There's That Watercolor Background Again... {Paper Smooches}

Previously, we've discussed how I can't stop with aqua and yellow for fall cards. I've said my apologies and we're moving on (likely to go make more aqua and yellow cards for fall. Deal with it.) But today's projects feature my other current obsession - you've likely seen it if you've been hanging out here with me. It's this dang watercolor background. It's just so much fun, I can't help myself. 

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It felt so RIGHT, paired with the crisp black and white of this absolutely ADORABLE die from Paper Smooches. It's part of their August release, and I was thrilled to snag this stuff early to play and share with you. You really can't go wrong with black and white paired with rainbow.

So let's talk about what I did here. If you hop on over to this blog post, you'll see step by step instructions, plus a fun colorful Christmas card I made with this same technique. It's addicting because it never looks the same twice - so I'm always excited to see how the colors will interact and how it will turn out. For the first card (above) I didn't use quite as much water as I "should have." I thought I messed it up. But once it was dry, and I kept looking at it, I decided to go with it - and actually I ended up really liking it. But I did want it more flowy and watercolory so I repeated the process and spritzed more water on it. That's the second card! (below)

Let's look at this great die set for a minute. It comes with two main dies - the puffy outline and the more detailed thin outline. When I created these two cards, I diecut both dies from white and from black cardstock. This gave me one puffy background piece in each color, plus the thin line outline in each color. I just adhered the thin black outline on top of the puffy white background, and vice versa for the other. So on these cards you can see it each way. I really love them both! For the first card, you'll notice I added a layer of dimensional glaze (FSJ Journey Glaze) over it, which really makes it shine! 

If you stop over at the Paper Smooches website, you'll find all the details about this die set, plus more samples and an example of what each individual piece looks like. (Plus take note of the cute tiny little embellishment pieces you get too!) 

I'm so glad you stopped by today! Thanks for letting me share some Paper Smooches goodness with you all today! If you loved this rainbow technique be sure to check out a few other examples at the end of this post! xoxo

Card Supplies: 

Paper Smooches - Hallow Hello Die Set 

FSJ - Color Splash Watercolor Sheets | Liquid Color (Watermelon Fusion, Tangerine Fusion, Lemon Drop, Sweet Pear, Cool Pool)

For more watercolor rainbow inspiration: 

Season's Greetings card with a rainbow of blues and greens

See? Can't go wrong with black&white paired with rainbow! 

This Might Be Another Aqua and Yellow Card and I'm Not Even Sorry

I'm sorry - I'll apologize in advance. I warned you that I can't stop with this color combination on fall cards. Aquas and yellows are just my favorite these days. Today's card features the cutest row of pumpkins that are darling on Halloween cards - but they'll last you the whole season through, as seen on this Happy Thanksgiving card.

I stamped the pumpkins onto a scrap of cardstock left over from THIS CARD - it's actually an inked print I made on the Gel Press. The colors were perfect for these Pumpkin Pals. I trimmed the image and then began to layer bits of this and that.

Here's a TIP: Spend a few minutes and die-cut a whole sheet of circles, tags, whatever shapes you commonly use. Then, when you're crafting, you can pull a ready-made piece and you won't have to stop to die-cut. I do this periodically when I just can't seem to get started on a project. Then, I keep them handy in a little container so I can grab a shape and GO when I'm feeling motivated. That's what happened with this cute pinked edge circle. I had a whole stash of them so I was able to play with different sizes and pick just the one I wanted.

Today's post is part of  Old Is New day over on the Impression Obsession blog. 

It's easy (and fun) to add the latest and greatest stamps and dies, but we want to find new ways to use the older and well-loved products too. The Old Is New blog hop celebrates the stamps and dies in our stash that have been faithfully loved! Please head to the Impression Obsession blog to see a list of designers participating in today's blog hop. 

In case you haven't been around my blog much, I was seriously NOT KIDDING when I said all.of.my.fall.cards are aqua and yellow and orange.

Looking for a few more of them? Check these out:

Thankful Grateful Blessed with Acorns!

Two Ways to Use Leaf Dies on Handmade Cards

Give Thanks Card with FSJ Stamps/Dies

Card Supplies - Impression Obsession: Pumpkin Pals Stamp | Happy Thanksgiving Stamp | Stitched Pinked Circle Dies 
FSJ: Gel Press | Fall-O-Ween Prints | Cardstock - Haystack, Cool Pool