Shimmering Henna!

Good Afternoon Everyone!

Here where I live it's cold and rainy today...at least it's washing away some of the snow that fell earlier in the week.  I am really ready for spring and warmer weather!  But I know I'll be saying that for the next 6-8 weeks at least.

Today I will show you how I created this "Miss You" card:

 Here are the supplies I used:

✳   Tonic "Henna Florish" stamp set
✳   Studio G "Miss You" stamp set
✳   Acrylic blocks for stamping
✳   Embossing ink
✳   Clear embossing powder
✳   A palette for the paint (or you could use your craft mat)
✳   Ranger Perfect Pearls: Sour Apple, Forever Blue, Turquoise, Mint, Forever Green, Perfect Gold
✳   Heat tool
✳   Clean water for painting
✳   Size 2 paint brush
✳   A2 size card base
✳   Adhesive
✳   Black Card stock cut to 5.25 x 4
✳   Nuvo Crystal Drops: Navy Blue

I started by stamping my image in clear embossing ink.  I stamped the border 4 times trying to be sure to line it up so it would look like one continuous image.  Then I used clear embossing powder and melted it with my heat tool.  Then it was time to paint!  I put a little bit of the perfect pearls onto

my palette and added one drop of water to each color.

I mixed the color as I was using it.  I didn't mix them all first as I think they would have dried out.  I kept some continuity in my painting by repeating colors in all three elements.  So, you will find a little (or a lot!) of each color in the border, the mandala and the sentiment.  This really gives the card a cohesive look.  I didn't mix my paint until it was runny, I added a little bit more water if I needed beyond the initial first drop, just to make the paint move smoothly over the paper.  I also tried to space out where my colors were so there weren't 2 spaces next to each other painted the same color.

Once I finished the painting I added Nuvo Crystal Drops to some existing embossed places and then randomly.  After they dried I adhered my panel to the card base.

And that finished my card!

I think this is quite a versatile card - you could change the color palette and use different stamps...I could envision this done with floral stamps and softer colors.  Have fun!

Until next week,

Happy paper crafting and remember...it's only paper!

Betsy