Grateful

A dear stamping friend recently gifted me with the Gansai Tambi Starry Colors palette by Kuretake and I finally took time today to experiment with these GORGEOUS metallic watercolor paints!

One of my goals in 2017 is to master the art of brush lettering.  I did practice a bit today, but my samples were too embarrassing to show you - lol!  I watched some YouTube videos and pinned some resources to a Pinterest board and I must say...it's harder than it looks!  I've dabbled in traditional calligraphy and the strokes and steps in the way you "break up the steps" of a letter are very different.  Where the angle of your flat edged pen is the key in traditional calligraphy, the pressure of the brush application seems to be the key in the more contemporary brushed lettering.  If any of you reading this post have suggestions on products, etc. that work well, I'd love to hear from you!

I decided to see how these paints could be applied to stamping and tried it with Concord and 9th's gorgeous Lace Leaf stamp set.  I heat embossed the leaf using JudiKins Malachite embossing powder.  I then applied some yellow gold paint to the shadow "splatter" image and stamped it onto the watercolor CS.  I then dabbed some of the paint using a paint brush onto the leaf to give more concentrated splotches.  I also tapped my brush against another brush to add some fine splatters.  My photo doesn't capture the beautiful shine that is there IRL.  I still have some Forest Foliage CS in my stash (a very OLD retired color from SU) which matches the malachite embossing perfectly.  The sentiment die was cut 3 times - twice in gold and once in Forest Foliage so I could offset it slightly to make it pop!

So, why am I making a card of thanks?  One year ago we were still in the middle of our kitchen renovation and I had no running water and no counter tops in yet.  Christmas dinner with out of town friends was not going to be put on hold because of those minor details!  My husband came to the rescue by placing a large piece of plywood over my island and some tablecloths soon covered the evidence.  My nearby laundry tub was where we washed dishes and it was the year of cardboard "china" - lol!  So, this year I am VERY grateful for my completed kitchen!