I hope you all closed 2018 out with a bang and are ready for a beautiful new year. It's that time of year where so many of us decide to create change in our lives in hopes of bettering either ourselves or our quality of life. Some of us make resolutions, some of us set goals, some of us get philosophical... I'm curious to know how all of you are approaching the new year?
Long ago I stopped making New Year resolutions. I suppose it's because I feel that January 1st is just another marking of the passage of time. It is the beginning of a new year but it is also just like any other day of the year. It's like a bookmark marking a page in a book and in the same way that bookmarks can be moved... so can the markings of the passage of time. For whatever reason I don't feel like a need a bookmark on January 1st every year. I do feel it's important to set goals throughout the year (and through the different phases of our lives) and right now I'm really feeling like it's important to focus on the small choices that we (I) make everyday. These small choices become the building blocks of our lives. I don't know if this makes sense to any of you who are listening to my rambling thoughts... if so, I just want to say that you don't have to put pressure on yourselves to immediately achieve greatness in 2019. You can start by making tiny, conscious choices everyday-choices that are doable, achievable and that feel good. Over time these choices will become a huge part of you and can help create the change that you are seeking without feeling overwhelming and without setting yourself up for failure. Be kind to yourself, set realistic expectations and goals, set yourself up for success! This is what I plan to do for myself and I wish the same for you all.
Ok, on to the card because I'm pretty sure this is why you are here. I had a ton of fun making this card. I haven't had much time to craft over the last couple of months (I fear this may continue as we enter tax season) so it felt fantastic to sit down, put on my audio book and lose track of time as I created. I used the Concord & 9th "Just Love" Bundle to create a couple of cards and this is one of them. I stamped the floral image onto Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper in Fade Out ink from Inkon3. This ink allows you to see the image well enough to to color or watercolor but it's light enough that you can't see the ink when you're done coloring. It's perfect the no-line watercoloring technique that I used.
Next, I used my Arteza Brush Pens and a water brush to watercolor the floral image. I wanted the flowers to be bold and bright so they would pop behind the black sentiment. In order to help the floral elements stand out I did a light gray watercolor wash in the background with splatters added in for texture.
After finishing up the background I die cut the word Love twice out of black cardstock. I layered one on top of the other adhering them with liquid glue. Then I used a coat of Tonic Nuvo Crystal Glaze over the top of it to give it a shiny, crystalline finish. I glued that straight to the background, added some sequins and called it a day.
Simon Says Stamp has a fun Wednesday challenge going on right now. It's Anything Goes theme so I'm adding my card to their gallery as this fits the bill. I'm also adding some product links below in case you'd like to add any of the products I've used today to your own crafty stash. Some of the links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you when you use my links (thanks for using them I really appreciate it!).
Wishing you all a wonderful day and a happy new year full of all of the very best things!
Maria
Product List:
Beautiful card you have great results with the Arteza brush pens! Did you apply them to dry paper first then use water brush or wet the paper first? I would love to have mine come out half as nice as yours...Just Beatiful!
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