Pinspiration Layout + a tutorial / Chickaniddy Crafts

Hey, everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  I'm up on the Chickaniddy Crafts Blog today with a layout inspired by a Pinterest project.   I was so excited to find this gorgeous design on our Pinspiration Board this month!  I was immediately inspired to create a fun and unique watercolor background.

I started with plain white cardstock, watercolors, and a few coordinating colors of Heidi Swapp Color Shine.  I sprayed and painted here and there with different colors, added sprays of water, and did a lot of dabbing with a paper towel.  A few times I held up the paper to let the wet color drip down the page.  I kept adding paint or mist as I saw fit...it really just depended on where a certain color was needed.

I combined the Date Night and Twirly Girly collections for this.  All the background colors were pulled from the papers and embellishments I used.  I knew I wanted to use the amazing gold foil paper, so I also added some gold heat embossing to my background for some extra shine.

These brads and die-cuts are awesome for creating smaller clusters.  These added the perfect touch by my journaling area.

I cut that large gold messy circle on my Silhouette Cameo...and let me tell you, this gold foil paper cuts VERY smoothly!  I threw in some thread for an extra pop of color and interest underneath my title.

I love combining all the fun embellishments together...like the Mini Sticker Tags, Sentiment Stickers and brads.  Here you get a good shot of the gold heat embossing I did...I just love the result!

More heat embossing, more thread, more layers and more gold foil paper!  That stuff cuts so beautifully in the Cameo!

It's so much fun to search Pinterest for inspiration...it sure doesn't take long to find something beautiful there!

Supplies Used:  Date Night: DN140S09 Together is Better Paper, DN140S08 Wallflower Paper, DN14EB01 Alpha Stickers, DN14EB04 Mini Sticker Tags, DN14EB06 Brads; Twirly Girly: TG140S08 Itty Bitty Ballerina Paper, TG140S02 Birthday Girl Paper, TG14EB01 Alpha Stickers, TG14EB04 Mini Sticker Tags, TG14EB05 Mini Sticker Sentiments, TG14EB06 Brads; CN14SP001 12x12 Gold Foil Paper; Other: Cardstock, Watercolors, Gold Embossing Powder, Tim Holtz Circle Stamp, Recollections Script Stamp, Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine, Sharpie Black Pen, Smash Date Stamp, Stampendous Ink, StazOn Ink, Thread, Silhouette Cameo.

Here is a little insight on how I created this watercolor background.  It's a lot easier than it looks.

I always use my trusty watercolors and different colors of Color Shine.  Any mists or sprays will work.  And I always have a napkin or paper towel handy.  I just use regular cardstock.

For this page, I started with the Color Shine...just spraying it in random spots.

Hold the paper up and let it drip.  Even spritz water on top of it if you need or want do.  Add as much color as you like.

I like to blot it with a napkin.  If it's too light in color, spray again and repeat.  It does help to have a heat tool to dry it in between.  That way you can see the true color.

I like to add in watercolors here and there...along the edges and in random spots on the paper.

More napkin blotting...

Repeat the process with more colors.

You can treat the mist as paint, too, and pull in your brush to mix it around.  Add water as needed, and blot with napkin as needed.  You may not want to blot...it's certainly not a requirement :)

Change colors when you need to.  My paints here are well loved...haha.  I mix colors a lot, and I don't mind it getting all messy!

Here's where I add in some orange.  You really just need to play with the color scheme and see what suits your layout best.  The good thing about this is you really can't mess it up.  And if you do, you can cover it up or add some gesso over it to fade it out.

Add some splatters if you'd like...just thump the brush a bit.

Here's something fun I added to this layout.  I cut these coffee stain shapes with my Cameo and use them as a stencil/template.  I pulled out my blending chalks and went over the stencil with Qtips.  I don't have anymore makeup brushes, so I improvise :)

Isn't that cool?!  I love this look!  These chalks are from Michaels...I bought them a long time ago, but I still see them there.  If you use a coupon, they're only like $8.  I've gotten lots of use out of them.

I hope this inspires you to create a fun watercolor background!  And also to check out Pinterest...you can find SOOOOO much inspiration there! Be sure to check out what three of the other Design Team members created based on their Pinterest finds!

Thanks for checking in today!