Full Spectrum Watercolor Words

Over at Simon Says Stamp this week, the challenge was show us your favorite word. Because I've had a lot of time on my hands, I thought about this for a while. But in the end, it comes back to the truths we know. There is nothing I would rather do than

Laughter to me is full of color, life, and spirit, so I decided to use my new Dylusions dye inks as a medium. Because my new friend Marjie Kemper blogged about filling water pens with the inks , I thought, hmmm, since I don't have that many water brushes, why not just spray some into a palette and paint from there? Which is exactly what I did. What amazingly LUSCIOUS colors.

Here's the low down on how I made the piece. The base is watercolor paper which I sprayed with purple and pink Dylusions Ink, and then dry brushed over that with white acrylic paint. Some of the inks reacted, some didn't; I was fine with that. I bounced some white and black paint over it for interest. I folded it like an accordion card. The cactus looking things, the girl parts, and the border were all painted on cover stock and adhered to grunge paper for support before I cut them out. The letters are grunge board, covered with two coats of picket fence stains, and then covered with a pink copic marker, edged in black. Once that was dry (or almost) I used some Stardust Stickles on top for the glitz. (I tried out a gazillion different ways of doing the letters and probably would just paint them white the next time with acrylic before adding color, but by that point I didn't have the right letters left any more).

I used a Fiskars postage stamp punch on black paper, and added the white dots with an opaque pencil for interest. I put the pink letters on that, and then mounted the whole thing on mini Popsicle sticks, which I had covered in black marker. There are slits in the back section of the base, into which I pushed the Popsicle stick.

I was really happy with the way this turned out and can see making more with different words. I want to futz around with the accordion fold because I would have liked the layers a little closer I think, but I was running out of time. And the second time I do something is always better anyway. I just wish someone had told me in high school that I really should pay attention to algebra and geometry!! Angles and dangles are definitely a hit and miss thing with me.

Another of my favorite places is Inspiration Emporium and their challenge this month is watercolors. I'm thinking this qualifies - I used them with water, mixed, and painted, so I'm posting there too. If I'm off the mark there, please forgive me.

Enjoy a laugh today!!