Watercolour Wednesday Happy Holly-Days

 Ohh did I have fun making to days card 😁 I love making unique backgrounds for my projects and today's  watercolour inspiration was one such messy session. I created  backgrounds then chose the one which I was going to use with the Happy Holly-Days.  

The picture above is of somw of the backgrounds I created. The technique is super simple but can get rather messy. It is also quite addictive so my tip is have a session making them the have a pile of beautiful backgrounds ready to use for another day.

First gather all that you need and make a clear space to work in. You'll need paper, reinkers, water spritzers, a waterproof mat , a heat tool if you're impatient 😉 and I always have kitchen paper to hand. The waterproof mat could be a  silicon sheet or a nonstick sheet or a piece of acetate.  

First spritz an area on the mat then carefully place a few drops of reinker into the drops of water. Next spritz it all again to get the colour to move around. 

Then take your piece of cardstock , pearlescent, watercolour or thick are best, and spritz it all over. Now with the wet side facing down dab it into the ink. You are going to be building the layers of colour up so don't be tempted to over do the first run. Let this first layer of colour dry . If you're impatient like I am you can use a heat tool to dry the layer.

Now if you're using just one colour add more reinker if necessary and dab the piece in again. If you're using more than one colour clean your sheet and repeat making sure to dry in-between layers.

Once you're happy and the piece is dry you're ready to move on to the next step. I chose to stamp in versamark then heat emboss using white powder but please remember to use an anti static bag before stamping and embossing.

I also stamped a robin on a seperate piece of background and heat embossed in white powder then fussy cut him out. 

I mounted the background  onto a mat of white cardstock.  I then layered the piece onto the card base at a slight angle.

I placed the fussy cut robin into place with his tail hanging over the edge.

A splash of ribbon and a bow and I was done. I am very happy with my contemporary, bright, tie-dye looking Christmas card.  I know it's  not to everyone's taste but I know just the right person for it 😉