Sunflower magic with Natasha and Karin

Hi Friends! I am excited to be back today on the Crafty Meraki blog! For my slimline card today I am using the Memory Box Open Studio - Sunflower Wreath stamp set! This set is so beautiful and the possibilities with this set are endless! I wanted to challenge myself to use the wreath stamp in a different way.

I started by stamping the sunflower wreath on Strathmore watercolor card stock using embossing ink and then heat set the image using Brutus Monroe Gilded Gold Embossing Powder. Today I am using my Karin watercolor markers to complete my coloring. Have you tried these markers? You can find them here - Karin Markers. I taped my cardstock down to a board to prevent warping. When using these markers I do layers at a time and wait between layers before adding more color. Here is a list of the colors I used:

• Sunflower: Canary 166, Gold 283, Plum 197
• Flower Centers: Praline 385, Sepia 074, Black
• Leaves: Lime Green 071, Grass Green 253, Sapphire Blue 189

Once my coloring was complete I placed my sunflower wreath to the side to completely dry. I started to work on my background for my slimline card base. I used a piece of watercolor cardstock cut down to slightly larger than a slimline base (3.5 x 8.5). To create the watercolor look on my background I used my Gansai Tambi watercolors: Prussian Blue 66, Indigo 67, and then gold shimmer spray. I place the colors on my glass mat, add a bit of water, and "smoosh" the paper into the glass mat. I complete this several times until I have the colors I am looking for. I set the panel aside to dry under some heavy books to flatten the panel.

I then started to work on the sunflower wreath. I cut the wreath down the center using my paper trimmer and then fussy cut the wreath to create a section for both the top and bottom of my card panel. Once cut, I placed the images on my panel to determine the location for the sunflowers and then placed pencil marks on the back, this would help me with stamp placement and where to place my foam tape. My background was now ready to work with. I trimmed it down using a slimline die and then felt I needed a bit more interest to my background. This stamp set also has a single sunflower and leaves, I added both a sunflower and leaf to the top and bottom using Gilded Gold Brutus Monroe Embossing powder.

I then chose a sentiment from the set and heat embossed this on black cardstock using white embossing powder. I then adhered all the parts of my card together. I hope you enjoyed this card! I had a lot of fun making it!

Products Used - Crafty Meraki

• Memory Box Open Studio - Sunflower Wreath
• Karin Markers - 60
• Brutus Monroe Gilded Gold Embossing Powder

Thank you for stopping by! Crafty Hugs,

Natasha