Christmas Cheer

I'm here with my card for the December Happy Little Stampers Challenge.

I stamped the poinsettia (retired image from Stampin' Up) and heat embossed it on water colour paper.  I masked off the flower, stamped and heat embossed the leaves.  I then masked off the leaves and applied blue distress oxide ink through a stencil (Diagonal Lines from My Favorite Things) using a stencil brush.

I splattered some water on the blue ink and blotted it with paper towel.  I then removed the stencil and masks and used Distress Inks to water colour the images.  To use the inks for watercoloring I smoosed the ink pads on a palette (I use a large acrylic block) and pick up the ink with a damp watercolor brush.  I love how the Pistachio Ink on the leaves dries in blues in greens.  I masked off the flower again and splattered the background with the inks and spritzed on shimmer spray for some subtle sparkle.

I really have enjoyed being on the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Design Team, it has been awesome to see work from card makers all over the world.  I have decided not to continue on the team to have time to try something new.