I was feeling kind of colorful today. I managed to get two cards done, both very full of blues and greens and pinks and purples :) This is one of them; the other is a card that I will be showing for Tuesday's Whimsy sneak peek for DT's Choice. Please come back again on Tuesday to see the other colorful card, pretty please?
This card was created using a Sweet Pea Stamps image called Luna Fairy. I instantly fell in love with this stamp when I saw it on one of the Sweet Pea Stamp's DT's blog. I think it might have been Renee's. The sentiment is from the Whimsy Stamps
Magical Mini Letter Seals sentiments set.
EDITED TO ADD: I totally didn't understand how to color her body, lol. I thought she was just wearing a top, and then I went to look at the image again, and it turns out to be a dress. Oh well, I solved that problem by just coloring the "bottom part" so it looks like she's wearing two pieces. Whops! I don't think it turned out so bad, though ;)
The flowers (except the pink one with yellow center on the top right) were made by me! After seeing all the pretty crinoline flowers that
Linda was making, I became obsessed with tracking down some of this fabric and making my own. So, here's the end result! They're not as pretty as her vintage distressed ones, but I like how they fray at the ends - that was unexpected surprise! Love the effect. They dying could use some work, but hey, it's my first time :) They were dyed with Shimmerz Spritz.
The patterned paper in the back was covered with netting and then I painted the edges with Crackle Paint in Tumbled Glass. This card is so girly, lol. I have no idea who I'm going to give it to.
Stamps: Sweet Pea Stamps Luna Fairy, Whimsy Stamps
Magical Mini Letter Seals;
Coloring medium: Distress Inks on
Fabriano Artistico hot press 300gsm/140lb watercolor paper;
Ink: Stazon Timber Brown;
Paper: Prima Fairy Flora;
Embellishments: handmade crinoline flowers cut using Spellbinder dies, WOC flower, rhinestones, pearls, Stickles, netting, May Arts net ribbon;
Tools/Other: Making Memories Distressing Tool; Cuttlebug, Ranger Crackle Pain in Tumbled Glass, ATG gun, sewing machine
Watercolor Paper Review: Fabriano Artistico Bright White Acquarello Watercolor
In continuing with my watercolor paper reviews, below is a quick review on the paper I used for this image, which is the Fabriano Artistico Acquarello Bright White, 300gsm/140lb paper. Okay, so the first hot press paper I ever tried was
Arches Hot Press Watercolor Paper so I perpetually compare it to that, which can be bad because Arches is hard to live up to. Also, these are all just my opinions and everyone has their own preferences so what works for me may not work for you and visa versa! Eventually, we each have to discover what we fell comfortable with :)
The pros:
- This paper is smoother than the Strathmore "hot press" paper.
- It can take a good amount of abuse.
- The colors settle quickly, but if you keep working at it, they will soften and blend, unlike Strathmore which was so difficult to adjust once you lay down the ink.
- It has SOME texture (more texture than the Arches hot press), but I think that's kind of nice! I like a little bit of texture on my papers, but that's a personal preferences. Arches is smoother.
The cons:
- It's thinner than other hot press watercolor papers that are also at 300gsm. This is may/may not be a con because there are some people who like to cut out their images. I don't cut mine out very often. For example, it is thinner than the
Cartiera Magnani Acquarello Portofino hot press (which I used for my card that I'm showing Tuesday!) I think it may be the thinnest hot press I've tried yet, however, it did take a good beating. As you can see in my image, I covered it with color! I guess this isn't really too big of a con, then, but I just like the feel of thick paper :)
- Expensive, as expensive as Arches
Other things to note:
- It's not really bright white, as the description says. The Lanaquarelle hot press is much whiter and so is the Strathmore hot press. It's just
a tad brighter than the Arches hot press. This isn't really a pro or a con; it just means that you need to adjust how you think your colors will show up on your paper.
- Overall, I think if you're willing to fork up $22 for 20 sheets of 9x12 hot press paper, I would go still go with Arches if you want something smooth. However, if you want something with a little bit of texture, this paper isn't TOO bad, but I think I would still chose the Lanaquarelle hot press over it. I also don't like how it didn't come in a 7x10 so I had to purchase the 9x12. I usually purchase 9x12, but I wanted to get a smaller size since I hadn't tried it yet.
Okay, so that's it for this paper! I'm really enjoying bringing you this information and I hope someone out there finds it helpful :) Otherwise, it's just notes for myself so that I don't buy the same/do buy the same papers again, LOL. I'll be putting this all together in charts when I get some time.
Thank you for stopping by today!
