More Fun With Watercolor Paints

After my initial testing over Labor Day weekend I pulled out my CTMH Watercolor Paper (Z3146) and National Stamping Month Hello, Life! stamp sets because I needed to create something for the National Stamping Month Hello, Life! blog hop. The samples I was creating did not get finished in time and/or make the cut for the blog hop, but I thought you might still like to see my process and ultimately what I created.

Before I forget, the specifications for the watercolor paper CTMH offers for purchase is: "Watercolor paper: 220 lb. (hot press, no coating)". I thought the paper felt like it had a light coating and, from what I read on blogs, others did too; I am guessing we had that impression due to the hot press process.

This is a photo of the CTMH Watercolor Paper after embossing using a VersaMark™ Ink Pad and Ranger™ Clear Super Fine Embossing Powder, but before painting. I was going for a resist technique.

This is also after embossing, with a White Daisy Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad and Ranger™ White Super Fine Embossing Powder, but before watercoloring.

And here are the panels after watercoloring; I sprinkled regular table salt on this one. You may be able to see it near the right side of the greeting.

Here is a close up of the area where you can see impact of the salt.

I was really hoping for a much more noticeable resist look. That is why I did not use this panel for the blog hop.

On this sample I also used some salt, but it is so subtle that I am not posting any close-up photos; even having a photo of this panel with the salt still on it, I have a hard time seeing the impact of the salt.

Since I really prefer the look of heat embossing after watercoloring, this panel did not get made into a card for the blog hop.

On the sample below, I tried to create an ombré look. I thought the watercolor paper and paint was too dry for the salt to do anything, but what a great impact the sea salt created. After it was dry and I brushed the salt off, I wished I had put more salt on.

As I mentioned the other day, my personal preference is to heat emboss after watercoloring. But I was on a roll while I was trying different things that I did not wait for paints to dry before pressing on. I hope what I shared here and on previous posts will help you determine how you want to start, or things to try, using your watercolor paints.

The supplies I used to create these panels:

• My Acrylix™ National Stamping Month Hello, Life!—Scrapbooking Stamp Set (CC1040)
• My Acrylix™ National Stamping Month Hello, Life!—Cardmaking Stamp Set (CC1041)
• White Daisy Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2163)
• VersaMark™ Ink Pad (Z891)
• Ranger™ Clear Super Fine Embossing Powder (Z2088)
• Ranger™ White Super Fine Embossing Powder (Z2068)
• Watercolor Paints (Z3132)
• Paintbrush Set (Z3188)
• Supplies not from Close To My Heart: Ranger™ Archival Ink - Jet Black, anti-static bag (brand unknown), table salt, sea salt

You should know that Close To My Heart recently started carrying the Tuxedo Black Memento™ ink pads and replenished their stock of Archival Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp pads so there are now four black ink pad options available on my OBA:

• Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (Z2105) - dye ink/water base; there is a re-inker available: Black Exclusive Inks™ Re-inker (Z2205); the description from my OBA is "Single-color dye-based ink in patented swivel-top stamp pad."
• Archival Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad (44751) - dye ink; the description from my OBA is "Waterproof, lightfast, fade-proof, and non-smearing, archival black ink locks your stamped designs to the paper. Acid free."
• Black StazOn™ Ink Pad (Z888) - dye ink/solvent base; there is a re-inker available: Black StazOn™ Re-inker (Z889); the description from my OBA is "Appropriate for all surfaces. Designed for decorating non-porous surfaces such as glass, metal, coated paper, and leather, use StazOn™ with stamps or Sponge Daubers for a unique “stained glass” appearance. Acid free. (Not recommended for fabrics.) Tsukineko®."
• Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink Pad (Z899) - dye ink; the description from my OBA is "The black Memento™ ink pad is an archival quality ink pad that works for any stamping project and can be used with alcohol markers, watercolors, or any of our other coloring options."

Please stop back in a few days to learn what became of the watercolor paper panels I shared above. I still do not know yet. :-)

Thank you for visiting today.