Stamping Symphony Technique Hop

Today's Stamping Symphony InstaHop is going to be a really great one, as we share our favourite techniques.  My mind immediately went to watercolouring, and I created this soft and pretty sympathy card:

I love watercolouring, particularly with pastel colours that just blend into a beautiful wash in the background.  My colour palette for this card was Lost Lagoon, Fresh Freesia, Gray Granite, and Balmy Blue.  Together, they created the perfect blended background for this card.

I started with a piece of watercolour paper that was 3.5" x 5", and filled my Water Painter to the brim.  I began at the bottom of my scene with Lost Lagoon Ink, and then worked my way up in sections that naturally blended and faded together.  I find watercolouring so forgiving--you can go back and add more ink or add more water and play until you like the final look.

To add to the misty look of my background panel, my final step was to spritz the whole panel with a water bottle and dab off with a paper towel.  The result was this pretty water-droplet background.

Once my panel was completely dried I added my sentiment, from the Good Feelings Stamp Set, in Pebbled Path Ink.  This provided just slightly less contrast that using black ink, with a touch of charcoal softening the look.

Next I stamped my images from the Painted Lavender Stamp Set in Lost Lagoon and Fresh Freesia Inks across the bottom of the panel.  To keep a soft look I stamped the Lost Lagoon off once on scrap paper before stamping onto the panel.  The Fresh Freesia is stamped twice before reinking, which adds depth to the image.  I also splattered some ink from my Blends markers near the field, to fill the space between the imagery and the sentiment.

I matted the panel onto some Fresh Freesia Cardstock with just a 1/8" border, and then tied some Linen Thread twice around the panel, ending with a pretty bow with long tails.

My card base is 4.25" x 11", scored at 5.5", and made from Thick Whisper White Cardstock.  I added a 4" x 5.25" white panel that was embossed with the Distressed Tile 3D Embossing Folder, and then added my watercoloured panel to that with Dimensionals.

The inside of my card is another Basic White 4" x 5.25" with a repeat of the lavender field across the bottom.  The sentiment is my go-to Paper Pumpkin sympathy saying, the perfect expression of support.

I loved how this card turned out so much that I made another version!  For this card I used Grey Granite Cardstock and Twine, but followed the same process for everything else.  I think it's lovely too, although the white background is my favourite I think.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today.  I would love it if you left me a comment below before heading to Instagram and checking out the rest of the hop!

Happy Crafting,
Barb