Friday, September 08, 2017

Summer Sunset

Hi everyone.  I'm currently away on vacation over on Galiano Island.  We arrived last night and it started to rain.  It's been raining all day ... so it's too chilly to sit out on the deck, but we are enjoying the beautiful waterviews from inside the house.  It's all about resting and relaxing this week.  Jer and Alex are here for the weekend and we've been eating lots and playing games.  I pulled out my zigs this afternoon to do a little watercolouring and soon was joined by both Jer and Alex.  They had fun playing with the zigs. :)

Today's card is more playing with watercolour washes.  This was an experiment and it didn't turn out as I had planned. :)  I was looking to create a summer sunset with a watercolour flat wash.  I was hoping the colours would blend into each other a little more, but it's still a pretty background, so I'm sharing with you.

I wet my watercolour paper first, and then mixed up my paints with water to create pools of colour to work with.  You need to have the colours mixed ahead so that you don't have to mix more as you go along.  I started at the top with a few strokes of pink, then changed to orange (overlapping a bit with the pink), and finally to yellow (overlapping a bit with the orange).

I added a die-cut silhouette of some trees and leaves overtop so the sunset could peek through.


I'm adding this to the CAS Mix Up September Challenge - Watercolour Wash.  And I'm also adding this to the CAS Watercolour September Challenge - Silhouette.  Silhouettes don't have to be black! :)

  

Come join us!






Stamps:  Sentiment - Painted Butterflies (Altenew)
Paper:  Watercolour (Arches 140 lb. cold press); White (Neenah 110 lb. card stock); Basic Gray (SU!)
Ink:  Peerless Watercolour (Bright Yellow, Orange, Geranium Pink); Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  sponge brush, large 1" flat brush, Birch Tree Window die (Simon Says Stamp), white embossing powder, heat tool

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up September Challenge - Watercolour Wash
CAS Watercolour September Challenge - Silhouette

20 comments:

Christine Alexander said...

Loll, this is such a beautiful background for the die cut. now I want to pull out my die cuts and try this. Enjoy your time with the family, see you in a few weeks :)

Susan said...

Lovely "Loll" colours for the background - great with the simple white trees and their frame.

Have a great time on Galiano.

nancy littrell said...

Being on vacation and listening to rain sounds wonderful after our hot, dry Summer and now smoke from wildfires. We finally had a clear day today:-)

Your gorgeous card is so beautiful and such a wonderful clean, crisp CAS design. I think your Watercolour wash looks so pretty behind your die cut birch tree framing. TFS my friend and have a wonderful time with the boys. Hugs..

Darnell said...

It sounds like you are relaxing and enjoying your holiday, Lolly! I'm so glad to hear that! I hope the rain stops so you can spend some time on the deck, too! Your white silhouette birch trees look so pretty against your sunset wash! I think it's beautiful and you're too hard on yourself. After all, Mother Nature doesn't always blend the hues perfectly, either, and they are still breathtaking!! Hugs, Dolly

kiwimeskreations said...

Enjoy your break Loll - and thanks for sharing this gorgeous card :-)
Blessings
Maxine

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

A beautiful sunset and card, love the trees.
Faith
x

Jeanne said...

Sounds like you are really enjoying your vacation so far, even if it is raining. I'm impressed that you take crafting supplies with you. The card is beautiful. Love those colors behind the trees. So pretty! Hope you get to relax and enjoy (and the weather cooperates a little more). Hugs! :)

HJ said...

Love this card with the unique diecut front and beautifully colored sunset. Sometimes what we imagine doesn't work out but surprises are fun, too. Enjoy your vacation and I hope you see sunshine soon.

Tina Z. said...

Amazing, I love it.

BożenA said...

I do not believe :-) You are on vacation and you can not break away from creating cards! This is a real addiction, Loll :-)) But I'm glad because your amazing projects are still going on. The background is beautiful, I love the colors used and their blending. It must have been a wonderful family fun.
Have a nice holiday, Loll.
Hugs,
BożenA

Bonnie said...

This is a gorgeous background for this awesome die cut, my friend! I believe something else is going on my list! No rain all summer and then on your vacation. But I know how much you folks need the rain. And I'll be the water view is still beautiful! Enjoy!

Nstiz said...

Your summer sunset is gorgeous, Loll and all too soon we will be saying good bye to them for a while. Love the use of the die cut over this. Once again your color blending is impeccable. Great idea to take Zigs on vacation too- a lot easier to carry than the entire craft room!

Bobby said...

That die is fabulous, Loll, as is your watercolored sunset. Sorry about the rain but I'm a game girl so that sounds fun to me.

Susanne Vargas said...

Beautiful sunset behind the trees! How fun that you had company when you were coloring! Enjoy your vacation and relax!

Mac Mable said...

Love the silhouette in the white. Such a beautiful colour wash and liking the sentiment strip in the dark grey. Glad you are managing to relax and chill out and enjoy the company x (and the home cooking x).

Julia Aston said...

I hope your weather clears up soon Loll so you can sit out on that deck and watch the water go by!! Still good to be away though no matter the weather! I love this die cut and your beautiful summer sky behind it - the sentiment looks great on the darker panel too! Julia xx

Pat said...

I have first hand knowledge of this card and I can definitely say it is gorgeous and the background colours are so bright and pretty against the white die cut trees. I hope you are having a wonderful break on Galiano Loll, and from the pictures I've seen it looks like a great place to take a break. x

Anita in France said...

Warm and lovely, Loll ... enjoy the rest of your break! Hugs, Anita :)

Marcia Hill said...

I think your Summer Sunset turned out AMAZING Loll! Love the colors and your Birch Tree die cut looks so pretty over it! Lovely, lovely card my friend!! :0)

Linda said...

I think your sunset is just perfect peeking out behind those trees. Enjoy your time away xx