Botanical Branches

Hello & Happy Thursday!

I love leaves & foliage style stamps and dies as I feel they work for so many occasions. I seem to be instantly drawn to them in the New Arrivals section on the website - haha! So there is no surprise that when I saw the new Sugar Pea Designs Botanical Branches die they came to live with me.

I wasted no time and got to using them straight away. For my first card I had an idea I wanted to execute using watercolour card and I used my Altenew Green Meadow inks as my colours by stamping them a few times onto an acrylic block and then using the ink as paint. Such a good way if you only have minimal supplies.

I am no expert when it comes to watercolouring, but I have picked up a few tips and tricks here and there. One is to wet the area you want the colour to be first with no paint on your brush, just water. This helps colours blend and then if you want darker areas, you can go back in when dry and add another layer.

For this card I wanted the colours to be soft and blend from light to dark. Once my panel was dry I mounted it to a dark green card base, added a white botanical branch die cut and the 'Thank You' sentiment from Concord & 9th Geometrics stamp set.

For my second card today I went to the opposite end of the spectrum, bright and bold! I wanted a rainbow of colour and so I used one of the brushstroke stamps from Concord & 9th Peek Through Patterns. I overlapped the colours and love the effect it gave.

This time I kept my card as a one layer card. Added another of the botanical branches and the same sentiment.

Which card do you prefer? Soft and Subtle or Bright and Bold? I can't decide - haha!

That's all from me this week, I hope I have given you a bit of creative inspiration.

Crafty Hugs Bev