Thursday, March 02, 2017

CAS Watercolour March Challenge

Hi everyone.  Welcome to the start of the CAS Watercolour March Challenge.  This month we are celebrating SPRING!  I can't wait for it to be officially here in a few weeks.  It has been one snowy winter here and I'll be happy when it's over. :)


Today's card started with an experiment.  I have seen many cards done with Brushos, spray starch and cling wrap and wanted to try that technique.  Haven't been able to find spray starch, so I decided to try the technique, just leaving the starch part out. :)

I sprinkled Brushos onto my mixed media paper, spritzed with lots of water until the colours were flowing, and then placed a piece of cling wrap over top, scrunching it up to create lots of creases.  Left it to dry for about an hour, and when I pulled off the cling wrap I got the background you see above, behind the trees.  LOVE IT! Experiments are fun! :)

I also used a NBUS die that I bought from Gina Marie Designs called "tree frame". A white heat embossed vellum sentiment banner was used so the beautiful colours of Spring in the background would show through.

We are excited to have Heather (bits and pieces) as our Guest Designer this month. Please check out the challenge to see the gorgeous Spring-inspired cards by our talented Design Team, along with Heather's gorgeous card.  I know you'll be inspired to play along!

Entering this card into these challenges:
AAA Cards #84 - Watercolour
Inkspirational #129 - Connect (trees are connected)









Stamps:  Sunny Sentiments (Amy R)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); Vellum; Neenah 110 lb. card stock (die-cut tree frame)
Ink:  Brushos (turquoise, lime green, leaf green); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Tree Frame die (Gina Marie Designs), water mister, cling wrap, white embossing powder, heat tool

Challenges:
CAS Watercolour March Challenge - Spring
AAA Cards #84 - Watercolour
Inkspirational #129 - Connect

40 comments:

Harriet Skelly said...

Gorgeous background Loll. I never heard of that technique before!! The white trees die cut looks awesome over that background!

nancy littrell said...

Gorgeous background Loll. Love the colors you used and your wonderful die cut trees. So nice that you used vellum for your sentiment so we can still see your beautiful background. I have used the Brushos and Cling wrap technique, but sprinkled the Brushos powder onto the cling wrap and reconstituted the powder with water, then laid a piece of w/c paper over the wrap..flipped over and scrunched the wrap to spread and mix the inks around. Let dry and removed wrap for a cool background. Now I want to try your technique. Don't we have fun! TFS my friend. Hugs..

Susan said...

Fabulous background, Loll - interesting that it worked just fine without the spray starch. Such lovely fresh colours that definitely make me think of spring when everything is bright and new.

Stamps and Paper said...

A very inspirational card Loll another fabulous background

Anne

Betty said...

love this - am going to give that cling wrap a go!!

Barb said...

A really lovely card Loll and the background is beautiful,


A gorgeous card Loll. What a beautiful background. Barb xx

Loll said...

That way of doing this technique sounds easy, Nancy. I'll have to give it a try. xx

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

Fabulous background, love the effect. I'm so in love with that die too. A Beautiufl card.
Faith
x

Sue said...

Beautiful card and gorgeous background, Loll. So crisp and fresh.

Viv said...

Fab background Loll. Great card as always. x

Charlene said...

Once again, you inspire me……….

My Card Attic: Hazel said...

Love that background panel Loll! Fabulous with that stunning die cut and the vellum strip with the embossed sentiment, is inspired! Have a wonderful day my friend! Luv n’ Hugs. Hazel xx
My Card Attic

Karen Dunbrook said...

love, love and love....
Your bkg just looks fab...love the die too!
xx Karen

Bonnie said...

Your experiment worked out beautifully, Loll! What a gorgeous background and the blues and greens are perfect behind that stand of trees! Love the vellum sentiment too! Awesome, my friend!

Christine Alexander said...

gorgeous, cling wrap is one of my favorite techniques, I just love the effect the wrinkles have with the colour. I am going to have to try this with straight water colour without spray starch

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Gorgeous Loll, methinks I might need to try this!!! Have a Die that'd work and brushos and spray starch... 😊
Thanks for sharing your inspiration!
Shaz in Oz.x

{Calligraphy Cards - Shaz in Oz}

Susanne Vargas said...

