Bella's Birthday Card by Wild Rose Studio

I have several Wild Rose Studio stamps but haven't really made much with them yet. This one is an image of Bella, a sweet little elephant. The company also makes matching papers. I used one of the patterned sheets for this card but they have a couple sheets featuring Bella as well (I can easily see myself hoarding these). I am also trying out my QOR watercolors for the first time (other than just making swatches). The colors are very intense. They tended to stain the paper (Arches Hot Press) so lifting was difficult - not sure if this was due to the watercolor, the paper itself, or the combo. I'll be doing some more testing!

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Making the Card

1. Cut pink cardstock to 7 x 10 inches; fold in half to form a 5 x 7 card base.

2. Cut watercolor paper to about 4 1/2 inch square. Stamp Bella's Birthday in the center with VersaFine Onyx Black ink. Let dry completely and/or heat set. Watercolor image. I used QOR watercolors.

3. Die cut watercolored image using largest MFT Inside/Out Stitched Square (or other stitched square die... be sure to measure it for mat). Cut blue cardstock mats: 4 3/4 x 6 1/8 inches and 4 x 4 inches (i.e. 1/8 inch larger than your stitched die). Cut Bella's Birthday patterned paper with dotted circles 4 5/8 x 6 inches. Adhere patterned paper to 4 3/4 x 6 1/8 inch blue cardstock. Adhere watercolored image to other (be sure to use strong tape, especially if the image warped). Hint: if the paper warped a lot, you may lightly mist on the back, place face down on a craft mat, and place weights on the back (I used my acrylic block and a book on top of that). Cover balloon in Glossy Accents. Add Wink of Stella to butterfly wings.

4. Punch butterfly from white cardstock. Watercolor in same colors as butterfly in watercolored image. Use a black marker (e.g. Memento Tuxedo Black) to add details as shown. Be sure to go around the edges from the back side with the brush tip. Color wing areas with Wink of Stella.

5. From pink cardstock, die cut two copies of "happy birthday" using Sizzix Celebration Words: Script dies. You may cut more if you would like a thicker stack. Line up and glue the like words together in a stack. Ink the bottoms using Memento Rose Bud ink and an ink blending tool. Follow up with VersaColor Baby Blue at the bottoms of the letters.  Cover with Wink of Stella. Coat with Glossy Accents.

6. Adhere red satin ribbon around matted patterned paper where shown. Adhere to card base. Adhere matted watercolored image to card base, using dimensional tape, as shown. Glue letters to ribbon as shown. Carefully bend each side butterfly wing slightly up (try to leave the body flat). Glue butterfly where shown.

Supplies

• Cardstock: Blue, Pink, White
• Patterned Paper: Bella's Birthday 6x6 Paper Pack (Wild Rose Studio PP035)
• Stamp: Bella's Birthday
• Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, Memento Rose Bud, VersaColor Baby Blue
• Ink Blending Tool
• Marker: Memento Tuxedo Black
• Watercolors: QOR (Phthalo Blue - Green Shade, Ultramarine Blue, Dioxazine Purple, Quincridone Magenta, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Purrole Red Light, Transparent Pyrrole Orange, Indigo, Paynes Gray), Winsor & Newton Gouache Ivory Black
• Brushes: 2 (Travel), 4, 8 Black Velvet by Silver Brush Ltd.
• Watercolor Paper: Arches Hot Press
• Dies: Die-Namics Inside/Out Stitched Squares (My Favorite Things MFT-850) or other stitched square dies, Sizzix Celebration Words: Script (660223)
• Punch: Martha Stewart 3-in-1 Butterfly
• Glossy Accents
• Wink of Stella
• Red Satin Ribbon
• Dimensional Tape

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Paper Smooches Fall Blessings Watercolor Card

I used the colors of Fall leaves for my watercolor background. The added veins (or branches) in gold are reminiscent of trees. I used the Paper Smooches new Leaf Frame die to inlay the pieces, while stacking copies from the Blessings die to pop up the word.

Making the Card

1. Cut white cardstock 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches; fold in half for a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base. Cut brown cardstock 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 inches. Adhere to card base.

2. Cut watercolor paper 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 (this is 1/4 inch larger than the final version, leaving 1/8 inch around for tape - if you need more room for tape, adjust paper size accordingly). Tape to craft mat or other surface.

3. Place Leaf Frame face down in the area it will be cut (mine is offset towards the bottom right corner). Pencil a line outside where you would like the watercolor to go - leaving about 1/8 inch or so room; you will need to erase the line but it will be difficult, if not impossible, to do so if you watercolor over it. Put the die aside.

4. Add water to the area you would like to watercolor. Work in layers - starting light, letting the paper dry some, add more color, dry more, brighter color. Finally add some FineTec mica in Inka-Gold with a medium brush; this may not show much. Dry completely then use a fine tipped brush to add FineTec mica Arabic-Gold: make the lines look like leaf veins or branches. Optional: Splatter with brown watercolor and Arabic-Gold, bang brush against your finger with some paint on the brush - but not too wet. I recommend trying on scrap paper first.

5. Once watercolor has fully dried, die cut using Leaf Frame being careful not to lose any pieces. Adhere outside frame to card base as shown, careful to center in brown layer. Die cut brown paper with Leaf Frame. Adhere brown Leaf Frame inside watercolored outside frame. Adhere leaf pieces.

6. Die cut "Blessings" in center of watercolored inside frame piece (you may want to use a little temporary tape to hold the die in place as you die cut). Be sure to keep all the pieces. Adhere big piece with Blessings cut out of it to the card as shown. Temporarily piece in the word Blessings (do not adhere). Adhere small inside pieces (l, e, and g).

7. Die cut 4 or 5 copies of "Blessings" from brown cardstock. Layer these on top of one another to form a thick stack. Hint: to glue the dot on the i stack, first stick it to some temporary tape. Adhere the watercolored version to the top of the stack. Adhere in Blessings place on card.

8. Take the small piece where the "to you and yours" will go and use water and paper towel to blot off some of the color. Dry. Stamp "to you and yours" in small piece as shown with Timber Brown StazOn ink. Adhere as shown.

I made the following quick card with the leftover frame from the above card and a test run scrap, from which I cut another "Blessings" sentiment. I also added a few enamel dots.

Supplies

• Paper Smooches Dies: Blessings, Leaf Frame
• Paper Smooches Stamps: Fall Sampler
• Watercolor Paper: Arches Rough
• Painter's Tape
• Watercolor Paint: Winsor & Newton, FineTec Mica
• Cardstock: Brown
• StazOn Ink: Timber Brown

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