CTC #474 - CASE A Technique

Welcome to another week at CASEing the Catty Sunday Blog Hop, where utilise the projects within the current Stampin' Up! catalogue to inspire our own projects each week. We also invite you to join with us in the challenge each week by using this inspiration in your own creations and uploading a photo to our Facebook page.

This week we are taking inspiration from the techniques featured in the catalogue. Did you realise that there are two sections of the catalogue that focus on techniques?  That's right Stamping Techniques are featured on pages 81-91; and Crafting Techniques are featured on pages 118 - 131.  Best of all, the products you need to complete these techniques are also on those pages right beside the technique. 

I was inspired by this card from page 119 of the Annual Catalogue, in the Crafting Techniques section.  I have recently rediscovered my love of water colouring so pages 118&119 really popped out to me.  I chose this card as it used a couple of different techniques.  The first one is the layer directly under the focal image is created using an Aqua-painter to create lines across the paper, and secondly is the lovely blending that you can achieve on the focal image, and the third use of water colouring is the background of the focal piece.  I also used Colour Theory, which isn't really a technique but I do explain my choices below. 

I chose to use all of these water colouring techniques on my card, and I knew I wanted to keep with a Basic Beige card base. I started with the striped background piece, using Crumb Cake on water colour paper, then crumpling and blending additional colour over it to give an aged look. Another sneaky water technique is when you are wanting to create a controlled torn edge, simply run a line of water where you want the tear to go, let it absorb and then the tearing will be much easier!  

Next I chose my colours for the focal image using the colour theory wheel on page 132 of the catalogue.  I chose Peach Pie and Calypso Coral from the Orange section, and to make them pop against the background chose Balmy Blue, a complementary colour, from the blue section.  Because I didn't want to have the leaves stand out so much I then chose them from the Blue-Green and Green sections, picking Lost Lagoon and Pretty Peacock.  I purposefully kept gone over the background so the blotchiness of the water colouring gave a feeling of clouds in the sky.  For comparison the original card used analogous colours that sit beside each other on the colour wheel, so no one part of the image stands out vibrantly from the others. 

Finally I did something that I have never done on a card before, and that is secure the layers together with random cross-stitches.  I achieved this by using the paper piercing end on my Take Your Pick tool to create four holes close together, and then threaded Crumb Cake twine through the holes, securing with a knot and sticky tape on the back of the bottom layer.  I love the rustic look this gives the card!

I hope you are inspired to join in the challenge this week, just use any of the techniques in the catalogue to inspire your creativity, then post a picture of your project to the CTC Facebook page.

  

Time to hop on over and see what Courtenay has created this week.

Happy Stamping
Monique