Altenew Crown Blooms in Watercolor

There are so many amazing card artists whose work I admire, and especially those who can create clean and simple cards!  I don’t think I can create “clean and simple” if my life depended on it!  I started this card thinking I would keep it really simple, one layer, no texture.  HA!!  As usual, I strayed from the plan!  Sigh!  On a piece of watercolor card stock, I stamped and heat-embossed in white the blossom and leaves from Altenew’s Crown Blooms set, masking the flower in order to place the other images.  I then began coloring with my Zig markers, layer upon layer, using a wet paintbrush to move and soften the color.

  I know I’ve mentioned before that when I choose colors for my cards, I try to use the ones that are opposites on the color wheel for the most visual impact!  Blue and orange are always so striking together!  Anyway, when I finished coloring the flower and leaves, I filled in the background with an aqua marker and lots more water to spread the ink.  After drying it with my heat tool, I spattered some black, aqua and white ink over the images, then added “dew drops” with my Crystal Effects glue!  

 I trimmed the panel down with my trusty Gina Marie Designs Stitched Rectangle dies.  I found a butterfly embossed piece I’d made AGES ago, and thought it would make a nice “frame” for my card, so die-cut that with the Stitched Rectangles in a size larger.  I adhered the panels together then mounted them to a card base of aqua.  

Lastly, I heat-embossed the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp’s Beautiful Flowers set onto a strip of coral cardstock which I’d trimmed into a little banner, then attached it with some foam tape.  So much for “clean and simple”!!  I guess that’s just not my style!  But I love this card and think it’ll perfect for many occasions!