Technique Tuesday Video: Creating a Watercolor Wash Background with Stampin’ Up!’s Aquapainters & Reinkers

You know, I’m not sure why I’ve continued calling Tuesday’s my “Technique Tuesday” since it seems like every day for the last few weeks my videos have incorporated some technique or another *lol*.Today’s technique is another one using Stampin’ Up! aquapainters and reinkers.  I kind of figured that since I had already started, I had might as well show you a variety of different ways you can use aquapainters.  My theory is that if I’m going to invest in a product, then it’s a good idea to know different ways to use.  I don’t know about you, but I hate it when I buy something and don’t know what to do with it.

I’m sure I’ve told you before that I am not a true “artist” – I have no real “artistic” training under my belt – in fact my first time EVER crafting was 11 years ago when I started scrapbooking. My sister Sophia is the real artist as she is the one who has taken the courses (watercolor painting, oil painting, sketching etc). All that to say, I have no clue as to appropriate terminology for artistic techniques.  I have no idea if what I’m showing you today is really called a watercolor wash – I used a watercolor brush and “washed” color across my paper, so I figured it was as good a name as any *lol*. You can see how I created this background in the video below:

Directions:

1. You will need a 3″ x 3-3/4″ piece of 140 lb weight watercolor paper.  I used Stampin’ Up!’s.  You NEED a heavy weight watercolor paper for this technique because you need something that is going to have a high capacity to absorb water.
2. Place a couple of drops of More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust reinker onto a small plastic palette.  Use your aquapainter to “wash” the color across your watercolor paper – you want to start with the darkest color at the top (Really Rust), then Pumpkin Pie and finally More Mustard. Blend the colors downwards as you go. You’re going to need to watch the video to see exactly how I did it.
3. Once you have the depth of color and look that you want, dry your paper with a heat tool.
4. Center and stamp the house from the House of Haunts stamp set along the bottom edge of the watercolor paper in Craft Black ink. Sprinkle on Black Embossing powder and heat emboss.  Stamp the greeting in the top right corner in Black Craft ink and heat emboss with black embossing powder.
5. Mat the watercolor paper onto a 3-1/4″ x 4″ piece of Basic Black CS using Snail adhesive. 
6. Pierce two holes in the top left corner of the watercolor paper using a paper-piercing tool and foam mat.  Insert two black brads from the Vintage collection.
7. Mat a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Black DP from the Cast-a-Spell DP collection onto a 4-1/8″ x 5-3/8″ piece of Pumpkin Pie CS.
8. Center and stick the matted image piece about 1/2″ down from the top edge of the DP.
9. Lay a 6″ piece of 5/8″ Black Grosgrain Ribbon across the card so that it covers the bottom edge of the image piece.  Bring the ends of the ribbon around to the back of the card and stick them down using Snail adhesive.
10. Mat the DP/image piece to a 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ Basic Black card (created by folding a 4-1/4″ x 11″ piece of Basic Black CS in half using a bone folder to achieve a nice crisp, crease. 
11. Slide a 7″ piece of 5/8″ Basic Black Grosgrain ribbon underneath the first piece of ribbon and tie it in a knot.  Trim the ends of the ribbon with paper snips.  You’re done!

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Stamps: House of Haunts (111574)
Ink: Craft Black ink (102192), Really Rust Classic reinker (100685), Pumpkin Pie Classic reinker (105229), More Mustard Classic reinker (101962) 
Paper:  Basic Black CS (102851), Pumpkin Pie CS (105117), Cast-a-Spell DP (115677), watercolor paper (105019)
Accessories: Bone Folder (102300), Paper snips (103579), Snail adhesive (104332), 5/8″ Basic Black Grosgrain ribbon (115605), Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109133), heat tool (100005), aquapainter (103954), Vintage brads (109109), paper-piercing tool (116631), mat pack (105826), plastic palette (Non-Stampin’ Up! – from dollar store), paper towels