let's have a word: beautiful die

Hello all! TGIF! Keeway is here today with an amazing project that turns our Autumn Sketches set into a gorgeous spring scene. I loved reading how she created this card bursting with spring greens…

Hi friends and happy Friday! It’s been a whirlwind of a week and I hope everyone has been staying safe, healthy, and indoors. It’s even been rainy and cloudy here in California, so I thought what better way to help us escape from it all, but bringing you a bright and happy scene we can look forward to. In fact, I am going to show you how I used the Autumn Sketches Stamp Set outside of fall! 

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I started by stamping the outline image of the leafy branch along the left edge of a piece of bristol paper in Versamark ink. I also used the outline image of the leaf to fill in gaps and to add variation to arrangement. I then covered it with gold detail embossing powder, tapped off the excess, and heat set it with my heat gun. Now we’re all set to color!

I randomly picked a few shades of green Arteza Real Brush Pens that have different intensity and variation of colors. The ones I selected are A122 Moss Green, A126 Crocodile Green, and A132 Forest Green, A170 Pear Green. I laid down the colors by essentially add a little scribble of it within different leaves, and then using my water brush pen to blend it out, even across the lines. This is what gives it that loose, dreamy feel. This first layer is lighter, especially when using the water to dilute out the color as you drag it outwards.

I immediately moved on to the second layer of color, using again the same colors listed earlier, but this time adding more intensity to areas near the stem of the leaves. This time, use your water brush to drag out the color but only up to the outside line of the leaves. This allows the color to be more pronounced within the images. Add more color as needed.

I then used a blue color, A117 Arctic Blue, to fill some gaps between the leaves. Again, I generously used my water brush to blend out the color so that it is not concentrated in one area. This adds a look of day time to  your foliage scenery. I gently added some splatter with my watercolors. But if you don’t have watercolors laying around, you can scribble some color from your brush pen on your craft mat (or palette), pick it up with a wet brush, and gently tap to create splatter. Now set this aside to dry completely.

For my sentiment, I used the Let’s Have a Word: Beautiful Die. I die cut the words out of white card stock, and then ink blended Broken China and Wild Honey distress oxide inks on them. This allowed the words to continue to colors of your scene, while standing out, but not too much where it’s distracting. This was added to the bottom center of the panel.

Last, but not least, I decided to add a little bird to my branch for a cute factor. I used the Robin & Wren Stamp Set, and my Altenew ink colors Sand Dunes, Rocky Shore, Mocha, Espresso, and Snapdragon inks. I added this bird to the card with foam tape, and love how it’s gazing up into the sky!

Isn’t it beautiful? I just love all the color. Before I go, just a bit of an update. Unfortunately, I don’t have a sneak peek of our upcoming Fresh Air collection just yet. We’re running into a few little hiccups due to the current situation in our world. I’m holding off just a bit, but stay tuned…I’m fairly certain I’ll be able to share more info (and a peek!) tomorrow! Hang in there with me…if there’s anything we’re learning through this experience it’s how to roll with the punches. 🙂 Stay safe and stay well, dear friends. ❤️