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I have purchased so many great background stamps and this one is no exception. They never get the love they should get though. Unfortunately that seems to be a theme about way too many of my supplies. There is a distinct difference between being a crafter and being a crafting supply horder. I have been leaning too far towards the later of those but I am working on changing that this year.
Anyhoo, I recently purchased this Simon Says Stamp Ornate Background stamp from a fellow crafter in a Facebook destash group and decided it would be in my first round of use it or lose it. So I spent some time stamping and embossing this image nine times (5 on watercolor paper and 4 on cardstock). Why 9 times? No specific reason it just seemed like a good number to stop on.
I used Lindy's Magical powders, Distress Inks and Distress Stain Sprays, watercolor, and alcohol markers as my mediums to creat all of the backgrounds. The common theme is all of the cards is the Ornate Background stamp and the clean & simple style.
I used Lindy's Magical powders, Distress Inks and Distress Stain Sprays, watercolor, and alcohol markers as my mediums to creat all of the backgrounds. The common theme is all of these is the Ornate Background stamp and the clean & simple style. 
Once I had all of the panels stamped and embossed I just started pulling out different coloring mediums and having playtime.
The first 2 cards were the quickest to do. I used Lindy's Magical powders and Distress Stain Sprays to create these. Super quick and easy.
The first 2 cards were the quickest to do. I used Lindy's Magical powders and Distress Stain Sprays to create these. Super quick and easy.
On the thinking of you card I used Lindy's Magical Powder from the new Gypsy Vibes set. I sprinkled some of the powders into a palette, added a little water and then just randomly painted the colors on. The image was heat embossed on watercolor paper using Brutus Monroe Raven embossing powder.
For the thank you card I used Ranger Distress Spray Stains in milled lavendar, seedless preserves, and uncharted mariner. I sprayed the watercolor panel with the sprays and some water and added some splatters. This panel was also heat embossed using Brutus Monroe Alabaster embossing powder.
For the thank you card I used Ranger Distress Spray Stains in milled lavendar, seedless preserves, and uncharted mariner. I sprayed the watercolor panel with the sprays and some water and added some splatters. This panel was also heat embossed using Brutus Monroe Alabaster embossing powder.
The thinking of you sentiment is from the Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice stamp set and was heat embossed on Oplymio 165gsm vellum using Brutus Monroe Raven embossing powder. Thank you for Your Kindess sentiment comes from the Altenew One-Go Solid Sentiment Strips press plate.
I did ink blending on 3 of the panels using Tim Holtz Distress ink pads. I wanted to see how different colors of embossing and inks colors would change the look and feel of the image.
I did ink blending on 3 of the panels using Tim Holtz Distress ink pads. I wanted to see how different colors of embossing and inks colors would change the look and feel of the image.
The blue panel was heat embossed in Brutus Monroe Icicle embossing and then ink blended with Tim Holtz Distress Inks in squeezed lemonade and tumbled glass. The yellow panel was heat embossed in Brutus Monroe Alabaster embossing powder and ink blended with Tim Holtz Distress Inks in speckled egg, salvaged patina, and uncharted mariner.
You make my heart smile sentiment is from Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice set and was heat embossed on the Oplymio 165 gsm vellum with Brutus Monroe Alabaster embossing powder. The little hearts are die cut from Altenew Glitter cardstock using Honey Bee's Fluttering Hearts cover plate.
Hello sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp/CZ Designs Hi There Greetings and stamped using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink. Love this set because it has so many different way and styles to say hello.
These next 2 were another experiment in what different mediums would look like. Both were heat embossed using Brutus Monroe Gilded embossing powder. One on cardstock and one on watercolor paper. One was ink blended and one has Lindy's Magicals on it. I tried to use colors as similar as possible. These 2 are my favorites!!
Hello sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp/CZ Designs Hi There Greetings and stamped using Versafine Clair Nocturne ink. Love this set because it has so many different way and styles to say hello.
These next 2 were another experiment in what different mediums would look like. Both were heat embossed using Brutus Monroe Gilded embossing powder. One on cardstock and one on watercolor paper. One was ink blended and one has Lindy's Magicals on it. I tried to use colors as similar as possible. These 2 are my favorites!!
Hello friend card is ink blended using Tim Holtz Distress inks in abandoned coral and seedless preserves. I chose these colors using the Sarah Renae Clark's Color Cube card #317.
Sending big hugs card was done by sprinkling Lindy's Magical Powders directly on the watercolor paper and then spraying with water letting the colors flow and move where they wanted. I used Petticoat Plum from Steampunk Soiree set, Chateau Rose from Tres Chic set, and Not in a Vermillion Years from Monet All Day set. Lindy's Magicals are so much fun to play with.
Sending big hugs card was done by sprinkling Lindy's Magical Powders directly on the watercolor paper and then spraying with water letting the colors flow and move where they wanted. I used Petticoat Plum from Steampunk Soiree set, Chateau Rose from Tres Chic set, and Not in a Vermillion Years from Monet All Day set. Lindy's Magicals are so much fun to play with.
Hello friend sentiment is from Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice set and heat embossed with Brutus Monroe Gilded embossing powder on black cardstock. I didn't like the squared corners so I used my Taylored Expression Corner Rounder punch on it.
Sending big comes from Altenew One-Go Solid Sentiment Strip press plate. I just trimmed off the word hugs. The hugs is die cut from black cardstock using Honey Bee's Bitty Buzzwords dies. The word was cut twice and layered for some dimension.
This next card using the ink smooshing technique to create depth and dimension with color.
Hello friend sentiment is again from Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice set and was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocture ink. The sentiment panel felt like it needed something more so I added some pink sequins.
This next card using the ink smooshing technique to create depth and dimension with color.
I used Altenew Fresh Dye Ink from the Petal Rose set. The ink was smooshed on to my Glassboard and spritzed with some water. Then the watercolor panel was smooshed into the inks. I repeated this several times, drying in between layers. I also did some splatters with clean water as well as with the darker ink for even more dimension. This was another panel that I has heat embossed in Brutus Monroe Icicle embossing powder.
Hello friend sentiment is again from Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice set and was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocture ink. The sentiment panel felt like it needed something more so I added some pink sequins.
Next I had simply stamped this panel in Versafine Clair Nocture ink and wanted to try something with higher contrast. I die cut the hello sentiment and it's background layer from the center of the panel. I attached the larger panel to a card front with double-sided adhesive.
Last but not least the final card. For this one I used watercolor paint to color the image that had been heat embossed in Brutus Monroe Icicle embossing powder. I used a combination of watercolor markers and pan paints on this image.
Using my alcohol markers I colored in the image on the hello word. This was then cut twice more and layered to give the sentiment more dimension. The sentiment didn't stand out as much as I wanted so I used a black marker and went around the edges of the letters before adhering the sentiment in the open space.
The sentiment was cut using Scrapbook & Cards Today Hello die.
My watercolor technique definitely needs some practice. There are so many small spaces in this iimage that trying to do a lot of shading was fairly impossible. For the markers I put some color on to the paper and then used my damp paintbrush to move it to give the illusion of shading. And for the pan paints I put the water down first and then added the paint to let it flow at is own free will.
The markers I used were from Altenew Watercolor Brush markers Autumn and Karin Brushmarker Pro. The pan paints is Prima Marketing Inc Tropicals.
Hello friend sentiment is from Waffle Flower Sweet Lattice stamp set and was heat embossed with Brutus Monroe Alabaster embossing powder on black cards stock. For this one I rounded the corners only on one end of the sentiment strip using my We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile tool.
