"New" Craft Stash Hop, Day Two - Painted Desert Watercolor

Good Morning!

Happy Tuesday!

I have a special post this morning.  

I'm hopping with some crafty friends this week in a "New" Crafty Stash Blog Hop, all just for the fun of it (and to use some of our NBUS stash)!  

For 3 Days --- Monday - Wednesday, we are hopping and sharing what we have created using some new stuff and hopefully providing you some inspiration to use your new stuff too!

Go ahead, admit it with us --- we ALL have those new stamps, dies, ink, stencils, etc, that we just HAD to buy and had SOOO many plans for, but then time went by and they have sat in our craft rooms lonely, untouched, unused and yet to "feel the love".  (As you read this, I have several more "new" packages expected at my door soon). The struggle is real.  LOL

As I stated above, I have new crafty stuff.  I've had new crafty stuff.  I am getting more new crafty stuff soon.  Do you see a pattern here?  Do you emulate said pattern?  Do we need help?  Maybe.  Do we care? Probably not.  Just hop along and give those impulse bought stamps some love!

One of my newest stamp sets is the "Layered Landscapes" by Neat and Tangled. 

 

It's a great set for masculine and nature cards, both of which I lack.  My youngest son (age 24) has fallen in love with nature, hiking, and camping.  A big change from when he was a child as he never wanted to go hiking or camping. When I saw this set, I also thought about the recent cross country trip he and I took from NC to CA.  We stopped at a few National Parks.  We also went hiking and camping (Yurt)! I've been wanting to create something for him as a memento and this set was perfect in helping.  It was a very memorable and life altering trip for all of us, as the main reason for it was him moving to California. Hopefully it will also serve as inspiration as he begins his new life, new job, new adventures. 

Here's one of the photos I took of the Painted Desert ---

Here is my card ---

I decided to do a watercolor with distress inks and watercolor brush.  I first made some masks of each of the mountain stamps so I could mask off sections because I only used bits of each stamp here and there to get the effect I wanted.  

Using my Misti, I inked the stamp, then spritzed it with water before stamping.  Afterwards, I took a water brush and moved some of the ink around to imitate the texture and look in the photo.  A few times I inked the stamp and then rubbed it around on the stamp with the water brush.  

Once I got the mounds looking how I wanted, I took a regular thin paint brush with some of the darker ink and outlined areas for more definition and perspective.  After it was dry, I went back with a very dry brush and lightly stippled some brown into some of the red rock areas for more definition. I did use an old weed stamp for the brush in the foreground. Ok, so I went a little rogue and used something old. Does it count that I haven't used it for about 8 years? Isn't there a some kind of statute for old becoming new again?  

Anyway, for final touches on the painting, I lightly painted the sky with a waterbrush and stamped the three flying birds (also in the set). I didn't want to defile part of the scene so I stamped the sentiment (part of the set too) on separate white cardstock and centered it below the image.  I was originally going to just mat a back to it and then frame it, but I went ahead and made a 5-1/2" square card.  My "desert" has a few higher peaks than the photo, but I really love how it turned out!  I can't wait to send it to my son.  There may just be a small album of pics going with it too. ;) 

So, I hope you enjoyed your stop here and was inspired by my watercolor attempt. If watercolor is daunting for you, remember it's a very forgiving medium and a little at a time is key.  If you mess up, all you have to do is add a little water and dab it off. Plus, all art is subjectively interpretive that comes from within. There are no real mistakes.

Now on to the rest of our hop...

 What is a FUN Blog Hop without PRIZES?????

We have several generous sponsors offering up prizes!

Prizes:

Stampscapes - 2 prizes - Choice of Nature Sheet ($26.50 ea)

Cas-ual Fridays - $25 GC

Catherine Pooler - $25 GC

Stamplorations - $20 GC

Right At Home - $20 GC

We also have several individual bloggers offering up a few prizes as well:

Ingrid - Prize Pack

Allison - $25 Power Poppy E-Gift Card

Ilina - Prize Pack

Tracie - $25 Catherine Pooler GC

→COMMENT TO WIN!!←

To be eligible for prizes all you have to do is comment on all the blogs from all three days.  That's it!  Easy Peasy!  There are different crafters on each day, so be sure and hop each day not only to possibly win a prize but to see everyone's fabulous projects!  

Day Two Hop List:

Melissa Miller

Tracey McNeely

Kelly Martin

Amy Seigler

Michelle Wallace

Ilina Crouse

Maureen Merritt  

Nance Salkeld (You are HERE)

Deepti Stephens

*Starting Link for Monday, July 9th* 

 Ingrid's blog 

Wednesday's Starting Link:

 Ingrid 

Card Supplies:

STAMPS: Layered Landscapes (Neat & Tangled). Weeds(Inkadinkadoo, don't quote me).

PAPER: White cardstock (Neenah 110lb Solar Crest). Masking Paper (Inkadinkadoo). Watercolor Paper (Strathmore). Brown cardstock (from stash). 

INK: Spun Sugar, Abandoned Coral, Festive Berries, Fired Brick, Barn Door, Scattered Twigs Distress Inks (Tim Holtz Ranger). Sentiment Ink: Icing on the Cake (Catherine Pooler Ink).

EXTRAS: Waterbrush (Tim Holtz). Other paint brushes (My Stash). Misti Stamp Tool (My Sweet Petunia). Double-sided tape (Scotch 3M). Paper Trimmer (Fiskars). Acrylic blocks (Catherine Pooler Designs). Scissors (Fiskars).

NBUS Craft Stash Hop Blessings!