Easy Watercolour

Hey friends.....it's Michelle here and this week we are focusing on all that is colouring, whether that be markers, watercolour paints or even pigment powders.  I paired 2 different colouring mediums with 2 of the new Press-Tacular Plates for an easy Christmas card. Let's started, shall we!

I decided to create an easy watercoloured background, by doing an all over wash of gorgeous and sparkly pearlescent watercolour paints.  I used a piece of hot pressed watercolour paper, as this has a nice and smooth texture compared to the rougher texture that cold pressed has.  I simply wet the paper and used a combination of light (rich gold), pale gold and a silver (which actually contains real silver and is so incredibly sparkly!) using a wide flat brush.  I added more colour as I saw fit and didn't get bothered by blending it all completely and left any lines in there that the brush created...this is supposed to be easy afterall.  This creates a nice and soft backdrop for our wreath image. 

I mean....look at that sparkle!!!  You can't see it that well in the still photo, but it is GORGE!  The silver just pushes it over the edge.  I don't think I will never not have this silver in my crafty toolbox.  Oh, the paints I used are from Finetec.

Place the Stella Wreath Press-Tacular Plate in the Betterpress Machine, ink it up using the Black Betterpress Ink and run it through your diecut machine.  Using my Karin Brushmarkers, I added colour to the wreath.  I used the blender brush that comes with my set to blend the ink and pull it out into the images.  I love the softness that they lend on that background!

Add some black splatters using a black gouache and set aside to dry

I decided to use a red sentiment that I had already pre-cut and set aside using the Gilded Holiday Expressions Press-Tacular Plate and co-ordinating die. I find that it pops more on the background than black would have.  I doubled up the sentiment using a gold diecut one for the bottom layer and added the red on top of it.  I used the gold as it just wasn't bold enough for any background and would get lost.  

Trim down the background to 3.75x5" and mount on an A2 cardbase.  Add the sentiment using liquid adhesive.  To finish it off,I added some of the new Meraki Matte Silver Opal Gems.

I love doing easy watercolour wash backgrounds. It not only makes a gorgeous backdrop for any image, but it also adds some colour to your image as a starting point, whether you add more colour on top or just leave it as is....it's amazing either way.  And this gold and silver background I started with adds a beautiful softness to the overall piece and some incredible out of this world sparkle too!!  What would Christmas or just the holidays be without that sparkle!

Thank you so very much for stopping by the blog today.  If you haven't already done this for your background, I really hope that you get out those watercolours and make all the watercolour wash backgrounds!  Thank you again and I hope that I have helped to inspire you in some way.  I wish you all the most wonderful and crafty day.  Until next time, Michelle :)