Water, water and more water

Hello and welcome! This week our challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show is 'water'. Using water is one of my favourite things to do, there are so many different possibilities with ink, paint, stamps, and different surfaces. One of the things I enjoy most with water techniques is that they are to some extent unpredictable and you never get the same result twice. Don't miss the wonderful projects by my team mates.

I made a layout using several different water and ink techniques, and there is water on the photo too:

This photo was taken on a boat ride in Norway a few years ago and I thought it fit well together with the great Darkroom Door sentiment, especially since we actually both climbed mountains and followed streams on this trip.

The background came by almost by mistake. I was misting a background for another project and my water mister was out of water, so I simply rinsed the paper under the tap instead. Then I misted it only twice from relatively far away with Dylusions ink, one mist with London Blue and a smaller one with Vibrant Turquoise. The mist spread almost like rings on water on the wet paper. You need to use watercolour paper for this technique to work well. The Hero Arts map was stamped in the centre of the spreading ink rings. It also happens to include the destination of this trip.

The bird was inked with Distress Markers, which works great since you can easily blend several shades of one colour and get a realistic look, for example, on the branch. Before stamping, I misted it with water, for a brushless watercolour effect. The birds flying away were also misted with water before stamping, as were the dots.

The clouds were die cut from sticky-back canvas with the new Sizzix Thinlits Arrows, Banners, Chevrons and Clouds die. I also had fun trying out my new clay and moulds from Martha Stewart. The clay is paperclay, so it air dries, which I like because you don't need to worry about the oven. Just press the clay into the moulds, pop the shape out and leave it to dry overnight. Because it's paperclay, the shapes are lightweight and don't add much weight to the page at all. I watercoloured the bird with Distress Inks and a paint brush.The rays were inked with Distress Inks, misted with water and stamped. Because distress inks are transparent, the blue colour underneath show through the yellow ink, making the rays green.

The edges were swept with an Emboss-It dabber and embossed with Seafoam White powder.

The lovely Darkroom Door tree line was inked with Distress Markers  (Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Mowed Lawn, Forest Moss, Walnut Stain), misted with water and stamped. I repeated it to create a full border. The sentiment was stamped with Archival Jet Black. The bird was a leftover from another project, it is grungeboard which has been covered with watercolour paper. I watercoloured it with Distress Ink, using similar colours as on the clay bird (it is supposed to look like one of my favourite birds).

I adhered sticky-back canvas to grungeboard, and die cut the mini Globe from that. The globe was misted heavily with water before I watercoloured it with Salty Oceans, Mowed Lawn and Gathered Twigs. It needs to be pretty wet, otherwise the ink doesn't spread and the result with be dark and splotchy.

Join us this week for some water fun and you could be the lucky one to win a $50 gift voucher from our sponsor Simon Says Stamp.

Thank you for the visit!

Happy stamping!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Dies: Sizzix: Caged Bird, Vintage fan & Globe, Arrows, Banners, Chevrons & Clouds thinlits, Vintage Market
Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Psychedelic Grunge, Urban Tapestry, Mini Ornates, Warehouse District; Darkroom Door Wilderness Vol. 1; Hero Arts: Collage Postcard
Ink: Archival Ink Jet Black; Ranger Emboss-It dabber; Distress Ink: Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn, Gathered Twigs, Walnut Stain, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Stormy Sky, Black Soot, Faded Jeans
Markers: Distress Markers: Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Forest Moss, Walnut Stain, Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Mustard Seed, Pine Needles
Mist: Dyan Revealy Dylusions: London Blue, Vibrant Torquoise
Embossing powder: Ranger Seafoam White
Surfaces: Claudine Hellmuth sticky-back canvas; Tim Holtz Idea-ology grungeboard; Canson watercolour paper
Clay: Martha Stewart Crafter's Clay Nature starter kit
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology Trimmings ribbons, ChitChat stickers