Artfully Layered Abstract Watercolours PP588

by Joanne James24. April 2022 07:00

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have my favourite, a sketch challenge for you to work with:

       

I designed a sketch with three elements - they can be any shape - and a vertical sentiment tucked alongside. My sketch was inspired by a card I made previously using squares of designer paper, however for today's card I went in a completely different direction - take a look:

 

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Artfully Layered - Today's card features the 'Artfully Layered' bundle - I just love these leaves! Today's card really is about the Tropical Leaves Dies and my card makes a dramatic feature of one of the leaves, diecut in black. There is just a little stamping, with the sentiment on the front and a little extra to decorate the inside:

 

Inspired Abstract Watercolouring - I decided to brave it and use my aquapainter to watercolour three rounded squares for my three elements and use these as a backdrop to my leaf. I used the trio of bright colours over at Color Throwdown as I thought they would pair well with the black and painted each shape carefully, deciding not to overlap them and building colour gradually. I'm not the best when it comes to watercolouring but was totally inspired by my CAS Colours & Sketches teammate, Cecile Ribon, who creates the most amazing CAS cards using simple watercoloured shapes and outline stamped images and/or delicate diecuts - if you're not familiar with it I would urge you to take a look at her blog here, she is so artistic! Having added my watercoloured shapes, I added some black ink splatters using my Black Blends marker before adhering my diecut. I used anothe Cecile trademark of a stitch of twine at the base of my leaf, along with a trio of enamel dots, to complete my card:

What do you think? I'm really quite please with the end output so I'm going to link up over at Inkspirational too, where they are also challenging us to watercolour this week. 

An Alternative Colourway - I liked my card so much, I decided I would have another go using the inspiration photo over at Just Add Ink too. I considered going in a different direction, given the distinctly autumnal feel of their photo, but I just couldn't bring myself to dig out my autumn leaves as we are just heading into summer on this side of the world! So I changed out my sentiment and chose a different diecut leaf and used the same layout for a second version. Here is the Just Add Ink inspo photo:

And here's my second card that was inspired by those warm, autumnal colours:

 

So what do you think of today's cards? Do you have a favourite? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

  
 
Here's a quick recap of our challenge rules:
 
1.  Create a new paper project
2.  Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to us and provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge submission.
3.  Please link your card to no more than four challenges, TOTAL.
4.  Have FUN!

Enjoy your day; we are having a quiet day at home today before the James Juniors are back to school this week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Table built using Product Table Builder by The Crafty Owl - Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.

Comments (15) -

Jennie Maier
Jennie MaierUnited States
24/04/2022 13:48:50 #

Joanne, you rocked the sketch and the watercoloring! I love the colors and the black makes it all pop! What a great card! Love this sketch too! Have a great week!

VICKIE Z
VICKIE ZUnited States
24/04/2022 14:19:42 #

Sweet card!! Yes, I love Cecile’s style too. This is just as lovely as hers!!! So happy you joined us at CTD!

Cindy Beach
Cindy BeachUnited States
24/04/2022 16:07:19 #

Hi Joanne, you sure gave us a great sketch! I love your watercolored shapes and bold focal point. I love the first card best, of course - pink and green - and the fun sentiment is a perfect fit.

Laurie Schmidt
Laurie SchmidtUnited States
24/04/2022 19:41:48 #

Love love love this! What a great design for your card set!! Fun challenge!

Chantell Randall
Chantell RandallAustralia
25/04/2022 00:55:51 #

Lovely cards Joanne, I really like the colour and black contrast, it really makes the colours pop.  Chantell x x

Karen Rogers
Karen RogersNew Zealand
25/04/2022 09:24:13 #

such a cool card, it would look fab in a lot of color combos

LeAnne Pugliese
LeAnne PuglieseUnited States
25/04/2022 17:38:32 #

First, I LOVE the sketch...you know I love things in threes!  And the way you stamped your background elements, then added the leaves on top to allow the colors to peek through...so cool!  Fresh and funky!

Deborah Wheeler
Deborah WheelerUnited Kingdom
25/04/2022 17:42:39 #

These are fab Joanne! I never think about just painting blocks of colour on a card - definitely one to try out xx

Ann Schach
Ann SchachUnited States
27/04/2022 14:36:35 #

What a colorful collection of cards, Joanne! They showcase the Artfully Layered bundle perfectly. I love the different color combinations you picked. This was such a fun sketch...thank you so much!

Joanne Stubbings
Joanne Stubbings Australia
27/04/2022 21:33:55 #

I love the funky feel of your card, a great take on our inspiration pic! Thanks for playing along this week with Just Add Ink!

Celeste M Goff
Celeste M GoffUnited States
29/04/2022 02:24:30 #

I love everything about your gorgeous card!!

Claire Broadwater
Claire BroadwaterUnited States
29/04/2022 19:10:41 #

Joanne, this sketch was amazing!  Soooo many fantastic entries this week!  I LOVE Your cards,  The black just pops off these vibrant colors!  The black splatters and sentiment are fabulous!!!!

Christy Stanford
Christy StanfordUnited States
30/04/2022 08:56:25 #

I love your cards in both color palettes, Joanne!  The black die cuts just pop so well against the watercolored shapes on the background.  If I hadn't gone out of town this week I would definitely have made time to play along in that Just Add Ink challenge, I love that inspiration pic.  I love that you and I used the same stamp set/dies for our cards, but they look totally different.  I'm going to have to try the black die cut leaves idea soon Smile

Stephanie Lanzalotto
Stephanie LanzalottoUnited States
30/04/2022 12:11:34 #

I just saw your fabulous card as I was looking through the Inkspirational gallery for the watercolor challenge. I LOVE your card and the second one in your blog post too. I am going to have to give this style a go. You rocked it and I just had to stop in to say so!

Vicky
VickyUnited Kingdom
30/04/2022 21:12:58 #

What a wonderful sketch this is Joanne - it literally made me drop everything to make a card!! Your coloured background shapes are so effective as the backdrop to the wonderful leaves and I just love the sideways sentiments. Stunning cards! Vicky x

Comments are closed

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