Tweet Hugs

Another month, another Papertrey Ink blog hop!  We were given a picture this time and challenged to let it inspire us to create something.  I loved the watercolor quatrefoil pattern and decided to recreate it for my card.  (click on the picture for the original source)

I cut a piece of watercolor paper and embossed it using a folder from the Decorative Tile Set by Cuttlebug.  I tapped a VersaMark pad along the raised quatrefoil lines and embossed it with clear powder.  My hope was that it would resist the watercoloring.  It worked, more or less.  Just not perfectly.

I chose a selection of Distress Ink markers and added color to each little section by first scribbling and then blending it with a waterbrush.  I tried to be fairly random, but also make it look like the colors flowed into each other.  Obviously, the picture inspired my choices.  My pattern turned out more pastel than the original and I had my doubts during the process, but I love the result!

I happened to have a piece of Hibiscus Burst cardstock still on my desk and it matched perfectly, so I adhered my watercolor piece to it for a card base.  There I stalled.  I didn't want to cover up my pretty watercolor quatrefoil pattern!  What to do???

I turned to my word dies seeking a solution and pulled out the Big Hugs dies from my last PTI order.  (I still need to get the stamp set though.  It would have been handy for this card!)  I cut this script-style word from both Vintage Cream and Hibiscus Burst cardstock, layering two pink together for dimension and then off-setting the cream so the pink would look like a shadow layer.

I pulled out my Little Bitty Bird sets and stamped the three smaller words on Hibiscus Burst cardstock.  I cut out each one individually, placing them near the large diecut word.  I stamped the bird on watercolor paper and colored it with the blue markers I had used on my background.  I added dots on the belly and lines on the wings/tail with the darker blue marker.  I also touched up the eye with a Black Soot marker to keep it from getting lost.  I cut out the bird and popped it up to look like it was perching on the word.

This card turned out so cute!  I had no idea where I was going when I started, but I sure had fun in the process.  That's pretty much the point, isn't it?  Embrace the imperfection and allow yourself to play.  You just might like where you end up.  :)  If you want to see more, check out the other cards in the hop at Nichole Heady's blog here.

Stamps:  Little Bitty Bird, Little Bitty Bird Additions (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Paper:  Vintage Cream, Hibiscus Burst (Papertrey Ink); watercolor paper
Distress Markers:  Black Soot, Evergreen Bough, Salty Ocean, Stormy Sky, Tattered Rose, Tumbled Glass, Victorian Velvet, Worn Lipstick
Misc:  Big Hugs die (Papertrey Ink); Decorative Tile Set embossing folder (Cuttlebug); clear embossing powder, waterbrush