Yesterday was a glorious day here in Nova Scotia. Hubby was finally able to repair the last of the winter storm damage and I can stop ‘reminding’ him about it. Meanwhile I got three full loads of laundry washed and dried outside. I may be a little odd but I love to see a line full of washing flapping in the breeze. With the chores done I also grabbed some time in my craft studio to create today’s simple Sunday project. Pale Papaya and Mango Melody provided the perfect combination.

COLOURED WATER SPOTS

When I first sat down I really had no idea what I was going to make. So I did what I always do to kick-start my creativity, I grabbed some things I’ve not used in a while and started playing. Today that was a 2-1/4″ x 3-1/2″ scrap of Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper and some ink refills.

My colour scheme came from a desire to not use pink or purple, and definitely not blues. I felt I’d used these quite a bit recently and just wanted something completely different. So with that in mind I picked up a Pale Papaya Ink Refill and squeezed a drop onto a plate. Then I had the idea to use my Water Painters to add different sized drops of clean water randomly over the Watercolor Paper. Once they were in place I dipped the tip of the brush into the ink and then just touched one of the water drops. Immediately the water changed colour and the design took off from there.

By this point I wanted the water drops to be different shades so I added extra ink to some using the brush tip. Then for even more contrast I brought out a Mango Melody ink refill too. Once I was happy with the colours I left everything to dry and went for a break.

MORE PALE PAPAYA

With the day being so warm it actually didn’t take long for the coloured water to dry. So now I had to decide what, if anything to do with this experiment. It was only now it occurred to me to stamp a simple image on top. As it turned out, the Happiness Abounds Stamp Set was right there and I chose the large open flower image. Then using Tuxedo Black ink I just stamped it in the bottom left corner, right over the spots.

Then above the flower I stamped the “friend” sentiment, also from the Happiness Abounds Stamp Set.

From there things progressed pretty quickly. First I reached for some Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers to colour in the flower. This was a simple process using dark Pale Papaya on the folded parts of the petals and light Pale Papaya on everything else.

For the centre of the flower I chose a large Daffodil Delight embellishment from the Glossy Dots Assortment. To help me put the embellishment in place I picked it up using the flat blade on my Take Your Pick tool. But as I started to place it on the flower image an idea popped into my head to add a little more interest…

So put the embellishment down and instead I cut some short pieces of black twine from the Baker’s Twine Essentials pack. Then with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) on the centre of the flower I pressed the twine onto it. Once the glue was dry I fixed the Glossy Dot on top. Finally using the piercing attachment on my Take You Pick tool I separated the twine to reveal the individual threads. Oh my goodness, what a transformation!

Now all that was left was for me to turn the completed piece into a gift tag. So using the Label Me Fancy Punch I added a small hole at the top of the Watercolor Paper. Then I threaded some Black Baker’s Twine through the hole and tied it in a simple knot. Job done.

I have to say that this tag is nothing like anything I’ve made before. Sometimes just experimenting with familiar products in new ways can result in exciting ideas. So now this ‘test’ piece has given me additional ideas I can use on other projects in the future. Watch this space…

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Happiness Abounds Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating Blossoming Happiness Dies (not used today). Buying the two items using a single ‘bundle’ item number saved me 10% off the cost of buying the same two items separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore that option.