day 35's spin on the inspiration wheel landed on watercolor and i took a different approach to it today!
typically i'll watercolor a background or an element, but today i decided to use distress inks [which react with water beautifully] and a technique similar to one called smooshing - yes, that's the technical term [ha!]
i pulled a few colors of ink and decided to use the same stamp over and over to create a pattern that i would then add a sentiment to. moving in rainbow order [of course!] i inked up the stamp, spritzed it with water and smooshed it onto the paper. i elected to use heavy weight cardstock instead of watercolor paper which changed the end result a bit, but i like it.
the hexagon stamp didn't have clearly defined edges to begin with, but when the water smooshes out a little, i really like the effect it has. once i stamped six hexagons i overlapped the sentiment "oh, hello there" in black ink. to be honest i had planned on stamping seven hexes since i love odd numbers so much, but i didn't really plan out the spacing, i just kinda went with it. after the blue one i didn't think it would look right, so i'm counting the sentiment as the seventh element!
to keep with the hexagon theme, i decided to add some texture to the panel. i ran it through my die-cut machine with a texture plate, creating the smaller hexagons.
i just love that when you look at this you not only see the colored hexagons, but also the all over texture and then you can tell where they overlap as well! something very fun and different!
a thin black border outlines the card base and is a little wonky! i hand drew the lines and didn't want them to be perfect, i wanted them to reflect the loose feeling of the colored hexagons.
the entire front white panel is elevated off of the card base with foam tape for added dimension in addition to the texture.
i love that while i used the same steps for each color of the hexagons, each one turned out a little bit differently. i just think it's so unpredictable and fun, and definitely something different for me! the small clear drops weren't quite dry when these photos were taken, but they'll eventually end up completely translucent and slightly raised.
this sentiment can be used for so many different occasions - i feel as though i've been struggling with the overall theme for the card each day and so i decided to just do one that could truly be an all occasion card! we don't need a reason to send mail, sometimes saying hello is just enough!
while i didn't watercolor in the traditional sense, it's one thing that i really enjoy with these prompts and challenges i give myself. i'm branching out and trying new things and experimenting a little. sometimes when i look at the overall collection of handmade cards in my stash, i think they all start to look the same. here's to making a few new favorites!
you can check out this card here in my online shop!
35 days down, 65 to go!