STITCHED WATERCOLOUR

 In my previous life as a costume designer/maker, I had a collection of specialty metallic threads that were used on the costumes. So when I saw someone had used metallic thread as an added accent to a watercolour painting, I just had to give this a go on my ATCs. I love the simple style of the painting that is elevated with the addition of the metallic thread, and as usual, these all look so much nicer in real life. I know this technique can be used with simple stamped designs, but I like that you can paint whatever you want and then embellish it with metallic thread. The thread is doubled, so it shows up more as it is quite thin, and you simply attach it to the back with a little double-sided tape. I used Daniel Smith watercolour paints for all of the painting. I think the amount of white background space also helps to enhance this particular style.
If you click on the picture, you will get a better idea of how the stitching looks.

"Grow with the flow"
(Silver metallic thread)

"Bloom"
(Gold metallic thread)


"I paint flowers"
(Gold & orange metallic thread)

"Life's a painting"
(Gold metallic thread)

"Lookin' sharp"
(Gold metallic thread)

"Be-leaf"
(Gold metallic thread)


I saw some cards on Pinterest and made a couple following the same style. They inspired me to try this technique on ATCs. I did my own stitch designs and the possibilities are endless.

"Possible"

"Ordinary"

MARBLE PAINTING WITH ACRYLIC INKS

The last time we used a marble with inks for a background was in 2014, so I thought it was time to revisit it. It's an easy technique and lends itself to the bigger size as well as ATC size, so it's a good opportunity to create a cover using this technique. I used black acrylic ink for the marble rolling as this ink is permanent when dry, so when you do your watercolours over the top, it's not going to smudge or move. You can pick out individual shapes to colour or, as I've done on a couple of mine and the cover, colour the whole background in a few colours blended together.

"Fa-Cologne"

"Toot toot"


"Not a big fan"

"Dear Future"

"Art"

"Trust"


This is my cover for Technique Book #34. The size is 20cm x 15cm (or 8" x 6").
I've used a white gel pen to make dotted marks within some of the black lines.

RUSTY PATINA EMBOSS

 It's been a while since I've used my embossing folders, and the variety of 3D embossing folders these days is amazing. I have several that lend themselves to this rusty patina finish, and they can be created with just a few acrylic paints to give them a distinctive distressed look. These backgrounds are all made with the 3D embossing folders by Tim Holtz & Sizzix.

"A cleaved head"

"Dear autocorrect"

"Decay"


"Abra cadaver"

"Bugs"


"Motivation"