Sending Smiles for JAI #369

Happy Friday and welcome! The end of the school holidays also saw the end of our long Winter dry spell. We sure need the rain but it was lovely to see the sun show it's face  (albiet briefly) this afternoon too  :-)

Also very lovely is our new challenge at Just Add Ink! This gorgeous scenic photo has been suggested by Rochelle for us to use in our crafting this week. You can take whatever inspires you from the photo and our fabulous design team have created awesome cards to inspire you so I hope you can take a moment to pop on over and take a look and welcome a new Guest Designer too :-)

I ended up making two cards for this challenge. The photo really appealed to me as the water and trees reminded me of my old home town of Nelson in New Zealand. But unusually, trying to transfer that to paper was a challenge that took me a few days and a few versions to make happen. Eventually, I went back to my comfort zone of a water coloured background using Ink pads and an Aqua painter - and suddenly I had the basis for two cards. For the first, I used 3 stamped balloons and added some silver clouds and bling

For this second card, I added a larger balloon I'd coloured the day before using Water Color Pencils for a softer look and followed the same design.

Hopefully you can see the background and details in the mountains a little better here. They are first coloured in Old Olive and then a little Emerald Envy is blended in for effect. To blend using water colours the key is to use the same amount of water with each - and remember to take into account that the first colour may be drying a little.
For the sky, I started with the lightest blue and made a light Ombre wash then flicked some blue ink spots using the Aqua painter's lid and some Clear Wink of Stella too for a little shimmer :-)

Card stock: Berry Burst, Flirty Flamingo, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer

Inks: Old Olive, Emerald Envy, Soft Sky, Tempting Turquoise, Dapper Denim, Versamark

Stamps: Lift Me Up

Accessories: Big Shot, Up and Away Thinlits, White EP, Basic Rhinestones, Water Color Pencils

Non SU: Water colour card stock - TH

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope that you can take a moment to pop on over to Just Add Ink and see the fabulous inspiration our lovely design team have made to inspire you and welcome our new Guest Designer too! And I look forward to seeing your take on this gorgeous photo this week :-)

Happy stamping until next week,

Jan