Pretty in purple

It's a long weekend in New Zealand as we celebrate our National Day but I'm working through on a shift at the hospital, but I sincerely hope kiwis enjoy the 3-day weekend & have some free crafting time.

I'm loving the Stampin' Up! free Sale-a-bration stamp sets on offer this year, so love the size of the lettering & the font.

My dear friend Sally had her birthday this week & anyone that know her knows she LOVES purple, so I wanted to make her a purple card.

I decided to make a watercolour wash background using my Distress Inks. I love how it turned out & will be making a few more cards like this in other shades.

1. I used Scotch painters tape to hold down the watercolour paper to a board which is why it has a wee "border" if you look closely at the top layer. 
2. I then used a wide paint brush to wet the paper (flat 1). 
3. The inks I just rubbed on my craft mat & added the lightest colour first with another paint brush (round 10). 
4. The Ranger inks really blend well & I tilted the board to get some mixing going going on as well.
5. Then dried it all with my heat gun. 
6. I then sprayed my hand with water & threw droplets at the background which I then dabbed with a paper towel to make the splotches. 
7. Then dried again with my heat gun. 
8. I then rubbed an embossing buddy all over the background before embossing "hello" in black. Rather than using Versamark & black embossing powder I used Versafine Black Onyx & clear embossing powder so I didn't get stray black embossed bits on the card - much cleaner.
9. I added various purple & gold sequins using Ranger Matte Multi Medium which I have in a small bottle with a precision tip needle to just add a wee dab where I want the sequin to stick.
10. The "- birthday girl-" also comes with the stamp set and is white embossed on the black card stock. I used one of my square punches to make the banner.

Recipe:
Stamp Set: Hello (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark
Distress Inks (Ranger): Victorian Velvet, Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet
Card: Strathmore cold pressed watercolor, Neenah Solar White, black
Embellishments: Various companies including SU!, Lucy's bright copper kettle, CTMH sick-on purple glitter gems
Other: Clear & white embossing powder, embossing buddy, heat gun, various paint brushes, dimensionals, square punch, craft mat, Ranger Multi Matte Medium.

The Hello stamp set is only available free until February 16th from your Stampin' Up! demonstrator with a $110 order. So if you love it too, you only have 11 days to go to get your own.

Enjoy your weekend & hope you get your fingers inky!

✿ Karen ✿