Today’s card is not a shaker card but is inspired by a floral arrangement I made. I’m not an expert and have never taken a class but I visited Far East Flora’s cold room recently and fell in love with the beautiful blooms I saw. I had to take some home with me and display them in a vase.
Those purples made my heart happy.
This card is also inspired by the wave of watercolored background cards that have been sprouting up on YouTube
Watercolors are gaining popularity with cardmakers because of their ability to blend easily and for being relatively inexpensive compared to other coloring mediums (e.g. Copics, Tombow markers, Prismacolor pencils). While artist grade watercolors can get pricy, you can still get beautiful results with cheaper sets.
Although YouTube videos make it look so easy, I’ve find watercoloring intimidating. My dad is an amazing watercolor artist and comparatively, I’ve never had that natural talent for art.
Mistake #1: Not using watercolor paper
My first error was using sketchbook paper instead of watercolor paper. My cardstock warped quite a bit due to the combination of liquid paint and my heat gun. But, I used LOTS of adhesive to correct the warping and everything turned out ok. 🙂
Mistake #2: Not letting the first layer dry before adding more color
I was impatient to layer colors and flicked some black paint on the piece before the purple/blue had dried. The resulting effect was a black smudge instead of tiny black dots. Not a bad effect, just different from what I initially planned.
Mistake #3: Trying to make my own embellishments
I really wanted black glitter embellishments, so I used a hole punch and black glitter craft foam. Unfortunately, it ended up looking a bit like mold. I did end up peeling off the black foam and replacing it with silver sequins eventually, but never got an “after” picture.
The sentiment was cut from purple shimmer cardstock and vellum with my Cricut Explore Air. If you don’t have stamps, dies or fancy machines, try buying stickers or cutting out label style printed sentiments.
For anyone who’s a beginner cardmaker, remember that you don’t NEED all the fancy tools out there to create beautiful cards. Don’t let a lack of supplies stop you from expressing your creativity or spoil your enjoyment. And if you make mistakes, like I did, it’s ok! Our cards are Handmade, not Hallmark, after all. 🙂
SHAKER CArDS 