One stamp set, two different techniques

Hello there, 

Today I wanted to share about this pair of cards I made using the same stamp set from Altenew. This is one of their build-a-flower stamps set, so I used the group of pieces to build the flowers but for the other one, I used only the outline of the flower to do some easy watercolour technique. 

Same stamp set, two different looking cads.

For the build a flower one (below) I used a series of inks (distress inks) in yellow tones for the flowers and greish-blues for the leaves. The stamp set comes with a leaflet with clear instructions and a few examples, it is pretty easy to follow. After I had stamped the flowers, I used the outline piece, stamped over the flowers and heat embossed in gold embossing powder. 

Grateful Hearts stamp set from Altenew

I stamped 3 flowers and 2 sets of leaves. For the background I did a very light ink distressing with a stencil in the centre on a piece of Neenah cardstock. I also die cut a thin frame of light grey cardstock just slightly smaller than the main panel.  Then I arranged the flowers in the centre, stamped and heat embossed a sentiment (from another set from Altenew) and placed it on top of the flowers. I added a few clear bubbles, to finish off the card.

For the second card, I did some easy water colouring technique, which you could do with any water based markers, but to me, it works best with Kuretake Zig Clean Color markers . On a piece of Bristol smooth cardstock I stamped the outline of the flower and heat embossed in gold. I then added a few strokes of a lighter and darker yellows (without being too careful). I then sprayed water right on the paper and allowed the colour to move with the water freely, I repeated the same steps with the leaves. Once dried, I cut all the pieces and set them aside.

Easy watercolour technique/ Monica Zerpa

For the background of this card, I wanted to keep it super simple. So I scribbled a few strokes of the same yellow markers on a piece of clear plastic, sprayed water on top and flipped it over right on a piece of Neenah cardstock, lifted up and let it dry. The result is a subtle watercolour stain, the look is rather organic and very pretty. In this case, I arranged the flowers at the bottom of the main panel, almost like an L shape, stamped and heat set a sentiment from the same stamp set and placed it off the centre. Finally, I added a few iridescent crystal embellishments for extra sparkle. 

These projects were such a joy to create, I hope you enjoyed these pictures too. 

Thanks for stopping by, see you next time!

Monica Zerpa / Needle & Paper