Gina K. Heartfelt Hydrangea

Welcome to another challenge with the Paper Craft Crew! You knew it was coming – after all, it is Wednesday. This week we have a great sketch challenge for you to work with. I chose a new stamp that I just received; it’s by Gina K. Heartfelt Hydrangea. Hydrangeas are one of my favourite flowering bushes; I love that they grow in different colours. Did  you know that if you change the  pH level of your soil, you can change the colour? It’s true! The more alkaline the soil, the pinker the flowers.  To make pink flowers to blue, increase the acidity of your soil. *bam!* You’re welcome 🙂

PCC348 SKETCH CHALLENGE

Now that I’ve increased your miscellaneous gardening knowledge – how about that sketch?! My husband always wonders where I come up with this stuff – I say ‘I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous’! LOL (meaning – I could easily get myself into trouble). Anyway, check out this week’s sketch.

Remember the sketch is your starting point. You can flip it sideways or upside down. And of course it’s your choice of colours, stamps, etc. that you want to use. I stayed with the basic sketch, but will point out the subtle changes I made in my project.

HEARTFELT HYDRANGEA

I decided to use my Brusho Crystal Colours again for watercolouring this image. I had such fun with them last week – if you missed that card, you can see it HERE (different stamp set used). The intensity of Brusho colours is what I love best – of course you can vary that with the amount of crystals and water you add.

Blue and  purple are what I chose for the flowers. You can see that I did the Spotlight technique, where you colour what’s inside the frame, and leave the outside portion of the image uncoloured. That’s one of the changes I made, to the basic sketch.

IMAGE DETAILS

For the front panel, I used a piece of watercolour paper. I just received a brand new product as one of the Design Team for Scrap ‘N Stamp – Tonic A2 Watercolor Card pad. (they’re so new that they’re not listed in the online store yet – but keep checking back!). It’s lovely paper, 300gsm cold press, which I love to use. You can see in the photo above the texture in the paper. The other side is a bit smoother.

First, go over the panel with an anti-static tool. Next, stamp the image in Versafine Clair Nocturne ink, and cover it with clear embossing powder. Set it with a heat tool. Now, on a slick surface such as a palette, craft mat, silicone mat or even a piece of acetate (that’s what I used), spray some water in 2 different areas – far enough apart that they won’t run together. In one puddle, add Prussian Blue Brusho; in the other one, add Purple Brusho. use your brush to mix the crystals with the water. Now you’re ready to paint your image.

Before starting, die cut a square frame, using your die cutting machine and 2 square dies, from black cardstock.  Put it over the stamped image, so you have an idea how much of the image you need to paint. Remove the frame, and start painting. Once you’ve finished with the petals, make 2 more puddles of water; one for Leaf Green and one for Moss Green, for the leaves and stem. In the picture below, you can see the watercolouring details with the Brusho.

CARD DETAILS

While your paint is drying, create a card base of dark blue cardstock, and cut a panel of black cardstock. When the paint is dry, attach your cardstock frame over the painted portion of the image, with liquid glue. The next part of the sketch that I ‘changed’ was to not add the shape or banner, but rather let the uncoloured portion of the stamped image take the place of those 2 items. Tie a bow of thin gold ribbon, and attach it near the bottom right of the frame.

Finish off the card front by adding 2 coloured rhinestones from Pretty Pink Posh’s Starry Sky Jewel Mix.

JOIN THE CHALLENGE!

I  hope I’ve inspired you to join the challenge this week! For more inspiration, head over to the Paper Craft Crew challenge blog, and see what the rest of the Design Team have created. You’ll also find the link there, for adding your card. I’m looking forward to seeing what you create!

NEED SUPPLIES?

If you’d like to order the Gina K. Heartfelt Hydrangea stamp set, or anything else I’ve used to create this card, (or anything else on your list) I’ve included some direct links, below.  If you have any questions or comments, I always love to hear from you! You can either comment directly on this post, or click the ‘Email Deborah’ big blue button on the right side of this page.

Compensated affiliate links are provided where available, at no cost to you.