Just like my my previous post, I have used Mermaid Markers on a mix of watercolour and mixed media foundations paper to create my own cards and backgrounds but have gone with a darker colour palette for this part of the month.
Starting with the background, I wet a piece of the mixed media foundations cardstock before applying colour with one of the mermaid markers - working on a slightly wet surface will produce a nice watercolour effect that allows the pigment to spread and blend smoothly. I then placed one of the Ink Spill stencils over the top of the background and used a baby wipe to absorb some of the colour to give the card more depth. Once dry I stamped one of the images from the Shine stamp and die set using my favourite waterproof ink. I painted a pink circle onto a separate sheet of cardstock and stamped some fun spots from the Escape stamp and die set to create an easy accent that I layered under one of the stickers from the watercolour sticker pack.
I kept the background solid for the next card, but was still able to produce some interesting effects by varying the colour saturation based on the amount of water used. Even though mermaid markers already come in a great range of premixed colours, I love that they also allow you to create your own custom shades like the gorgeous plum colour I created by mixing Jellyfish, Deep Sea and Starfish. I like to use a plastic paint palette to mix my colours but any non porous surface will work for this.
I added a sentiment from the watercolour sticker pack that I applied onto white cardstock to keep the colours looking crisp.
One of the things that instantly drew me this Vicki Boutin collection is the mix of bright colours teamed with bold black and white images and I wanted to recreate this look to help me tie all the elements across both pages together. Going back to the Shine stamp and die set, I stamped three flowers onto my background then used several shades of mermaid markers to fill in the background.
I mixed my colours directly onto the card this time and this is where the mixed media foundations cardstock really shines because it allows you add lots of wet layers without buckling or warping like regular cardstock would.
The foundations cardstock is also great for lifting and removing colour with either water or towel without having to worry about the pilling you often get once you start moving watercolours around on regular cardstock.
Creating all of my own backgrounds forced me to pay extra attention to colour placement this month but it also gave me the freedom to experiment with combinations that helped my photos to stand out. Using stamps was also a fun way to create my own accents and I even used ink from the same mermaid markers as I used to paint the background of the blue card in the top corner to create a perfectly matched pattern over the card - you can see how saturated the pigment is when you don't add any water.
You can see in this photo that the watercolour paper I used for the background produces a textured finish while the smooth surface of the foundations cardstock that I used to stamp on the heart accents absorbs the colour differently so it's definitely worth experimenting with a variety of surfaces when playing with any wet medium.
Making use of the brush tip of the mermaid markers to create a quick and easy filler card with a little bit of brush lettering teamed with more stamping.
Adding just a few little pops of colour with some cute painted raindrops paired with a puffy sticker title was all the was needed to finish off the month :)
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