters.
This wraps up today’s card. I hope those in the United States have a fun and safe 4th of July Holiday. And to those who do, or have, served in the military – I thank you for your service. I enjoy the freedoms I do because of your sacrifices, and I am grateful.
