Impression Obsession Old Is New - Watercolor Winter Bird

Today we are featuring some of Impression Obsession's older stamps on our blogs.

 

I had no idea what a titmouse looks like, so I did my usual Google search to see what colors they have, and any other information that would be helpful to me for coloring him/her.  The titmouse is a tiny little bird. From the photos I found, they are blue and gray, with touches of a rusty orange and white on the breast and white around the eye.  The eyes are very large for such a small bird.

IO Stamps Links:

Titmouse SS-1137-K

Take Care B13943

How I made my card:

• On watercolor paper, I stamped the Titmouse image, using pale light gray archival ink.
• 
  I water colored the bird and branch with Kuretake Gansai Tambi water colors.
  
• For the background, I wanted to go with a loose idea of a winter sky.  With a large paint brush, I brushed watercolor onto the bird panel.  I had masked the titmouse and portion of the branch.
• I used vintage photo and wild honey distress inks to distress the edges of the panel.
• I stamped the Take Care verse with archival ink.  I used a light gray, over a blue.
  
• I spattered some white acrylic paint onto the panel, then attached it to an A2 card front. OK, for full disclosure on this, see the Bonus Tip below.
  
• INSIDE:  I used the practice piece I had created when I tried out colors for the sky, and distressed the edges.
• I stamped the branch part of the titmouse stamp with gray around the upper edges, then attached it to the inside of the card.

INSIDE

I hope you like my card.  It was a challenge for me.  I have often heard water color artists say that their work looks like a hot mess at a certain point.  Yep, that's what happened.  BUT, they said to persevere, because eventually it will all turn out ok.  So, not to be daunted by my trash-worthy project, I kept at it.  And in the end, I think it came out ok.

 

Be sure to visit the other participating designer's blogs for more inspiration using some of our older stamps.  You can find links to their blogs on the IO post HERE.

 

Bonus tip:  If you ever put black spatters on your card, and really meant to put white, well, I have a solution.  Wait till the black paint dries, and add white acrylic paint right over the black spatters, using an embossing stylus with a rounded tip.  Ask me how I know!  The black spatters were really soooo wrong, and ruined the entire card.  So, I tried the white over them, figuring I had nothing to lose. It worked.  Phew!

 

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you are having a safe and happy holiday, and I wish you who are on my side of the world a very Happy New Year!

 

Blessings,