Can you believe this is the last weekend of July? The summer is almost over and school will be starting back next month! In preparation, I made my 6-inch calendar page using one of my favorite things -- Copic Various Ink Refills to achieve a watercolored look, using a stencil:
(Click on photos to enlarge)
Keep in mind, if you don't like or do calendars, you could also use this same concept and just replace the calendar with a photo, to create a scrapbook page. Or you could make this a card and circle the recepient's birthdate or other significant date: wedding, anniversary . . .
Here are the easy steps to create the "watercolored" background:
1. Tape My Favorite Things' Damask Stencil to 5-1/2" x 5-1/2" piece of Copic X-Press It Blending Card. Squeeze Copic BG53 Various Ink Refill into Plastic Paint Palette. Use a Water Brush filled with Copic Blender Solution to pick up the color and paint through parts of the stencil you want colored. Alternately, you could use Copic markers to scribble color onto a plastic or acetate palette and then used the water brush to pick up color.
2. Moving to my next color, I used darker BG57 on the lower parts of the damask patterns:
3. Next, I used BV13 to color more parts of the damask. If you look closely in the palette well, you can see the different colors that were combined to create the BV13 color as it is diluted with the Blender Solution -- I love that! And as you can see, the pretty Robin's egg blue color compliments the other BG colors I've used!
4. I finished with a complimentary YG25.
Next, I stamped My Favorite Things' Journal It-Calendar Basics with Memento Pear Tart ink on Neenah Solar White cardstock to create my calendar grid. Then I die cut it with MFT's largest Pierced Traditional Tag STAX. I wanted the white rectangle calendar to fit onto another Bazzill Juicy Pear die cut tag, so I trimmed it down a little on the top and bottom by using the long side of the pierced tag like this (cutting the bottom straight edge):
Now both the top and bottom edges have that pretty pierced detail.
I didn't have just the right color of sequins to use as accents, so I took some Marshmallow ones and dipped them into the remaining BV13 Various Ink in my palette:
To finish my page, I adhered the watercolored panel to a 6-inch piece of Bazzill Card Shoppe Robin's Egg. The numbers on the calendar were stamped with coordinating Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. The August title was cut with MFT's Months of the Year from Copic X-Press It Blending Card and watercolored with the BV13 Various Ink, so it would match the watercolored background.
The beautiful Grand Peaceful Wildflowers were die cut from Bazill's Candy Necklace (teal) and Gummy Bear (purple) cardstock, and the leaves from Juicy Pear and Easter Grass. I liked the bold silhouette look standing out from the softer background.
I hope you'll try this fun technique and find some creative uses for it! ~ Sharon
