The Wonder of Watercolour for TioT

Well the new look TioT really gets going this week with a challenge sponsored by One Stop Card Crafts and one lucky winner will be randomly drawn for our sponsor prize.  This week we are looking at watercolour techniques and this is my DT project for the challenge.

I'm not really a watercolour artist - I would love to be able to do it properly but I'm not a very patient person and tend to end up with a brown study rather than a delicate watercolour.!! So here is my quick fix to a water colour effect that anyone can do.

Find a couple of stamps with an image that doesn't have too much fine detail (it will get lost) and some areas that are a 'block' of colour or have a distinctive shape. Ink up your stamps with water soluble inks or watercolour pens (its good to use a couple of different colours if you can) then spritz with a fine water mister. Leave just a couple of seconds, stamp and 'voila' instant water colour effect. You may have to play to find the right stamp  and amount of water but it's a quick and effective technique and I think you'll be surprised at the results if (like me) the thought of watercolouring using a brush and paints is a bit daunting.

While I was getting messy (use gloves if you don't like getting your fingers inky!!) I made a couple of other projects using the same technique.

another ATC

Flower and butterfly stamps get the treatment

Flower stamps are particularly useful for  this technique as they tend to be recognisable and lend themself to the watercolour look.

Used the technique on the background and main image.

I wasn't too happy with the lady image on this tag as the watercolour effect lost so much of the detail in her face. In fact she looks a bit like she has grown a great moustache (!!).  It was going in the bin, but I distressed the edges and really liked the way the edges curled (would never do it if you were trying for that effect!!) so I popped her on a tag anyway. Not too shabby despite the fact that she looks rather hirsute.

So why not join in with us at TioT with your take on the wonder of watercolour. There is no restriction on the type of project you can enter - it could be a card, tag, altered art, an ATC or any sort of crafting you wish as long as it meets the published theme.

The Design team will pick their top 5 entries from the challenge and each will get one of our new blinkies to proudly display. The  Top entry will be asked to join us as a guest designer on a future week Guest designer week posting.

Can't wait to come and see what you get up to.

Best wishes, Cindy x