Homework!

This week I've been taking part in an online Watercolour for Cardmakers class, having a lot of fun trying out loads of new techniques.  An added bonus is that it's made me dig out some supplies I've had for years but never really used. When I saw this week's challenge over at Less is More - one layer "thanks" - I decided to combine a couple of the techniques from the class to create a card for the challenge. The  challenge over at Keep It Simple is watercolour so I've decided to play along there, too.

The word is part of the Pretty Words Set by Miss Kate Cuttables, which I "wrote" using a Derwent Outliner Pencil with my Sizzix Eclips. The finished result is a little more vibrant than my usual style, and very probably not CAS enough for Less is More, but I really quite like it.

Watercolour Grunge

I'm taking part in an online watercolour class at the moment, and one of the techniques on day 1 was using stencils with watercolours. This was my second attempt and it ended up looking more grungy than I intended, but as I needed to make a card for a teenage boy that was a happy accident! I had intended the finished card to be a little more CAS than it is, but a not-so-happy accident was getting some stray black ink where I didn't want it, so I had to cover that up with grunge stamps.

My first attempt had turned out too pale, so this time I dug out my Whispers brush markers which I haven't used for a couple of years as it belatedly occurred to me that they could be used for watercolouring, and they worked really well. 

Stencil: Mini Punchinella by Balzer Designs

Ink: Hero Arts

Stamps: Greetings - Woodware Large & Small, guitar & grunge - Inspired by Stamping
Backing paper: Bazzill

CTS #74

I needed to make a couple of cards for my father-in-law's birthday this week, and I really liked the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch so I decided to play along. This is the sketch:

I've also decided to play along at this month's Stamping Sensations challenge blog, where the theme is Anything Goes. The focal image is a stamp by Papermania which I coloured with Promarkers; the background swirl is created using an airbrush I bought recently. I discovered it's the same one that Stampin' Up used to sell; this was my first attempt to use it properly & I think I need a LOT more practice! It seemed like a lot of hard work just to get any ink out of it at all, but I eventually succeeded.

The greeting is by Clearly Besotted & it was inked up in Memento Tuxedo Black.