Wild Horses

Hi friends!  Brace yourself for some wild color because I've been at my Laurel Burch stamps again.  They were sold by Stampendous, but I don't see them there now, so I'm wondering if they've been discontinued.  I see they're available on Amazon and elsewhere.  Typical of me to be clueless.  I'm just happy to have a few in my collection.

My Horse Friends are stamped in Versamark and embossed in gold.  I painted with Twinkling H2O's, using natural colors for the horses' bodies but going more creative for their manes.  I didn't want too much crazy color in the focal piece because the background is so wildly colorful.  The die cut "fantastic" seemed appropriate considering the fantastical nature of the artwork.

About that background...  I was in my Joseph's Coat phase but had an idea for something different.  I used a large sponge to apply a rainbow of inks to shimmery ivory cardstock.  Then I laid my stencil over top and used another large sponge to thoroughly apply black ink to the negative spaces.  It's a striking lot of color, but perfect for my Laurel Burch stamp.

The stencil is Whispering Grass by Pink Ink.

Inside is trimmed with a leftover piece, and the sentiment is gold embossed.  It's an oldie Wordsworth stamp and one of my all-time favorites.

The next card actually came first.  I brayered ink from an old SU spectrum pad onto Whisper White cardstock, then clear-embossed the horses.  I used a craft knife to cut the image from the center of the inky background and then rubbed black ink over just the horses image.  Matted the image and put it back in place.  It's more trouble than it would have been if I'd had a plan from the beginning.  Just goofing around.

I'm working with my not-yet-used Stampendous this week.  They're a favorite company with a variety of image styles and always reliable quality.  Just saying.  Some of my oldest and best loved stamps are from Stampendous.

As per usual I'll be sharing at Darnell's NBUS Challenge.  My Horse Friends stamp and Whispering Grass stencil are both being used for the first time.

See you again soon!

CAS Mix Up, November -- Stencil Monoprint

We've come back around to another CAS Mix Up Challenge, friends!  This month's challenge is hosted by Loll and is a focus on stencils.  She has chosen the stencil monoprint technique for us to try.  Now, if you don't know what that is, do be sure and see the video links on the challenge blog.  It's super easy and gives you a fabulous smooshy watercolor.  Beware... it's hard to stop once you get started.

I now have two more of these horses and multiple other stencil monoprints in my bag o' backgrounds.  For me it was best to think outside the box for the colors.  For this one I used Distress Oxide inks and have decided I love them for this type of watercolor.

As Loll explains, in this technique you are getting a negative image.  Ink the back of the stencil, spritz with water and then turn your stencil over onto watercolor paper.  After you remove the stencil blot your paper with a rag or paper towel to remove excess water.  It works every time.  Must watch a video to see how easy and cool it is.

Steph (My Paper Corner) is guesting with us this month and she has a lovely card to share along with the rest of the team's cards.  Everyone got different and interesting results.  Hope you'll play along!

Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 lb, black  Ink:  Distress Oxide Peacock Feathers, Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge  Other:  Stencil Girl Touching Noses stencil, MFT Die-namics #captions, Spellbinders squares, Dee's Distinctively Small Pair of Leaves

Whatever Wednesday: Wild Horses

I did not know until recently that Stampendous had a line of Laurel Burch stamps.  I went there looking for something else and found Laurel Burch.  Stopped me in my tracks.  I love anything Laurel Burch.  Bookmarked!  Finally, when I was ready to shop, I indulged.

I realize these stamps are not very mainstream, but I guess that's what I love about them.  It was too hard to narrow down my choices, so I ended up with three single stamps, and two full sets.  I'd still like to have more.  I chose to color these Wild Horses first.

I didn't use the vivid colors associated with Laurel Burch.  Instead, I was inspired by a notebook I saw in a shop... similar, but different.  Stamped with Versamark and embossed in copper, watercolored with Twinkling H2Os.  Rich and earthy.

Poor horses... their sparkle and shimmer is tethered by the limitations of my photography.

I used a copper brushed metallic card base, a strip of gold trim.  Inside is a sentiment and sun motif from a different Laurel Burch set.

A small motif from that other set for embellishment on the front.

I'm going to categorize this as a masculine card, but I'm sure I'll send it to a girlfriend.

I'll be back with flowers on Friday.  Enjoy the rest of your week, and I'll hope to see you then!

Stamps:  Wild Horses by Laurel Burch for Stampendous, Fish Wishes (Laurel Burch/Stampendous) for sentiment  Paper:  Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolor, dark brown card stock, copper brushed metallic card stock  Ink:  Versamark  Coloring:  Watercolor with Twinkling H2Os  Accessories:  Gold self-adhesive trim, copper embossing powder, light gold embossing powder, Spellbinders circle die, 1" circle punch