When going though my crafty stash I came across some die cuts in black and grey – silhouette florals, and decided I wanted to use these on some. This is the outcome!
What you’ll need… for backgrounds
Watercolour paper A5 Various ink pads (distress inks) Paint brush Spritzer with water
Plastic wallet
What you’ll need… for Embellishments
5 x 5 folded card and envelope Silhouette die cuts (already in stash) Silhouette stamps (I used Cardi-o)
Sentiments stamps (I used Elizabeth Craft Designs)/diecuts
Black Versafine ink pad Onyx black Black alcohol pen Ruler
Wet glue/double sided tape
How to create:
Rub the ink pads across the plastic wallet, the type used in lever arch folders. Try not to overlap too much as this will cross contaminate your pads. I used three colours near each other on the colour wheel. It’s best to do this otherwise you could end up with a muddy mess.
Spritz with water until quite fluid. Take the paint brush and mix the colours slightly to merge and create new colours.
Place the paper down on the liquid colour. Lift and press as many times as you like until you’re happy with the background. Respritz if necessary.
Repeat the above process as many times as you like using different colours and experimenting.
Let dry or speed up using your heat gun. This can however create a lot of warping. If this happens you can run it through your die cutting machine. If you don’t have one place under some heavy books.
Cut paper to 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches.
Take the alcohol pen and using the chisel end and a ruler create a border on all four sides of your background. This will help your stamping/die cut pop.
Cut your dies using matt and shiny black card and some grey. I find this adds depth and dimension to the finished design
Play around with the placement of the diecuts before glueing. When happy glue to your background.
Place the background inside the stamping platform and hold down with the magnets supplied.
Decide on the placement of your sentiment. Place lid down and lift. Ink up in black ink and stamp. If not clear reink and stamp again. Attach to your 5 x 5 card. Now for the silhouette stamps.
Silhouette stamps for the papercraft
I used the platform throughout this section and was very glad I did. I used textured watercolour paper and this meant I had to stamp multiple times to get a good image and I have to admit I had to resort to a black alcohol pen for touching up.
If you don’t have a platform I would recommend you use smooth watercolour paper to make your life easier. But I do like the textured paper.
When stamping I find it easier to plan my composition on copier paper. This doesn’t have to be perfect and will ensure you don’t waste any of your beautiful watercolour backgrounds.
Once you have your design go ahead and copy onto your backgrounds.
I had some watercolour offcuts and made 3 DL cards using the remaining bits and bobs (see below).
I also had a diecut that wasn’t black that I wanted to use so I covered it with a watermark pad and sprinkled it with black embossing powder. This heated up well. So that’s another option you could use.
I really enjoyed making these cards and will certainly use this technique again as it’s so easy and creative.
Get crafting and stay safe. Jackie 🙂