Oh, I love trees! And your row of trees is wonderful with that gorgeous background! Just ordered Brushos - finally!

Sheila H said...

The white trees look stunning atop the beautiful background. Love your artistry!

Darnell said...

I love the colors so much, Lolly, and also love the cool effect of the cling wrap over the Brushos! It's stunning with that NBUS tree die and perfectly chosen and embossed sediment on vellum!! Hugs, Dolly

kiwimeskreations said...

Wow Loll - this is so dramatic - love your water coloured background.
Blessings
Maxine

Jeanne said...

Gorgeous work, Loll! You create such wonderful pieces with your experimenting. The colors here are so very pretty and are set off wonderfully by the white trees. Thanks for sharing! :)

Brenda in IN said...

Simply beautiful. I love the colors, the technique, the trees die and the sentiment. Fantastic card! I love how your experiments come out. Mine come out too, out into the trash can. I must not smile right!

Mac Mable said...

Fun experimenting with the background brusho's, turned out great. The spray starch technique is on my to do list...Great colours and all set off beautifully with the stark line of white trees. Also great to see CAS card with a full coloured background and still retaining the overall CAS look to it x Gorgeous card and happy thoughts coming right back to you x

Canonbury creations said...

Fabulous backdrop for those trees Loll, looks amazing! We did that technique with Kylie on the retreat, great fun!
Val x

Barb Ghig said...

Your background is gorgeous, and perfect with your new die cut trees, Loll! I love the richness of the Brushos colors and the effects of cling wrap really make it pop! You can count me in to play along again this month :)

Petra Swart said...

Your bg looks simply amazing, Loll and I LOVE those trees and the sentiment on the vellum to not cover the bg!!!! What a beautiful card!!!! WOW!!!!
Have a great day!!!
Hugz

JosieD said...

Gorgeous background and the tree scape die in white is perfect with it! Great idea for making the most of that type of die.

Nonni said...

Fantastic take on our challenge! I love your background, very beautiful. I wonder if cling wrap would work with inks and water too... I must experiment! :) Thank you for sharing your card with us at Inkspirational!

Daria said...

Beautiful! I love the tree die against your gorgeous background.

Anita in France said...

A beautiful rich background, Loll ... those crisp die cut trees are so lovely against it ... gorgeous! Hugs, Anita :)

Heidi MyLittleStampingBlog said...

Gorgeous variation of colors in the background and very springy!!

A Place for Kia said...

Love your background and your technique Loll ... with a bird I cannot use spray starch so I am going to give your technique a try ... if it turns out half as good as yours I will be happy. Thanks for sharing.

Heather said...

I love that background and paired with white looks so crisp and classy.

Nstiz said...

What a gorgeous background with this technique! Love how the colors broke down and yet blended at the same time! Beautiful, Loll!

MaryH said...

You must be tired of hearing me say "Gorgeous", but I do run out of superlatives! I've tried this cling wrap scrunch, and did NOT get the vivid colors in this wonderful background. Which is simply perfect behind these white trees! Can't remember if I've tried the starch with the brushos, probably did, not successfully! You're on a super roll with these marvelous cards! TFS & Big hugs.

MaryH said...

Oops, forgot to say Kudos to getting Heather as your Guest Designer. She's another awesome watercolorist and cardmaker. I love her work too!

Bobby said...

This is lovely, Loll. I tried that technique once and loved the result. The next time I forgot about the starch and didn't like it as much. I'm going back to the starch.

BożenA said...

It's hard to believe that to do this you used brushos background ... The background is amazing, intense, and at the same time part of the color beautifully separated, without mixing through the use of cling wrap. You are very creative, Loll. Thank you for the amazing aesthetic experience and inspiration.
Hugs, my Friend,
BożenA

Susan said...

What a gorgeous background! LOVE how the trees pop on that background!

Pat said...

Fabulous colours and great technique for the background Loll and your pretty white trees stand out beautifully. x